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SUGGESTIONS FOR CHAIRING ADVISORY BOARDS
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SOME DO'S
l. Encourage polite dissent and allow differences to be declared and respected.
2. Start the meeting on time and have an agreed ending time. Two hours is lots of time for people who have already put in an eight-hour working day.
3. As Chairperson, set a positive and co-operative tone.
4. Balance the meeting so that there is sufficient informality for the timid to speak, yet enough parliamentary procedure for decisions to be made fairly.
5. Use the Incumbent's veto in matters of worship and education sparingly and with an explanation of how this accords with Anglican polity.
6. Build the agenda co-operatively so that all participants can bring and air their concerns.
7. After all views have been registered, allow the Board to come to a decision so they don't feel that important matters are constantly deferred or "left up in the air".
8. After taking a decision, agree as to who is going to enact it and how the follow-up will happen.
SOME DON'TS
1. Don't ignore suggestions. Ideas can be thankfully acknowledged without necessarily concurring.
2. Don't encourage adversarial behaviour by politicking outside of the meeting or making appeals for "support for the Rector".
3. Don't, as Chairperson, get into a series of two-way conversations with each speaker. Maintain a concerned objectivity.
4. Rather than fearfully trying to guide things to a particular conclusion, find and fill your appointments on the board with excellent people. If you have a nominating committee procedure, get involved and recommend the names of good new people that may be unknown to the nominating committee.
5. Don't neglect the other provisions of the Canons which have evolved over the centuries to create a harmonious balance between the three partners in parish life: the Bishop, the Priest, and the people.
6. Don't try to guard or protect the Members from the challenges of life that are facing them. They were chosen because they are people who can cope and come up with creative solutions.
Item XXII
©1999 Ronald C. Ferris
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