Roles of secretary

Secretary are responsible for:
􀂄 Prepare the agenda for the next
committee meeting. The agenda
includes a list of the main items to
be discussed as well as any follow
up from previous meetings. You
need to discuss it with the
chairperson and other members to
make sure that all their items are
included.
􀂄 Arrange the meeting room,
refreshments and any equipment
you may need. Make sure the room
is accessible to all your committee
members.
􀂄 Send out the details for the meeting
(date, time and place), the agenda,
notes from the last meeting and any
other information or supporting
papers to all committee members.
Ask if any of the members would like
the papers in another format, eg
larger print or on a computer disc.
􀂄 If you have a constitution, check how
many committee members have to
be there to make a decision (the
quorum). Make sure that you have
a quorum for each meeting.
􀂄 Note any apologies from people who
can’t attend the meeting – people
should contact you in advance.
􀂄 The secretary is also responsible for
making sure that all the members of
the organisation know about the
Annual General Meeting and any
Special or Extraordinary Meetings
and are sent all the right information.

minutes of meeting:
Secretaries usually take the minutes of
committee meetings. These are an
important record of the work of the
organisation.
You will develop your own style of
minute taking but you should
􀂄 take notes during the meeting and
write them up as minutes later.
Keep your notes until the next
meeting in case there are any
questions
􀂄 record all the decisions that are
made. If you are unclear or feel
something is important to get right,
ask the meeting to agree the
wording before moving on
􀂄 always minute any action to be
taken, the name of the person who’ll
be doing it and any deadline for
doing it
􀂄 keep the minutes short and to the
point
􀂄 circulate minutes before the meeting,
both as a record and as a reminder,
especially for people who agreed to
do things
􀂄 keep the minutes together in one
place eg a minute book or ring
binder and take them to meetings
with you so they can be referred to if
necessary
􀂄 have the minutes of the last meeting
agreed (or amended) by the
committee and have a copy signed
by the chairperson for your records
􀂄 remind people of anything that they
have agreed to do. Make sure that
members know about any tasks
given to them at a meeting they
didn’t attend

Other tasks of a secretary:
􀂄 Annual report – make sure that the
organisation produces an annual
report giving details of its work over
the year and that copies are sent out
to the right people
􀂄 Signing cheques - most
organisations need cheques to be
signed by two out of three or four
named people; the secretary is
usually one of these