Steering Clear

5 Tips to Make Your University Society Meetings More Productive

University societies require meetings to function, whether you are setting goals for the year or trying to organise the Christmas social, you need a meeting!

Some meetings drone on and on, making it seem like time must have slowed down. Whereas, some pass in the blink of an eye, all of your objectives have been achieved and there is even time for a coffee and catch-up at the end.

You're all there out of your free time and nobody is getting paid, so it needs to not bore you half to death! That's the first point to realise, this is not a work meeting and if it starts to feel like that then there are probably some changes that need to be made! Nevertheless, there are some learnings that we can take from the workplace, which we'll touch on in this blog.

So what makes University society meetings productive?

We've put together our 5 top tips to transform your societal meetings to get more done and have more fun!

Define the purpose of your meeting

To have a productive meeting, first, you need to understand what objectives need to be fulfilled. So many times, committee members enter the room without really considering what a good outcome would be.

1. Are you providing updates from previous projects?
2. Is it to set the goals and objectives for the next academic year?
3. Do you need to vote for next year's committee members?
4. Are you responding to queries from the rest of the society?

Everyone attending the meeting should be aware of the objectives right from the outset of the meeting. Sometimes it's best to send through objectives a few days before the meeting so that everybody can begin to form their ideas and questions.

Set the agenda

Always prepare an agenda before your societal meeting. After you have detailed your aims and objectives, it is best to collate these in a meeting agenda.

Make sure to prioritise agenda items, starting with essential topics that require more decision-making before moving on to more menial tasks. Once this is done, assign specific time slots to each agenda to make sure that the meeting remains on track.

Next up, add some breaks into the agenda (especially if the meeting is anticipated to be lengthy), the last thing you need is members falling asleep at the table!
Finally, once the agenda is collated make sure to distribute it along with your meeting objectives!

Lay down some ground rules

Teamwork and productivity can only really happen when society members feel safe and able to contribute without scrutiny.

Establish some guidelines for conduct before the meeting starts to ensure that those sharing their ideas feel respected. Here are some ideas for meeting rules:

• Active Listening - ensure that all committee members are silent and listening when other members are sharing their ideas.
• Mobile phones - it is best to have phones on silent to minimise unwanted distractions.
• Round table discussions - for some conversation points you might want to make sure everybody has the opportunity to speak.
• Timeliness - agree to show up on time so that all members can finish on time.

Sometimes it is best to have a meeting chair to ensure that these rules are followed and the discussion doesn't get too far off track!

Appoint Important Roles

Your university society might already have appointed roles eg, Club Captain/Chairman, Treasurer etc. Nevertheless, it is always best to appoint meeting roles.

Meeting Chair
Most meetings require a chairperson, this can be your Club Captain but that's definitely not compulsory. The role of the chair is to facilitate and lead discussions, ensure the meeting keeps to time and make sure the ground rules are kept to.

The Scribe
The scribe's role is to document the proceedings, key discussion points and final action points. They should detail the minutes accurately and disseminate them among the attendees after the meeting has finished.

Create action points and timelines

So your meeting is coming to an end and all has gone brilliantly, how should you bring it all to a close?

Conclude the meeting with the key action points from the discussion. What needs to be done and how does this fit into the broader objective of the society? These action points should serve as a road map to furthering the objectives that were decided on at the start of the meeting.

Identify which members will take ownership of each task and what the timeline should be for the completion of each action point.

Finally, make sure to disseminate the action points throughout your university society so that all members can see the direction of the meeting even if they aren't in attendance.

So there you have it, 5 key tips to make your next university society meeting a success. Remember, most of the work happens in the planning before and making sure everybody gets there in the first place.

If you are struggling to find a date that works for all your committee, then Loop4 can help! With just a few clicks you can distribute invites via social media and let your members decide on the date between them.

Loop4 your society today!