Having The Range Of Skills To Best Serve The Organisation



Volunteer Development Agency Small LogoHaving The Range Of Skills To Best Serve The Organisation

Article describing the knowledge that a management committees needs in order to be able to lead its organisation effectively. It is not necessary for each member to know all of it but as a collective you should ensure that the committee holds this knowledge. This page also includes information on how to ensure that your committee has a system or systems for communicating with your members and users.


All organisations are likely to need management committee members with knowledge & experience of:-

  • The organisation’s core business
  • Organisational management
  • Financial management
  • Charity governance.

A Management Committee needs to have knowledge including information/feedback about their beneficiaries whether these are a local community or clients & service users.

Management Committees needs to put in place systems for communicating with users. For community groups this might involve local meetings or door to door work. For organisations who deliver services it might be through telephone interviews with clients & users or through feedback interviews or questionnaires.

Some suggested solutions/tools/approaches:

  • Undertake a Skills/diversity audit of the management commitment to identify areas gaps in management committee expertise.
  • Review the recruitment strategy. If relevant expertise isn’t available from your organisations’ membership, consider approaching other organisations in the same area of work. Don’t forget that service users may have a valuable experience of and commitment to, your organisation.
  • Organise a training and development programme for Management Committee members.
  • Seek co-options from members of the organisation with these skills.
  • Identify and recruit advisers or advisory groups to enable participation from people with relevant skills and knowledge.
  • Access external expertise in the form of information, advice, facilitation or training.
  • Organise a development session for the management committee after the annual general meeting to introduce members to the purpose, strategy and history of the organisation.


Email to a Friend

View All News

Volunteer Development Agency
DIY Committee Guide 2005. Please view our copyright statement.
Telephone: 028 9023 6100 | Email: info@volunteering-ni.org

NICVA | 61 Duncairn Gardens | Belfast | BT15 2GB
Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action is registered as a company limited by guarantee in Northern Ireland (No 1792) and is registered as a charity for tax purposes with the Inland Revenue