[Businessmtg] Steering Committee Questions

[Steve Rankin]

Hi Savannah,

I think you pretty much hit the nail on the head.  Yes, the Steering Committee apparently sounds intimidating to many.  But, in reality it's not.  For the most part, the work of each position is administrative.  Occasionally, there are "internal problems"; issues in our recovery meeting, in the Business Meeting, or even within the Steering Committee that need to be addressed by the Steering Committee.  

One of the unwritten concepts of service in Al-Anon is that service is intended to be an opportunity for growth, not merely performing tasks.  The obvious opportunities for growth are the knowledge and skills related to the tasks of the position.  In other words, we expect someone new to a service position to hit speed bumps as they learn the tasks.  The not-so obvious opportunities for growth are the challenges in applying the program to the position - which is the true essence of Al-Anon service.  

Please note:  NONE of the service positions at ASP are difficult task-wise.  

List Administrator.  In theory, the List Administrator position is the most complex and most time consuming.  In practice, that depends almost entirely on the choices the List Administrator (LA) chooses.  Some LA's tend towards micro-managing and feel they are responsible for reading every share, and even critiquing shares, which means many hours.  My experience is that if there is a share that is a genuine problem, a member of ASP will bring that to my attention, and I can take it from there by either handling the situation myself directly or taking it to the Steering Committee for discussion.  The server sends many messages to the List Administrator every day - ignore them.  Instead, I log in once a day and anything that the server actually needs me to do will be listed, which 99% of the time takes about 5 minutes.  Barring issues that might take time to deal with, the normal admin of the LA position took me about 20 minutes/week.  

Secretary.  The Secretary has three tasks.  
1. Daily Chairs. Twice a year the Secretary recruits and trains a new batch of Daily Chairs.  That's about an hour each time, so 2 hours a year.  Simple.  
2. Business Meeting. The larger task is Chairing the Business Meeting (BM).  That requires determining an agenda for the BM, sending out a couple of announcements to the recovery meeting, collecting the names & email addresses of members wanting to attend the Business Meeting, subscribing them to the BM server, sending out the opening emails, and then actively chairing the BM.  A new Secretary may find the numerous admin steps to get the meeting started a little complex, but having an outline or plan to follow makes it simple.  In my experience, the more challenging part is actively chairing the meeting.  Chairing an Al-Anon business meeting is often compared to herding cats, and for good reason.  
3. Web Site.  The Secretary is responsible for maintaining the website.  The Secretary may appoint a Recording Secretary to assist the Secretary, primarily with maintaining the website, however the Secretary may task the Recording Secretary with other things.  It is very important to understand that the Secretary's job does not include revamping, redesigning, or making any changes to the website other than updating data as a result of new group consciences & trusted servants, and posting treasurer reports.  

Greeter Chair.  The Greeter Chair's job is simple, yet potentially the busiest, depending on the influx of new members.  The Greeter Chair appoints and trains new greeters once a year, and then actively oversees the greeters and flow of new members into ASP.  The greeters submit new members to the server, however it is the Greeter Chair that approves them by subscribing them to the list.  

Treasurer.  The Treasurer has several tasks, and typical of treasurer positions, those tasks are more highly defined.  Basically, the Treasurer emails the Seventh Tradition basket to the recovery meeting once a month, collects paper donations from the PO Box (local to the individual treasurer) and electronic donations from PayPal, deposits donations into the ASP bank account, provides the Secretary with the ledger that is posted on the website.  

NOTE:  The Steering Committee was established by the Founding Policies of ASP.  The Founding Policies did not define the makeup of the Steering Committee, except for the two Founder positions and the two "general members" positions (aka At Large positions).  As a result, the Steering Committee, responsibilities and authorities, the Founder and two "general member" position are not changeable by the Business Meeting per Founding Policy #1.  Instead, this policy allows the Business Meeting to elect officers to the Steering Committee with duties defined by the Business Meeting.  Motions #4, and its replacement Motion #22 are examples.  

While we talk about how the tasks of the officers on the Steering Committee are generally simple and not very time consuming, we recognize that it is extremely important to the health of ASP that our trusted servants perform those tasks in a manner consistent with ASP policies and practices.  In other words, getting elected to one of our officer positions is not a permission slip to do it your way - we expect our trusted servants to perform their tasks within the boundaries of their job description and the past practices of ASP.   OTOH, please understand that there is latitude within those boundaries.  

So, Savannah how can you get less confused, grow and contribute?  

Simple.  As my wife would tell her sponsees - suit up and show up.  If you don't know what to do, then show up and act interested, and ask someone.  I have tried to make it my practice to volunteer for the position that the group/district/area needs, not necessarily the position that I'd like.  

Love and SERENITY,
Steve