The Role Of Participants In The Meeting

The two most important office bearers at any meeting are the chairperson and the secretary.

Chairperson

The chairperson plays a key role in a meeting and the success of any meeting depends on the way it is chaired. The chairperson needs certain qualities to fulfil this key role and chair the meeting effectively.

Qualities of a Good Chairperson

The person elected or nominated to this important office must:

• Have strong leadership qualities
• Be courteous and friendly, with a pleasant personality
• Be tactful and able to use discretion
• Be a leader to keep control of the meeting
• Be patient
• Be able to exercise discretion
• Be a good speaker and communicate well
• Be unbiased and fair in his/her conduct towards members and in decision making

Position of The Chairperson

The chairperson of a meeting should always remember that his/her chairmanship of the meeting is dependent upon the willingness of the meeting to accept him/her as their chairperson. Hence, the authority of the chairperson is derived from the meeting, it is, that there is a tacit undertaking by all those present at the meeting to accept his/her rulings on all points of procedure.

Functions of The Chairperson at The Commencement Of A Meeting

The chairperson is the most important person at the meeting and much depends upon the manner in which he/she conducts the meeting and on how he/she conducts himself.

The chairperson needs to attend to the following matters:

• Ensure that the notice of the meeting is properly constituted.
• Ensure that the notice has been duly issued by the proper authority and that a quorum of members is present. The meeting may be constituted by the chairperson making an announcement to this effect and the meeting may proceed to business.
• Lead and facilitate the meeting based on the agenda and according to principles of fairness and company policy.

From what has been said above, it will be evident that the position of the chairperson is one of crucial importance. To enable him to discharge his functions and duties satisfactorily it is essential that he have an intimate knowledge of all the activities of the organisation, as well as an understanding of the duties of the chairperson of a meeting. Only with such knowledge will he be able to perform his duties competently and efficiently.

Click here to view a video that explains how to chair a meeting.

The Secretary

Large organisations like companies, government departments and Parliament appoint permanent secretaries to assist the chairperson during meetings. Smaller organisations like sports clubs and community societies elect a secretary in the same way as they elect a chairperson.

Qualities Of A Good Secretary

A good secretary should:

• Be prepared to work hard.
• Have a flair for language and an ability to describe proceedings appropriately and correctly
• Be organised and methodical.

Functions of The Secretary

The secretary may be said to be the official pen of the body, since the secretary’s function is to issue notices of meetings, to prepare the agenda-paper of all meetings, to write up the minutes, to attend to the correspondence of the organisation and to preserve in suitable files copies of all outgoing letters and all-important documents and papers of the organisation. He will also initiate such correspondence, as may be necessary arising from any decision taken at a meeting of the organisation.

The secretary has many important duties during and after the meeting. He/she:

• Arranges and prepares the venue for the meeting
• Drafts the notice and agenda and distributes it to members
• Arranges the agenda and other documentation in logical order for the chairperson to use
• Circulates the attendance register for all members to sign
• Notes the starting and closing time of the meeting
• Notes important points of the meeting
• Compiles, types and files the minutes of a meeting, i.e. takes care of administrative work
• Handles the financial matters in the absence of a treasurer
• Counts the votes in the absence of a voting officer
• Sees that the venue is left neat