The role of the chair

Our Member Engagement Manager, Sharon Moloney, shares your creative solutions on how to successfully lead a leisure-time music group

Recently we held workshops that brought together committee chairs from a wide range of music groups to discuss their experiences in the role and exchange learnings. They came up with some interesting tips and advice on how to be an effective leader.

Most attendees felt that managing a committee can be hard when you are all friends together, and relationships are not as business-like as they would be in a workplace setting. How can you manage people effectively while retaining a friendly and sociable atmosphere? One group had chosen to rotate who chaired the committee meetings. Although one person is chair of the organisation as a whole, they would elect a different committee member to chair each committee meeting, which encouraged an inclusive approach and created a better understanding and appreciation for everyone of what chairing entails.

Another group said that they use three-year committee terms that rotate through particular roles. A person would be secretary in their first year on the committee, vice chair in the second and chair in the third. This pathway helped the committee member build up knowledge and experience so that by the time they reached the chair position, they would be more confident and capable in the role. It also allowed for greater consistency in decision making and leadership.

Many attendees at our events were also keen to explore how they could encourage their members to contribute to strategic thinking. One group placed a suggestions box on the refreshments table, and received comments on repertoire selection and concert dress code. Another group had written lists of small tasks that members could take on in order to help out the committee. This allowed members to appreciate how much needed to be done to keep the group functioning, and to contribute without having to join the committee.

One orchestra had organised a ‘review of the year’ immediately prior to their AGM, where each section presented their thoughts and feelings about the previous season – how hard the repertoire was, what they had enjoyed playing, the best jokes they had heard! – allowing for a more light-hearted approach to what is potentially a very dry meeting.

Many of our attendees were keen to develop their skills as chair and feel reassured that they were doing things correctly. They said that networking with other committee chairs and sharing issues with them was really useful, with some mentioning that they had joined networks like the Association of Chairs. However, attendees also acknowledged that sometimes they needed to be able to talk to someone who knew the particular personalities and circumstances of their group. Almost all the chairs who attended our events had a ‘trusted friend’ within the group, someone with whom they could discuss specific issues, and trust that it would not go any further.

Not all of these ideas will be suitable for every group, but hopefully they will give you some ideas for what might work for you. Access Making Music’s resource: makingmusic. org.uk/role-chair or come to one of our spring workshops (see p.14 for dates and places).

“How can you manage people effectively while retaining a friendly and sociable atmosphere?”