President
Training
Nat Shiers
Socs Committee Chair
How to be a Society President!
• Covering 3 main areas:
• Key areas of responsibility
• Skills needed to do a good job
• Trouble-shooting common challenges
Key areas of responsibility
• Understanding broader picture
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Responding to Union communication
Attending training
Scheduling
Reviewing activities & events
Providing guidance
Organising AGMs
• Scheduling meetings
o Creating an agenda
o Chairing meetings
Key areas of responsibility
• Delegating tasks
o Identify who completes tasks
o Following up on actions
• Being spokesperson or figurehead
o Attending meetings
o Public speaking
• Maintaining Motivation
o Providing advice/support
o Running team building activities & exec socials
o Rewarding committee members
President – Key Skills
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Problem Solving
Decision Making
Communication
Time Management
People Management
Teamwork
Motivation
Organisation
Strategic Thinking
Delegation
• http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/scs
Challenge #1
Balancing your degree workload with exec roles can
be challenging.
What practical things can you do to make this
balancing easier?
Challenge #1
A few ideas…
• Your team may also be experiencing this so support
each other
• Propose sharing tasks when someone has a quieter
spell
• Diarise your time so that you are better organised
• Speak to the SU if you are struggling!
Challenge #2
A committee member isn’t pulling their weight.
What do you do?
Challenge #2
A few ideas…
• Is this personal or professional? Always back up
observations with evidence.
• Look at their role description to assess their specific
duties.
• Are they not fulfilling their role or what you expect of
them?
• Put yourself in their shoes; think about why they are not
fulfilling their role; Personal reasons? Duties too big to be
practical for one person?
• If this doesn’t work, follow the process below:
Challenge #2
Step 1 – Informal
• Have an informal chat with the Exec member.
• Tactfully remind them of their responsibilities and ask if
they need any support.
Step 2 – More formal
• Talk to them again.
• Be specific about where improvements are needed.
• Devise a clear list of what you expect to be done.
• Set a timeframe for each.
• Be specific, but reasonable and professional.
• Decide a date to review their role.
Challenge #2
Step 3 – More formal
• This stage is all about assessing whether or not the
objectives set in Step 2 have been acted upon.
• Has their performance improved?
• Are there any more areas for concern?
• If you have seen improvements then carry on as
normal, but continue to monitor the situation.
• If they haven’t improved then come and talk to the
Societies Officer to help you instigate a more formal
procedure (Step 4).
Challenge #2
Step 4 – Final Step
• An Exec member can only be replaced midterm
through a vote of no confidence, at an EGM.
• The Societies Officer can give you advice on how
to do this if it is needed (but it should only be used
as a last resort).
As President, you will need to resolve inter-personal
issues or Exec disagreements in a professional and
impartial manner – even if the person is your best
friend/sister/brother/partner!
Questions?
President Training
End of session
Please take all of your belongings and return to
Copper Rooms 2.