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Prepare for a successful handover by learning from the outgoing executive committee. Develop your team, strategy, budget, and key skills with thorough training and resource identification. Understand essential committee roles and responsibilities for effective teamwork.
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Executive TrainingTerm Two Picture?
Find out as much as you can from your old executive committee before they vanish – HANDOVER • Get to know each other and decide your roles – BUILD YOUR TEAM • Decide your strategy for the year - SET YOUR AIMS & OBJECTIVES • Decide what you want to do this year, and when you want to do it – CREATE A PLAN • Decide how you will pay for it – CREATE A BUDGET • Learn some key stuff – TRAINING & LEARNING • Find out where you can get help – IDENTIFY RESOURCES What do you Need to do NOW? Picture?
a period of SHADOWING members of the current committee • one or more CONSULTATION MEETINGS to discuss approaches to recruitment and engagement, key campaigns and/or collaborations, issues with members, etc. • one or more PLANNING MEETINGS – to consider regular and one-off activities and events for the year, pass on tips and warnings, help with budgeting etc. • one or more INFORMATION HANDOVER MEETINGS – to pass over useful information, important contacts, social media passwords. etc. • providing FUTURE CONTACT DETAILS for ongoing support/advice A successful handover may include ….
We will provide you with a handover checklist to complete, so that you can let us know whether or not you have been able to find out everything you need to from the outgoing committee. Please be honest – if there are gaps in your knowledge, and we know, we can help you!
FIGUREHEADS for their societies, representing their values and aims; • Key POINTS OF CONTACT for members, execs, the SU and the University; • RESPONSIBLE – for finances, the conduct of members, the organisation of events and activities, compliance with regulations, the maintenance of good relations with other societies and the SU, etc.; • OBLIGED to hold and attend meetings, hold elections, comply with regulations and make decisions; • ROLE MODELS - for members, students, the SU, the University and the wider community; • MANAGERS – of time, people, money and communications Society Executives Are …
Together Everyone Achieves More
Teamwork • Communication • Asking for Help Picture?
Make time - and create opportunities - to get to know each other. Teams are built, not born - waiting for Welcome Week is not advised. • Be open about your strengths and your weaknesses – others will be encouraged to do the same. • Expect problems – plan for them, if you can. • Be flexible – things change. • Share knowledge, skills and ideas - and walk in each other’s shoes now and then.
The only roles defined by the Constitution are those of President, Treasurer and Secretary, and even they can be called something else. Essentially - presidents call & chair meetings, treasurers (& presidents) are responsible for finances, and secretaries publish agendas and minutes. • You will want to assign responsibility for roles including: internal communications, external communications, event planning and promotion, managing social media, society fundraising, charitable fundraising, volunteering and booking rooms and tables, plus any specialised activities, like organising workshops and classes. • Online elections must be held for all positions – you can’t just swap or substitute execs. Elections are being held this term to fill missing positions and will be held again in the second week of Term One.
First Year Rep Friendship Groups Coordinator Fundraising and Employment Officer Fundraising Officer General Rep General Secretary Head of Arts & Cultural Division Head of Career & Academic Division Head of Entertainment & Sponsorship Division Head of Organisational Division Head Representative - Brothers Head Representative - Sisters Information Secretary Intercession Leader ISA Rep ISA Representative Liaison Officer Live Music Coordinator Live Music Coordinator Main Meeting coordinator Male Religious Officer Marketing and Fundraising Marketing and Media officer Marketing Officer Media and Publicity Officer Media Coordinator Media Officer Media Relations Officer Membership Development Secretary Minister of the Propaganda Department Musical Convenor Musical Director Operational Volunteering Coordinator Photographic Officer Political Convenor PR Manager PR Officer Praise and Worship Leader Prayer Coordinator Public Relations Officer Public Relations/Media Coordinator Public Relations/Media Officer Publicity and Student Marketing Officer Publicity Officer Publicity Officer Recruitment and Social Officer Religious Convenor Secretary General Secretary/Webmaster Sections Officer Small Groups Coordinator Social and Events Secretary Social Events Officer Social Media Coordinator Social Media Liaison Officer Social Media Manager Social Media Officer Social Media Officer Social Officer Social Secretary Events Co-ordinator 1st Year Representative 2nd Year Rep 3rd Year Rep Academic Officer Activities Convenor Activities Coordinator Alto Student Voice Representative Arts Convenor Bass Student Voice Representative Campaigns and Fundraising Officer Careers Officer Caretaker Cell Group Leader Chair Charity & Fundraising Officer Charity and Fundraising Officer Choir Coordinator Choir Leader Collaborations Officer Community Activities Officer Community and Volunteering Officer Conference Officer Creative Editor Cultural Convenor Departmental Convenor Deputy Head of Arts & Cultural Division Deputy Head of Design & Marketing Division Editor of Inter Alia Events and Evangelism Co-ordinator Events and Media Officer Events and Outreach Officer Events and Social Officer Events Coordinator Events Manager Events Officer Events Officer Events Officer 2 Events Organiser - Brothers Events Organiser - Sisters Events Organiser and Social Media Officer Expedition Liaison Officer External Relations Officer Female Religious Officer Finance Officer First Year Engagement Officer First Year Rep Friendship Groups Coordinator Soprano Student Voice Representative Southend Vice-President Sports and Social Executive Sports Officer Stage Director Student Health Care Professional Rep Tenor Student Voice Representative Training Coordinator Trans Officer Trips Coordinator Vice-President Vice-President/ Secretary Volunteer and Charity Officer Volunteering & Fundraising Officer Volunteering and Events Officer Volunteering Officer Web Master Welfare and Volunteering Officer Welfare Officer Welfare Organiser Women's Officer Workshop Coordinator Workshop Officer 129 and counting!
Schedule formal committee meetings, with chair(s), agendas and minutes. A chair & agenda avoids wasting time, while minutes avoid miscommunication and shirking. • Publish your minutes on your web pages – members will feel involved, and you will need them to apply for some badges. • Share responsibilities fairly. One or two people can’t do everything, and shouldn’t be trying - and everyone deserves a chance to achieve something and develop skills & experience by ‘owning ’ a project or action. • Be careful when using group chats and messaging – the written word is easily misinterpreted, people may not be in the right frame of mind, and things can escalate.
Always begin by discussing the issue and your views about it directly and reasonably with those involved. Let everyone involved have their say, stick to the issues, avoid personal comments, and try to see each others’ points of view. • Try to keep your discussions face-to-face – written comments often sound much harsher than intended and can be misinterpreted, and group chats encourages others to add to problem by taking sides, which is rarely helpful.
If an executive is complaining about the way something has been managed, try to listen to their point of view without being overly defensive – the chances are, it is not personal. Often, asking the person to take on some responsibilities can help, as they will have more ownership and feel that they are making a difference. • If you feel an executive is not pulling their weighttalk to them about it, limiting your discussion to specifics rather than discussing their attitude or abilities. The desired outcome is a an agreed list of tasks and deadlines. If the person is not interested in finding a solution, explore whether they would prefer to step down from their position. If they are taking on too much it, may actually be a relief. • If all else fails, don’t forget that you can call for a vote of no confidence and remove someone from the committee.
If the problem persists, consider involving an external party as a mediator: e.g. another executive, or your convenor. They will be able to offer an impartial opinion on the issue, and suggest solutions to all parties involved. • However, should you feel that a breach of the Societies Guild Constitution or Code of Conduct has occurred, please contact the Societies Team by emailing susocs@essex.ac.uk. Try to keep any evidence of behaviour you consider to be ‘unacceptable’ in the form of minutes, screenshots etc.
What’s Available? • SU Learn offers FREE training in leadership skills, managing meetings, minute taking, dealing with conflict and more. • Every society has a convene, and every convene has a convenor. (And sometimes two.) Ask them – if they don’t know the answer ask them to find out, so next time, they know. There are also specialist officers for volunteering, fundraising and events. • Your SU Societies Team also created a Facebook group for all executives, so ask your peers. If no-one knows, and you find out - post the answer. More …..
The Societies Team office is open for drop-ins 10:00 – 12:30 Monday-Friday every week in term time. We are always happy to chat. • Last but not least - our Societies FAQ pages contain answers to pretty much every societies-related question you could care to ask. Just type a key word or words in the search box, and technology will do the rest. • Remember, there is no such thing as a stupid question.
BUT • Your commitment to your society does NOT mean that you should be putting up with unacceptable behaviour or dealing with unreasonable amounts of stress. • The SU is here to support ALL our members. Although we cannot solve every problem ourselves, we can help you either to tackle issues yourself or bring other processes into operation. • If things are becoming too much, please talk to us. If we cannot help you, there will always be someone else who can.
Why do your Aims & Objectives matter? • They are the foundation for your society’s strategic direction for the year ahead, setting out what your society is for, what it wants and what it is about. Everything that your society does should reflect your aims and objectives. • They are what makes you unique – new and existing societies cannot duplicate your them. • They summarise what members are buying into when they purchase membership of your society. If you are not pursuing those aims and objectives, you are not delivering on your promise to your members. • The money you earn from membership sales – which makes up your budgeted fund (see later) - may only be spent on the achievement of your aims and objectives. Picture?
AIMS A statement of WHAT your society wants to achieve, for WHOm, and (maybe) WHY. For example: • Raise awareness of Speech and Language Therapy services and the client groups it supports • Bring together students with an interest in Speech and Language Therapy • Develop and share our knowledge of Speech and Language Therapy
OBJECTIVES A description of HOWyour society will achieve its aims– preferably specific, measureable, achievable, realistic & timed (SMART). • Organise sponsored and fundraising events that promote speech and language therapy awareness • Organise academic events relevant to the profession in order to develop our understanding and knowledge of SLT • Organise social events to promote awareness of the role of SLTs and to have fun! • Facilitate networking with other societies and organization
Your aims and objectives will inform your budget (see later) and need to be set out in your Societies Constitution. • Your Constitution, plus your Code of Conduct, needs to be emailed to susocs@essex.ac.uk before you can assume responsibility for your society. • Don’t worry about physically signing it – just add names at the bottom and copy it to everyone named.
It is a really good idea to do this with the outgoing committee as part of your society handover, if you can. • Make a list of all the regular activities & socials that your society organised last year, and then remove from or add to it as desired. Were there problems with attendance, planning, promotion or management last year? If so, how can these be avoided? • Do the same with a list of all the large or ‘one-off’ events you held, bearing in mind the SU and University calendar as you go, so that Welcome Week, Freshers’ Fair, Winter Fayre, One World Week, Human Rights Week, LGBT Month, Black History Month, International Women’s Week and exam season (etc.) are accounted for. • Consider how successful your fundraising was last year. Again, were there problems, and if so, can they be overcome? If you didn’t do any, would you like to this year? • Think about badges, standards and awards. What did you achieve last year, and how? What do you need to do to achieve even more this year? Picture?
Your Treasurer and President have primary responsibility for all matters relating to your society’s finances, so their names go on the budget. However, all executives should be aware of the contents, and ideally will have had some input. • Before drafting your budget you will need to: • Have a good, basic understanding of the way that your society’s finances work, plus funding options that are open to you. We will go through some of this now, but please check back here and in the FAQ’s before you start. • Know what your account balance at the end of the year is likely to be. This is something you need to discuss in handovers, as there may be plans to spend any surplus before year end. • Have a clear idea of your aims and objectives (as the items in your budget must relate to it). • Have created an agreed a plan for the year ahead, in as much detail as possible. Picture?
All societies have an SU account. This is actually a couple of unique codes that allow us to identify your money within a very large SU account, but most of the time that doesn’t matter. • Two codes money going into and out of your budgeted fund. • Another two codes identify money going into and out of your non-budgeted fund. You can think of the two funds as being a bit like a savings account (budgeted) and a current account (non-budgeted).
What gets paid in? • Membership fees – remember, you can decide what to charge, as long as it is a least £3. • How can you spend it? • On anything, so long as it helps you to further your aims and objectives as a society and it has been approved in your budget. Budgeted Fund Picture? At the end of each year any unspent money in your budgeted fund is transferred to your non-budgeted fund, so your starting balance will be always be zero.
What gets paid in? • Unspent money from the previous year’s Budgeted Fund • Any money you raise for your society during the year • How can you spend it? • On anything, so long as what you spend it on: • benefits all members and • is not illegal Non-Budgeted Fund Picture? At the end of each year any unspent money in your budgeted fund remains in your account, and can be used by the society the following year.
In order to be able to spend the money in your Budgeted Fund • To ensure that you do expend money on furthering your aims and objectives as a society, and so provide a quality membership • To meet Black Badge requirements • To allow you plan when and how much additional funding you will need to raise Why do you need to complete a Budget Application Form? Picture?
All transactions – payments in and payments out - MUST be made via your society’s SU. Never pay expenses out of your income unless you are raising money for charity as it is illegal (because you will be avoiding VAT ). • Presidents & treasurers receive a weekly automated statement – please check it! • It is against SU regulations for any member to pay society money into their own account, or for a society to open a separate bank account. • Money can be paid in, and expenses collected from, SU Reception, but queries should be raised with the SU Societies Team. Ask the old committee, and read the FAQ page, for more information about claiming expenses. • Income from web sales goes straight into your account, but may not appear until the end of the month.
