Chairing meetings skills for Elected Members Masterclass (In-House)

Description

Meetings are a traditional and essential component of local government. For both elected members and officers, meetings serve as a forum for discussion and agreement, planning and monitoring, communication and leadership, and decision-making. Used appropriately, meetings can challenge, inspire, illuminate and inform. And while they are not the only meetings that elected members will be asked to attend, committee meetings, in particular, are a mainstay of the political management process.

Effective chairing is important because it can provide clear leadership and direction, ensure that debates are focused and balanced, enable decisions to be reached and ensure that resources are used to best effect.

This two-hour 'masterclass'-style workshop will help elected members to understand their role, offer some approaches and ideas that will help to tackle typical challenges, and help to generally improve their effectiveness as a chair.

• To understand the skills and qualities of a good chair
• To learn ideas and approaches for chairing a successful meeting that is on time and achieves its outcomes
• To understand the protocols and boundaries for appropriate meeting etiquette and the chair's role in managing this effectively
• To appreciate how to manage yourself and others appropriately
• To take away personal actions to apply to your role