Literacy Basics - Community Literacy of Ontario

Effective chairing

The chairperson is ultimately responsible for ensuring that meetings stay on track, timelines are respected, everyone's voice is heard, and goals are accomplished. Most organizations have an elected chairperson in place for a term that is outlined in the organization's bylaws. However, some organizations have a rotating chair, appointing someone different from the board as a whole at each meeting. In either case it's important to have a clear job description of what is expected.

The Minnesota Council of Non-Profits has developed a comprehensive job description for the position of board chairperson. During meetings, the chair should:

• Encourage participation by all board members
• Allow time for all views and sides of an issue to be heard and discussed before a vote
• Ensure members understand the discussions and terms of an issue by asking for clarification when necessary
• Summarize discussions before voting or moving on to the next item
• Keep the meeting on schedule by adhering to the agenda and keeping board members on topic
• Manage conflicts that arise during the meeting
• Ensure decisions are made clearly and explicitly (by vote or consensus) so that there is no room left for misunderstanding or misinterpretation
• Read or call for motions, call for votes on an issue, ensure votes are counted and recorded in the minutes (if required)
• Ensure that the recorder of minutes reflects attendance, motions and votes

On some boards the chairperson does not vote unless there is a tie, but this would be clearly laid out in the organization's bylaws.

top of page

NEXT PAGE

Designed and hosted by in collaboration with CLO