CHAPTER 5 :

ROLES OF THE SECRETARY AND

CHAIRPERSON
LEARNING OUTCOME
1. Appointing a Chairman
2. Secretary’s duties relating to Meeting
3. Chairman duties, rights and ruling.
DEFINITION OF
CHAIRMAN
According to Webster ‘dictionary chairman means “a presiding
officer of a meeting or an organisation or com­mittee”. From the
definition two aspects of the meaning come out. Firstly, a chairman
is a presiding officer of a meeting and secondly, of an organisation or
committee. Every organisation or a committee has a chairman and he
presides over all the meetings of the organisa­tion or the committee.
A chairman can be functionally defined as a person appointed to
preside over a meeting and to conduct it. The Board of Directors of a
company, the Managing or Executive Committee of a society or a
club must have a chairman. 
APPOINTMENT OF A
CHAIRMAN
A Chairman is Usually Appointed by Election. Every organisation,
while electing the office-bearers, decides at a meeting who will hold
what post. The Chairman of a Board of Directors of a company is
elected at the first meeting of the Board.
The promoters of a company may decide beforehand who shall be
the chairman of the company. A chairman may be temporarily
elected for a casual meeting or in place of a fixed chairman
temporarily.
A CHAIRMAN MUST
ACQUIRE THE FOLLOWING
QUALIFICATIONS:
(1) He must have the knowledge about the rules and principles related to
meetings. The rules are of different types and it is expected that the chairman
should possess the knowledge of all. He is however, always assisted by the
secretary in this respect.
(2) He must develop a speaking power. Very often a chairman has to deliver
a speech as we find at the annual general meeting of a company, the
chairman has to deliver a speech which purports the Directors’ Report.
It is common that the secretary prepares it but the chairman has to speak it
out. An important person keeps a private secretary for preparing speeches.
The chairman of a public meeting has to speak and sometimes extempore,
summing up the speeches of other speakers.
(3) He must possess knowledge about the business or nature of activities in
which his company or association is engaged, other­wise he may not be able
to satisfy members raising questions after his speech is over.
IN ORDER TO BE A SUC­CESSFUL
CHAIRMAN, A PERSON SHOULD HAVE
THE FOLLOW­ING QUALIFICATIONS:

1. He should have sufficient educational quali­fications.

2. He should know the general procedures, principles and rules of
meeting and also the limita­tions of the powers of the Chairman.
3. He must be impartial and possess a sense of judgment.
4. He must be patient, cool and not be pro­voked easily.
5. He must be firm in enforcing the rules and his rulings.
Powers of Chairman:
The Chairman is the chief authority of the meeting and can be called “the umpire of debate,
the judge of admissibility and the upholder of or­der and decorum.” He derives his authority
and power from the meeting itself.
The powers of the Chairman are:
1. He conducts the proceedings of the meet­ing according to rules and regulations.
2. He can suspend or adjourn a meeting in or­der to maintain order and decorum even if some
participants protest.
3. He can give a ruling to settle any point of order. His ruling will always be binding on all
the members present at the meeting.
4. He has the authority to decide the order of priority of speakers.
5. He has full authority to restrain irrelevant or unparliamentarily language used by the
members. He can stop prolonged discussion on a matter.
6. He has the power to adjourn the meeting in accordance with the rules.
7. He has the power to expel an unruly mem­ber and get him ejected.
8. He has the power to appoint two scrutinizers to scrutinize the votes given on the poll and to
de­clare the result of poll.
9. He can give a casting vote if the Articles of Association so provides.
DUTIES OF CHAIRMAN:
The duties of the Chairman are:
1. He should see that the meeting is duly con­vened and properly
constituted.
2. He should check that his own appointment is in orders.
3. He should see that the proceedings of the meeting are conducted in
accordance with the rules and in the order set down in the agenda.
4. He should ensure that the business con­ducted is within the scope of the
meeting.
5. Unless there is a specific motion before the meeting he should not
allow any discussion. Irrel­evant discussions must always be stopped by
him. He must see that proper order is maintained in the meeting. He must
ensure a fair hearing from the minorities. Equal opportunities should be
given to all the speakers but he may fix a time limit for each of them.
6. He should see that the motions and amend­ments are within the
scope of the notice.
7. He must see that the order is maintained during the meeting.
8. He must exercise his casting vote in the in­terest of the company.
9. In case of a General Meeting, the Chairman should deliver a
speech.
Removal of Chairman:
A chairman elected for the meeting on the spot, may be removed or
suspended by the participants of the meeting if the person concerned
is found incapable of conducting the meeting. A chairman nominated
by the Government cannot be removed by the members.
Remuneration of Chairman:
A chairman of a club or association does not get any remuneration as
such. But the chairman of a Board of Directors as a director gets fees,
for attending Board meeting and in addition he may get a
commission on the net profit of the company by way of managerial
remuneration. A chairman nominated and appointed by the
Government for a Board or Trust etc. gets remu­neration.
ROLE OF THE
SECRETARY
The Secretary has an important role in ensuring that a
meeting runs smoothly. The Secretary has duties:

1. Before the meeting

2. On the day of the meeting
i. Before the meeting starts
ii. During the meeting
3. After the meeting
DUTIES BEFORE A
MEETING
1. Book venue/accommodation
2. Open file for papers needed at meeting
3. Draft Notice of Meeting & Agenda for Chairperson’s approval
4. Distribute Notice of Meeting and Agenda to members (have
spare copies as backup)
5. Note any apologies
6. Check arrangements for refreshments,
audio visual aids, car parking etc
7. Have Attendance Register ready for completion
8. Make sure all stationery (pens, paper etc) available
DUTIES ON DAY OF A
MEETING
1. Inform reception of meeting and list of those attending

2. Put up direction signs to meeting room

3. Check room to ensure layout is suitable, refreshments, audio visual

aids are in place.

4. Take all necessary papers, Attendance

Register, Agenda and previous Minutes to
meeting

5. Greet people on arrival at meeting

DUTIES DURING A
MEETING
1. Read Minutes of previous meeting, apologies for absence
and other correspondence
2. Ensure Chairperson signs Minutes of previous Meeting

3. Assist the Chairperson throughout the meeting

4. Take notes summarising all proceedings so
Minutes can be drafted after meeting or Action
Minutes as appropriate

5. Check that Attendance Register has been

signed by all attending meeting
 DUTIES AFTER A
MEETING
1. Tidy up room by removing any left papers and inform
reception that the meeting is finished.
2. Draft the Minutes of the Meeting as soon as
possible. Check the draft minutes with Chairperson
3. Send out Minutes or prepare them to be sent out
with next Notice of Meeting
4. Deal with any correspondence or matters
that need to be dealt with as a result of the
meeting
5. Start preparing for next meeting!
THE END
TUTORIAL CHAPTER 5
1) State 4 duties of a Secretary before a meeting.
2) State 4 duties of the secretary during a meeting
3) State 4 duties of a secretary after a meeting.
4) List 5 things a chairperson is responsible for with regards
meetings