Letter to the Committee in Days of My Destiny

Good morning all,

I have had trouble in the last two Committee meetings in hearing what members would like to say, as people tend to talk over each other.

Please find attached the CCSA document titled "Roles and Responsibilities of the Committee/Board". I ask you to please familiarise yourself with the roles of each person in the Committee. I have said before that my role is to keep discussions relevant and to an appropriate time, whilst allowing everybody the opportunity to express their views. This is reflected in the attached document. I would love to do this, however I find that people do not hear me when I am trying to chair the meeting, because there are too many people talking at once.

I would also like to refer you to the Behavioural Expectations document which I forwarded to the Committee recently. If you look on Page 5 under the section titled "Team Behaviour – What do we Commit to?" you will see that the first thing we commit to is treating each other in a professional manner at all times. If you read further, you will see that this involves a process where the President will raise her hand to conclude or quieten discussions. This is not out of rudeness - it is simply a way to signal a request to finish talking or quiet down, without having to talk or shout over anybody else. Though not reflected in the minutes, this signal was first suggested at the April 24 Committee meeting by a Committee member.

At the most recent Committee meeting (12th May), I found that when I raised my hand, people either: a) Did not notice b) Also raised their hands but kept talking themselves.

I find the above to be disrespectful, regardless of who is chairing the meeting.

I should note here that there were one or two members who raised their hand in support of the signal and were quietly waiting for others to finish talking. Thank you to those members who did this.

Please read the attached document, as this document suggests ways in which we can be an effective Committee. Specifically, two dot points on Page 5 of the attached document suggest showing respect to fellow committee members and listening to their views, as well as having a sense of humour and enjoying the meetings.

I feel that currently, meetings tend to be a little bit tense and part of it comes down to the fact that a lot of people talk over each other without allowing others to finish their views first. As a result, I would like to continue to raise my hand where necessary and urge you all to please respect this signal by quieting down.

Another Committee member has also suggested that each person who wishes to express their views can stand up and be given a time frame to talk in - such as 2 minutes. The rule would then allow for members to express their views without being interrupted. It would also facilitate time-relevant discussions; support our Secretary in taking notes and allow meetings to end within a reasonable time frame.

This new rule therefore applies to all Committee meetings from hereon in.

I am confident that we can be an excellent organization and an effective Committee that respects each member and enjoys the meetings - as long as we are willing to help each other do so.

Kind Regards,

It is seriously ridiculous that I should have to be raising this issue with a group of grown women.