General
- Know your obligations
- Are you acting in an advisory capacity?
- Are you making decisions?
- Act in the best interest of the School / Organisation
- Leave your parent hat at the door
- Ask yourself why are you on this board / committee
Meetings
- Schedule meetings in advance
- Appoint a Chair for running the meetings and a Secretary to take minutes and actions
- Set an agenda prior to the meeting
- Distribute the agenda five days before for feedback
- Stick to the agenda and agenda times
- Decisions should be first item on the agenda after the standing items
- Send out any papers at least five days before
- Preparation is key
- Read papers prior to the meeting
- Papers should be taken as read in the meeting and where possible not presented as part of the meeting
- Papers should be brief and comprehensible
- State objective of the paper
- Decision required
- Information to support decision making – meaningful not just data or a story
- Consistency of format
- Read any papers prior to the meetings
- Helps meetings run efficiently
- Shows respect for the author
- Attendance
- If you miss two or more meetings in a row – consider your commitment
- Declare any conflicts, no matter how small
- Leaves no room for accusations of nepotism
- Allows for open decision making
- Ensure that the school the same especially in small communities where it is possible that the local plumber is the partner of a staff member
- Make decisions with care and diligence.
- Have you received enough information to make an informed decision?
- Is the proposal in line with the strategic plan and the culture and values of the school?
- Have all the risks been considered and mitigated? (Front Page Test)
- Are there any financial impacts?
- Have alternatives been explored?
- Ensure everyone is included in discussions
- Meetings should be no longer that two hours
- Remember the average adult attention span is 10-20 minutes
- Mobile devices should be off the table
- Ensures that everyone is mentally present as well as physically present