About IFAS Leadership DevelopmentThe Most Important Jobs: The Group Leader and The Group Member
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About IFAS Leadership DevelopmentThe Most Important Jobs: The Group Leader and The Group Member

   

About IFAS Leadership DevelopmentThe Most Important Jobs: The Group Leader and The Group Member 1

Elizabeth B. Bolton2

Recommendations for Leader Training

The IFAS Leadership Development Packet of eleven modules was developed for use by Florida Cooperative Extension agents. They were designed for training agents and officers, and not for general distribution to the public. Handouts for audience use are labeled and printed on white paper. These may be duplicated for use during class.

Each lesson is designed for a workshop approximately two hours long. Use your judgement on shortening or expanding various parts according to the needs of your participants.

Objectives

  1. To introduce participants to the roles of the group leader and group members.

  2. To show how each role contributes to making the group effective.

Lesson Outline

Lesson Plan -- The Most Important Jobs: The Group Leader and the Group Member

Step 1 -- 10 minutes

Use The Leader's Job as an introductory lecture. You may want to modify the jobs listed to represent the degree of formality of the group.

Read objectives of lesson and write it on chalkboard.

Step 2 -- 60 minutes

List leadership skills needed by organizational presidents/chairpersons.

A topical outline is included for each of these. Select the two that are most important to the group and provide a lecture accompanied by handout.

*Note: Planning and parliamentary procedure may require a good deal of time and discussion. Parliamentary Procedure can be given as a handout and study guide.

Leadership skills essential for all groups are included in:

Break -- 5 minutes

Step 3 -- 10 minutes

Use Leader's Responsibility as background material for brief lecture.

Handout Leader's Own Evaluation as individual assessment.

Step 4 -- 20 minutes

Emphasize that group members are as important as group leaders and each should aspire to be the leader of the group.

Use The Member's Job as a background for a brief lecture.

Form small groups and ask each group to make their own list of what group members should be expected to do.

Hand out Test Yourself to participants. Ask them to evaluate themselves.

Hand out Evaluate the Meeting. Emphasize that group leaders and members have an obligation to evaluate group meetings.

Step 5 -- 15 minutes

Review main points of lesson.

Restate objectives and tell how they were covered.

Pass out evaluation, collect it and then adjourn.

The Leader's Job

The group leader has a major role in the overall effectiveness of the group. The group leader may have a title such as president or chairperson if it is a formal organization. Below are specific things that are generally the leader's responsibility.

Know the Group

The leader's first job is to understand his or her group. Here are some things you should know:

Does each individual know clearly what his or her role or job is? Who does what and why? What is being done to help each person perform as he or she should?

Get the Committee Working

Committees and boards serve as task forces doing specific tasks for the organization. Committees, properly used, become the leader's right arm. They also reduce the amount of routine in the business meeting of the organization. The leader is usually an ex-officio member of all committees except the nominating committee. Here are some things which help committees at work:

Prepare for the Meeting

Adapted from Leadership Training for You by Daryl K. Heasley, Pennsylvania State University.

Plan for the Year Ahead

Soon after assuming duties you will want to plan programs for the year ahead. This can often be delegated to a planning committee, but the leader is responsible for seeing that planning gets done. Here are some steps:

Hints for Handling Speakers

Here is a list of things to keep in mind when you have speakers for your meetings. These things are important but often overlooked. Tell club events that make news:

When introducing the speaker, try to create a desire to hear the person you are introducing. This requires the speaker's name and background information, qualifications concerning this topic and why the topic is important for the group.

One idea for an introduction might be:

"We are fortunate to have with us an outstanding Family and Community Educator today. She won the Dairy Days contest last year, and has told her success story to many groups. With the present prices of milk and butter, we are very fortunate to have her speak on 'Making Your Family Fit and Healthy with Dairy Products.' Please welcome Mrs. Watson."

Be enthusiastic about having him or her as a speaker. Lead the applause and remain standing until the speaker has taken his or her place.

Keep Your Organization Before the Public

Many people in your community know little or nothing about your organization. Tell the great story behind the organization and its members. Here are a few hints.

The people helping your organization want to be in the news for the following reasons:

Your actions constitute news, so make arrangements to publicize the events. Here is what to tell:

  1. Who -- the person, organization, etc.

  2. What -- the meeting, prize list, conference, etc.

  3. When -- time, yesterday, tomorrow, next week, 8 p.m., etc.

  4. Where -- place, Grange, school, etc.

  5. Why -- cause, officers elected, carnival planned, etc.

  6. How -- circumstances, how meeting came about, etc.

Tell club events that make news:

Adapted from Leadership Training for You by Daryl K. Heasley, Pennsylvania State University.

Parliamentary Procedure for Common Use

Parliamentary procedure is inevitable for at least two reasons:

  1. As a member of one or more organizations, at least a minimum knowledge of parliamentary procedure is needed.

  2. Members tend to complicate parliamentary procedure beyond reason for the majority of meetings attended.

What are the uses for parliamentary procedure? Generally, parliamentary procedure is a tool used to accomplish the goals and objectives of a group in an efficient, fair, and harmonious manner. To be more specific, parliamentary procedure provides a flexible plan for transacting the three steps of business at hand. These steps are:

The "birth" period is generally represented by introducing a main motion. To introduce a main motion, a member says, "Mr. Chairman, I move...;" never "Mr. Chairman, I wish to make a motion or I so move." The main motion is placed on the floor when no other undisposed of motions are pending. The main motion always requires a second before the debate is allowed. The debate period corresponds to the "growth" period. The vote is the "disposition."

Many times in small or informal groups, strict parliamentary procedure is not needed for agreement among members nor is it desired. Never use parliamentary procedure for its sake, or in other words, do not become a slave to the rules. A rule of thumb you can use is: as the size of the group increases, the formality of parliamentary procedure increases. This rule works well if there is little disagreement in the group or for routine matters. However, if the group has a lot of dissension, the chairperson should alter the situation as needed regardless of size.

Another point to consider is how much the group knows about parliamentary procedure. A large group with little knowledge of parliamentary procedure would probably get more accomplished using an informal approach. A small group well versed in parliamentary procedure would probably do better to use formal procedure.

In other words, never insist on technical terms when the group does not have the training to understand them. These groups might need help in rephrasing awkward motions, seeing that members receive their just treatment, shutting off the "one person" show.

It might be wise to have a complete parliamentary reference available for special times, but usually only an average of common knowledge will be needed. See Table 1 for the more commonly used motions together with reasons for using them. The arrangement of these more common motions are as they might occur in descending order in a regular meeting.

Suggested Meeting Procedures

The following statements are suggestions and are commonly used with slight variations in most meetings. Some tips are added to illustrate specific points.

Chairperson: The meeting will now come to order. The secretary will call the roll. (Secretary generally calls the roll silently and simply reports the number of members and guests present.)

Chairperson: Thank you. the secretary will read the minutes of the previous meeting. (Secretary reads minutes.)

Chairperson: Thank you. Are there any corrections to the minutes? (Common courtesy normally forbids calling out "Mr. Chairman." Instead, one receives recognition from the chair by raising his hand or standing.) If corrected, then...

Chairperson: If there are no objections, the minutes will be corrected as follows. (Secretary makes proper corrections.)

Chairperson: Any other corrections? Upon hearing none, the minutes stand approved as corrected. (When there are no corrections, the chairman simply states, "The minutes stand approved as read.")

Chairperson: We will now have the officers' reports. The president's report will be first. (This report is normally general; that is, type of program, time and place for next meeting, special guests, or events forthcoming.)

Chairperson: Any questions? If none, the report stands as read.

Chairperson: We will now have the vice president's report. (Handled as president's report if vice president has one.)

Chairperson: Next, the treasurer's report. (This report is normally given from meeting to meeting with a grand summary at the end of the fiscal year, usually when officers are elected.)

Chairperson: Thank you. Any questions concerning the treasurer's report? If not, the report will be received as read. (Note: The treasurer's report differs from other officer's reports in that it is only received from meeting to meeting and never approved until it has been audited which is normally at the end of the fiscal year.)

Chairperson: Next, the secretary's report. (This is not in reference to the minutes, but rather of correspondence, approved bills, and possibly of special happenings not recorded in regular minutes.) Secretary reports.

Chairperson: Thank you. Any questions concerning the secretary's report? If not, it will stand approved as read. (Members may approve or reject bills and take action on correspondence, or these and other matters may be taken up under new business. If long discussion seems to be involved, then the action may best be postponed until new business.)

Chairperson: Now we will have the committee reports. We will have the report(s) of standing committee(s) first. (Normally, standing committees are elected for a period of a year. Many of these committees, such as program, advisory, and flower show, continue from year to year.) Committee chairman reports.

Group members are interested in what, why, how, and when the committee did or will do the job it was assigned. After the job is done, members may also be interested in recommendations the committee may have for change or improvement. They are not interested in personal accomplishments, orating or acting ability, or why the committee failed in spite of excellent leadership.

Chairperson: Thank you. Any questions about this report? If none, we will accept the report as given. (Other standing committee reports are disposed of in like manner.)

Chairperson: We have no more standing committee reports, so let us proceed with the special committee reports. Do we have any special committee reports at this time? (Special committee reports often require immediate action, as these committees are normally of short duration.) Special committee reports.

Chairperson: Thank you. Any questions concerning the report? If not, what are your thoughts concerning the report? (Many times the committee chairman moves to take necessary action, but this is not essential. Any member may offer a motion. If a motion is made, then a second is needed. Anyone may second the motion except the maker of the motion or the main chairman. Example: Motion made and seconded to buy a new coffeemaker.)

Chairperson: It has been moved and seconded that the committee follow through with its report and buy a new coffeemaker. Any discussion? (Member is recognized and amends the motion to read a new drip coffeemaker. It was properly seconded.)

Chairperson: The main motion has been amended to read: Buy a new drip coffeemaker. Any discussion? (Following the discussion, the chairman may sense that the group is ready to vote, and say, "Are you ready to vote on the amendment?") Amendment voted and passed.

Chairperson: We will now vote on the amended motion. Any discussion? If none, are you ready to vote? (If no discussion, proceed to vote.) Amended motion passed. (Note: A motion may be amended, and the amendment to the motion may be amended, but no further amendments may be added. If more amendments are needed, the motion was so badly phrased at first that the chairman should have helped rephrase it at the beginning. It may be better to start with a new motion. The old one can be withdrawn.)

Chairperson: Any other committee reports? If not, we are ready to proceed to unfinished business. (This refers to any pending business stated in the secretary's minutes.) Secretary is asked to state any pending business, and group takes appropriate action.

Chairperson: Any other unfinished business? If not, let us proceed to postponed business. (This refers to tabled motions, postponed motions, and committee referrals.) Secretary or committee members state any postponed business. This is disposed of the same way as old business.

Chairperson: If there is no other postponed business, we are ready for new business. (New business is disposed of as old business.) Normally, the program is presented at this time.

The program is presented.

Chairperson: The business for this meeting has been completed. A motion for adjournment is now in order. Motion made and seconded.

Chairperson: It has been moved and seconded that this meeting be adjourned. All those in favor of adjourning please say "aye;" opposed, "no." Never say "All those opposed say 'aye'." Opposed voting must be negative. The motion is carried and this meeting stands adjourned.

What are some ways to carry out the foregoing agenda? Remember, that only one main motion may be on the floor at any one time, but higher ranking motions may take priority. These higher ranking motions are taken care of before returning to the main motion. This means that several motions may be on the floor at any one time provided they were made in ascending (proper) order, but that the most recent motion must be disposed of first. One other point before listing the various types of motions is to suggest how motions may be changed. A motion may be amended, or changed, by (1) inserting, (2) striking out, or (3) striking out and inserting words in the original motion.

Kinds of Motions

Table 2 contains the five kinds of motions in ascending order, starting with the main motion on the bottom and progressing up through the privileged motions.

  1. A main motion introduces an action to the assembly for its consideration. It is always debatable and amendable, and it ranks lowest in priority.

  2. A subsidiary motion is applied to other motions, normally a main motion, to alter, postpone, or temporarily dispose of said motions. Subsidiary motions may be called the middle motions as they rank in priority between the main and privileged motions.

  3. An incidental motion is used when conducting business. Such a motion must be disposed of before action can be taken on the motion out of which the incidental motion arose. Incidental motions have no order of precedence within themselves. This is one aspect peculiar to these motions that makes them different from all other motions. However, each incidental motion must be disposed of before another incidental motion can be made. Incidental motions include closing nominations, rising a point of order, or selecting a method of voting.

  4. A renewal motion lets the assembly bring back to the floor a previous motion for reconsideration. Examples: to take from the table; to reconsider.

  5. A privileged motion refers to the action of the assembly as to a whole. These motions out-rank all other motions; however, fix time to adjourn, and to take a recess are privileged only when other motions are pending. Examples: take a recess, raise question of privilege, call for orders of the day, and adjournment.

Remember, any motion which is made while no other business is on the floor is a main motion. Subsidiary motions may be applied to it in order of their precedence. The higher priority motions, such as privileged, renewal, incidental, and subsidiary, must always be disposed of in order of priority before voting on the main motion.

Adapted from Leadership Training for You by Daryl K. Heasley, Pennsylvania State University.

The Leader's Responsibility

The leader must remember that any action he or she takes is subject to appeal by the assembly. However, the leader does have the following authority.

See The Leader's Own Evaluation in Table 3 to test your leadership skills.

Agenda or Order of Business

Your organization may follow a regular opening ceremony. However, most organizations follow the general agenda suggested here. Similar agendas may be found in books, pamphlets, bulletins, and organizational guides.

  1. Call meeting to order.

  2. Roll call (may be omitted if desired).

  3. Minutes of previous meeting.

  4. Officers' reports.

    • President

    • Vice president (may not have regular report)

    • Treasurer

    • Secretary (corresponding secretary will give report here)

  5. Standing committee reports.

  6. These reports may be combined into committee reports. If combined, reports should be asked for in this order. Special committee reports.

  7. Unfinished business. Many chairmen often combine these into old business. Your knowledge of your group can aid you in making the decision as to which term(s) to use for your organization's agenda.

  8. Postponed business.

  9. New business.

  10. Adjournments.

Adapted from Leadership Training for You by Daryl K. Heasley, Pennsylvania State University.

The Member's Job

Know Your Group

The member's first job is to know something about his or her organization. Who are the people? Why do they have an organization? What does the group do?

Who Are the People?

Why Have a Group?

What Does the Group Do?

Understanding How Your Group Works

Many groups operate as though leadership is the sole responsibility of one person who has to exercise it alone. Evidence, however, proves that a group is usually stronger if many members perform leadership jobs. At times, one member may initiate ideas, another may clarify, another may compromise, another may summarize, and so on. In a mature group no single person feels entirely responsible for the direction of the discussion or the success of the program. Thus, in a given action every member may be a "leader" at some point by performing in a leadership role.

Does this objective mean that everybody becomes a prima donna? No! This type of leadership demands responsibility of every member, but there is still a need for some person or persons to coordinate the total program.

Here are a few group-building functions necessary to maintain and build the organization:

Here are some task functions necessary if the organization is to reach its goals:

There are times when some members respond negatively. Some negative roles commonly noticed are: blocking or delaying action, aggressively attacking other members, seeking recognition by excessive talking, grabbing unwarranted authority, and/or acting indifferently. A productive member recognizes such negative behavior and tries to counteract it.

Participate in Meetings

A good meeting has its beginnings long before the group assembles, and it carries its influence long afterwards. Are you a part of the "before and after" as well as the actual assembly? The productive member prepares for the meeting, participates in the meeting, and follows through on subsequent business.

Prepare Before the Meeting

Participate at the Meeting

After the Meeting, Follow Through

Every group is made up of many interrelated actions. Therefore, each member must do his or her own special job and communicate with other members so that group effort may be an integrated whole. Following through is necessary for success.

Serve on Committees

Part of the member's job is to serve the organization as a committee person, board member, member of a task force, or project leader. These assignments should not be taken lightly. Here are a few guidelines to help you do a better job:

See Table 4 to test yourself on a few things a good organization member does and Table 5 to evaluate what was good about the meeting.

Adapted from Leadership Training for You by Daryl K. Heasley, Pennsylvania State University.

Table 1.

Common Parliamentary Procedure
It might be wise to have a complete parliamentary reference available for special times, but usually only an average or common knowledge will be needed. The following chart shows the more commonly used motions together with reasons for using them. The arrangement of these more common motions are as they might occur in descending order in a regular meeting.

Why Use the Motion

Kind of Motion

Second

Debatable

Amendable

Vote Required
Main Motion
1.To introduce a new item of business.


 Main motion


 Yes


 Yes


 Yes


 Majority
Subsidiary Motions
2.To modify or change motion under discussion.


 Amend the motion


 Yes


 Yes


 Yes


 Majority
3.To place the item of business in the hands of a committee.


 Refer to a committee


 Yes


 Yes


 Yes


 Majority
4.To delay action on the item of business.


 Postpone to a set time


 Yes


 Yes


 Yes


 Majority
5.To close debate immediately.


 Limit or close debate


 Yes


 No


 No


 Two-thirds
6.To temporarily set aside an item of business.


 Lay on table


 Yes


 No


 No


 Majority
Privileged Motions
7.To obtain immediate action in an emergency.


 Raise question of privilege


 No


 No


 No


 None
8.To take an intermission or interrupt a meeting.


 Recess


 Yes


 No


 Yes


 Majority
9.To end a meeting.


 Adjourn


 Yes


 No


 No


 Majority
Adapted from The Chairman's Job and How to Do It by Howard J. Bonser, Pennsylvania State University, College of Agriculture Extension Service.

Table 2.

Parliamentary Procedure
The following chart contains these five kinds of motions in ascending order, starting with the main motion on the bottom and progressing up through the privileged motions.

Motion

Second

Required

Vote

Required

Amendable

Debatable

Interrupt

Speaker
5. Privileged
Fix time at which to adjourn

Adjourn

Take a recess

Raise question of privilege

Call for orders of the day


 Yes

Yes

Yes

No

No


 Majority

Majority

Majority

Chair decides

Chair decides


 Yes

No

Yes

No

No


 No

No

No

No

No


 No

No

No

Yes

Yes
4. Renewal
Take from the table

Reconsider

Rescind, repeal


 Yes

Yes

Yes


 Majority

Majority

Two-thirds


 No

No

Yes


 No

Yes

Yes


 No

Yes

No
3. Incidental
Appeal

Division of Assembly

Division of Question

Withdraw a motion

Point of order

Suspend rules

Object to consideration

Parliamentary inquiry


 Yes

No

No

No

No

Yes

No

No


 Majority

Chair

Majority

Majority

Chair

Two-thirds

Two-thirds

Chair


 No

No

Yes

No

No

No

No

No


 Yes

No

No

No

No

No

No

No


 Yes

No

No

No

Yes

No

Yes

Yes
2. Subsidiary
Lay on the table

Previous question (end debate)

Limit or extend debate

Postpone to set time

Refer or commit to committee

Amend the amendment

Amend the motion

Postpone indefinitely


 Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes


 Majority

Two-thirds

Two-thirds

Majority

Majority

Majority

Majority

Majority


 No

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

No


 No

No

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes


 No

No

No

No

No

No

No

No
1. Main Motion


 Yes


 Majority


 Yes


 Yes


 No
Adapted from The Chairman's Job and How to Do It by Howard J. Bonser, Pennsylvania State University, College of Agriculture Extension Service.

Table 3.

The Leader's Own Evaluation
Certain qualities in a leader promote a well-organized meeting. Here are a few for you to test yourself with.

Score 3 points for each "always," 2 for "sometimes," and 1 for "never." A good discussion leader will score 20 to 30 points.
Do I get all possible information to the members before the meeting?


Always
Sometimes
Never
Have I checked arrangements for the meeting, such as heat, lighting, seating, etc.?


Always
Sometimes
Never
Do I have an agenda worked out, estimating the time likely to be required for each segment?


Always
Sometimes
Never
Am I tolerant of members with whom I disagree?


Always
Sometimes
Never
Do I use questions during the discussion to encourage participation?


Always
Sometimes
Never
Can I handle an argument without getting personally involved?


Always
Sometimes
Never
Do I try to get the less vocal members to participate?


Always
Sometimes
Never
Am I aware of the importance of adequate information for a discussion?


Always
Sometimes
Never
Do I come to meetings prepared for a clear introduction of the subject aimed at clarifying goals and promoting informality?


Always
Sometimes
Never
Do I listen to detect when members are in agreement on an issue or when they are getting off the subject?


Always
Sometimes
Never
Adapted from Leadership Training for You by Daryl K. Heasley, Pennsylvania State University

Table 4.

Test Yourself
Here are a few things a good organization member does. Score yourself 3 points for each ?nearly always,? 2 for each ?sometimes,? and 1 for each ?never.? A good member will score 20 to 30 points.
Do I know and believe in the purposes of my organization?


Nearly Always
Sometimes
Never
Do I share responsibilities with my group?


Nearly Always
Sometimes
Never
Do I attend meetings?


Nearly Always
Sometimes
Never
Do I prepare for meetings by learning what they are about?


Nearly Always
Sometimes
Never
When at meetings, do I help others to participate?


Nearly Always
Sometimes
Never
Do I express my ideas at meetings?


Nearly Always
Sometimes
Never
Do I support decisions made, even though they may not be those I have expressed?


Nearly Always
Sometimes
Never
Do I pass suggestions on to officers?


Nearly Always
Sometimes
Never
Do I promote the organization by telling others about it?


Nearly Always
Sometimes
Never
Do I serve on committees or projects when asked to serve?


Nearly Always
Sometimes
Never


My Score

Table 5.

Evaluate the Meeting
After the meeting ? Evaluate! What was good about the meeting? What was poor? How could it have been improved? Here are a few questions you might ask yourself after the meeting. Someone in the audience might help you answer these:
GOALS: Were the goals clear to the audience?


Good
Fair
Poor
Were they what the audience wanted?


Good
Fair
Poor
Did anyone in the audience help set them up?


Good
Fair
Poor
THE TOPIC: Was it timely and important?


Good
Fair
Poor
Was it what the audience wanted?


Good
Fair
Poor
THE MESSAGE: Did it get attention?


Good
Fair
Poor
Were goals reached?


Good
Fair
Poor
AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION: Was there provision for audience participation?


Good
Fair
Poor
Did the audience know what was expected of them?


Good
Fair
Poor
Was there adequate discussion?


Good
Fair
Poor
ARRANGEMENTS: Were there adequate activities for early comers?


Good
Fair
Poor
Were distractions eliminated?


Good
Fair
Poor
Were physical facilities satisfactory? (Light, heat, ventilation, acoustics)


Good
Fair
Poor
Were visual aids effective? (Slides, charts, flannelboard, etc.)


Good
Fair
Poor

What can be done to improve future meetings?
Adapted from Leadership Training for You by Daryl K. Heasley, Pennsylvania State University

Footnotes

1. This document is FCS9062, one of a series of the Family Youth and Community Sciences Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Original publication date September 1, 1986. Reviwed: November 3, 2005. Visit the EDIS Web Site at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.

2. Elizabeth B. Bolton, professor, Community Development, Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, 32611.

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other extension publications, contact your county Cooperative Extension service.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Larry Arrington, Dean.


Copyright Information

This document is copyrighted by the University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) for the people of the State of Florida. UF/IFAS retains all rights under all conventions, but permits free reproduction by all agents and offices of the Cooperative Extension Service and the people of the State of Florida. Permission is granted to others to use these materials in part or in full for educational purposes, provided that full credit is given to the UF/IFAS, citing the publication, its source, and date of publication.