COMMITTEE STRUCTURE AND PURPOSE
The steps to effective committee governance and leadership
Committee governance and leadership excellence is not easily achieved. Volunteer committee members face inherent difficulties in creating positive and effective teamwork and blending the many demands on their club. To stay in tune with the manner in which players are looking to engage with our sport needs to be addressed with competent leadership and governance. The success of committees today rely on sound planning, prudence and risk management.
Good governance is having a committee structure with a clarity of purpose directly influencing the committee functionality, and the ability to attract and retain suitably qualified members.
An effective committee has a clear vision and understands the purpose and future direction of the club. An important function of the committee is to plan organisational strategy and direction, and develop a strategic plan that will guide the committee and members to achieve identified objectives.
It is important that all key stakeholders and members are consulted through the strategic planning process to ensure future strategies address the most important issues facing the club and wider community.
Read more
The Strategic Planning Process – a step through process from start to finish (.pdf)
Example of a one page Strategic Plan (.pdf)
Outline of club committee structure and roles (.pdf)
How to run effective meetings (.pdf)
Financial Statements simplified for all committee members
Templates
One of the biggest challenges for clubs is to ensure that their committee is both representative of its members, and appropriately skilled and experienced to govern.
Many clubs use the “tap on the shoulder” method of recruiting committee members. Investing time and planning in an election and appointment process will allow committees to be more successful in identifying the required skills. In addition to this, improved communication of positions available will place clubs in a much stronger position moving forward.
Committee member profiles, including a profile of each committee member on your clubs website is a good way to highlight the skills, attributes and personalities on your committee. It is also beneficial for potential applicants to consider where their skills might fit and how they complement the existing committee. Having women represented on your committee it is an effective way of promoting more females into leadership roles in a sector where they are often underrepresented. Tennis NZ is introducing a minimum gender requirement of 40% women on regional/association boards as a regulation attached to their constitution, a goal for all club committees.
Read more
Creating a customized skills matrix for your club will help ensure you have the right mix of skills and expertise to achieve your goals.
Start by identifying the skills and expertise that are essential for your club. Consider your club’s mission, goals, and the specific activities you undertake. Common skills required by committee members are intemised in the template below. Some attributes and skills may be required by all members while others might be required by only one member.
Collect information on the skills and proficiency of your committee members, either through self-assessment surveys or interviews.
Review the matrix to identify any skill gaps and areas for development. Use this information to guide training, recruitment, and succession planning. Regularly update the matrix to reflect changes in skills and committee composition.
By understanding each member's strengths, you can assign club governance and operations that align with their skills ensuring individuals are compfotable n their roles and tasks are handled by the most qualified individuals.
TEMPLATES
An induction pack will ensure new committee members access key information about the club. Many committees develop a specific pack or online hub that contains these documents, providing a reference not only for new committee members but to all members throughout their term. This is simply to ensure new members come up to speed and can contribute to the committee’s work as soon as possible. Even experienced committee members can find joining a new committee challenging. Contents should include, but not be limited to:
- Information about the club (e.g. History, committee structure, contact details of key members)
- Recent meeting minutes, current meeting schedules & financial statements
- Strategic plan
- Constitution
- Club policies & (health & safety, coach contracts, competition selection, member surveys, decision making process, code of conduct etc)
Induction for all volunteers is equally important and a volunteer welcome pack is an important part of volunteer management. It gives the volunteer important information about their new role.
Things to include would be:
- A personal welcoming letter from your Club President or CEO
- A copy of the job description
- A list of volunteers, their roles, responsibilities and phone numbers
- Volunteer code of conduct
- Explanation of the structure and size of the club – as well as its history
- Dates and times of practices, competitions and events
- Schedule of club fees and what are they used for
- Details of any fundraising events
- Information on upcoming training course dates and costs
- Reimbursement information for out-of-pocket expenses
- Link to all important club website pages and social media options
Perhaps your volunteers receive a discount on membership or court usage fee. A voucher of sorts could be an addition to the pack.
Our Partners
