Officer Roles & Responsibilities
Note: The following is only a very basic guide for management responsibilities, and contains no
mention of actual legal responsibilities of officers, or liabilities for failure of such duties.
President's Responsibilities
· Call officer and organizational meetings regularly.
· Keep advisor(s) up to date on business of the organization.
· Preside at officer and organizational meetings.
· Keep agendas for meetings.
· Help the group set goals and develop programs or activities for the members.
· Establish a committee system by asking the group what committees are needed and who would volunteer to work on them.
· Follow-up with officers and committee chairs concerning tasks they volunteered to do.
· Confront officers and members who are not fulfilling their job (seek out advisor for help).
· Serve as a role model for the members through good communication, study and motivation skills.
· Involve as many members/associates as possible.
· Seek out the advisor for help and advice as needed.
The President
Being elected to the presidency may seem an honor at first, but one soon learns that while there is honor, there is also much responsibility, and now and then considerable grief. The president isn't only the leader and spokesman, he/she must be executive, chairman, discussion leader, builder-upper, motivator, investigator, arbitrator, referee, politician, and statesman.
Here are some suggestions from successful members/associates and advisors, which may be helpful:
· Make your word good: If the president doesn't deliver on time, if he/she makes graceful excuses, the others will inevitably follow suit. Be on time for meetings, bring material you said you would bring, get answers you promised to get. The best way is to make as few promises as possible - assign the task to a reliable person.
· Delegate, delegate, delegate: If you work your head off alone, you will still be a bottleneck. Give a big job to a worker, and then keep after him/her. See that he/she gets credit for what he/she does; let the whole group see how well or how poorly he/she has done. Demand periodic reports on progress. But delegate!
· Don't be a proud mama to your brain child, adopt it out: If you get someone to adopt your idea as theirs, then you can, with modesty, tell everyone how good it is. The foster mother/father will work their head off for their idea, while you remain objective.
· Always give the worker the limelight (you get more than your share anyway): This person is working for praise, attention, and status. If your workers get it, others will want to work for you too.
· Fix responsibility on one person for each assignment: Make it definite, preferably in writing, so neither of you can forget. Appoint a committee only if the job cannot be handled best by one person.
· Give the Vice President special duties of importance: Being your shadow is not satisfying to him/her.
· Plan your agenda ahead of time: Usually a secretary's minutes, treasurer's report, then old and new business listed in the way you want the interest and discussion to be focused. If special reports are to be made, give the chair or person making the report the honor of being
on the agenda.
· Make the secretary your assistant: The secretary can be the most important worker in the organization.
· Use officers and any others you desire as an advisory and executive committee: If you talk everything over with them, they will not let you get out on a limb. They will provide the support when you need it.
· Use your advisor for a mind of information, source of experienced judgment: All the advisor asks in turn is courtesy and thanks.
· Do little jobs fast, big jobs slowly: If it's writing a letter or making a telephone call, do it now. If it might take an hour of one person's time, make the deadline tomorrow, not next week. If it's a really big project with important consequences, allow triple the necessary time, so it can be done thoroughly and carefully.
· Thanks, gratitude, praise never makes enemies: Lack of it discourages anyone. Public praise is better than private thanks. If you want good work done, be a builder-upper.
· Don't thank workers for helping you, unless it was a personal favor: Speak for the organization when you thank them for good work done. Whose organization is it anyway?
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