An SGM called by members is uncomfortable. It is not the end of the world. How the committee responds in the next twenty-one days will determine whether it stays uncomfortable or becomes something much worse.

In this episode Kate H and Kate M cover everything committees need to know about Special General Meetings — using the Widget Traders Federation as a case study in exactly what not to do.

In this episode:

• What an SGM actually is — and when a committee should call one itself
• When members can requisition an SGM and what the rules are
• Why you can't ignore a valid requisition — and what happens if you try
• How to respond well when an SGM lands on your desk — tone, process and preparation
• What a motion of no confidence actually means — and what it doesn't
• How to handle the meeting itself with transparency and dignity

Full show notes at thecommitteeroom.com.au

Every organisation gets one grand performance a year. This one bombed. But it didn't have to.

In this episode Kate H and Kate M use the theatrical metaphor to walk through everything that needs to happen before Show Night — and on it. The governance content is completely serious. The framing is a lot of fun.

In this episode:

• The production schedule — why five months goes faster than you think and why great AGMs start the moment the financial year closes
• The Production Manager (your Treasurer) — prescribed association status, mandatory audit thresholds and why the AGM is not where the hard questions get asked for the first time
• The Stage Manager (your Secretary) — the constitution as production bible, and what happens when the legal logistics go wrong
• The Programme (your Annual Report) — the centrepiece the audience takes home and why it deserves better than two pages of dense text
• Nominations from the floor — why they're a recipe for chaos and how to close the loophole
• Other Business — not an agenda item, not a thing, and a good chair doesn't put it on the agenda, ask for it, or allow it
• What a five-star review looks like — and why bad reviews last

Free AGM Preparation Checklist from the Committee Companion in the show notes — a production schedule you can work backwards from your AGM date.

Full show notes and free download at thecommitteeroom.com.au

The minutes are the legal record of your organisation's decisions. If they're not good enough to settle a disagreement three months later, they're not good enough. Full stop.

In this episode Kate H and Kate M cover everything committees need to know about writing minutes that actually do their job — and a brief but important clarification on Iced Vovos and what it means to have "a Bex and a lie down."

In this episode:

• What minutes actually are — a legal record, not a summary, not a newsletter, not a transcript
• Why "if it's not in the minutes, it didn't happen" is the most fundamental rule in the room
• The proper header every set of minutes needs — and why apologies and absences are not the same thing
• What the right level of detail looks like — with a good example and a bad example side by side
• What not to include — and why individual attribution chills debate
• The action list that turns good minutes into good governance

Free minutes template in the show notes.

Full show notes and free download at thecommitteeroom.com.au

Deferring is a decision too. It's usually the worst one available.

In this episode Kate H and Kate M go deeper into decision-making — not the mechanics of motions and votes (that was Episode 13) but the harder questions: why committees avoid making decisions at all, and how to make good ones when they finally get there.

In this episode:

• Why the committee keeps having the same discussion without reaching a resolution — and what's really driving it
• The difference between legitimate deferral and avoidance — and the one thing that separates them
• The five principles of good decision-making — and why answering yes to all five protects every committee member, even when a decision doesn't go according to plan
• Why documenting your decision-making process is your protection — not a perfect outcome

Plus a decision-making checklist from the Committee Companion in the show notes.

Full show notes and free download at thecommitteeroom.com.au

A well-chaired meeting is one of the most underrated governance tools there is — and in this episode Kate H and Kate M get into what good chairing actually looks like in practice.

In this episode:

• Starting and finishing on time — why it's a form of respect, not just a preference
• The Chair's three jobs: drawing out the quiet voices, redirecting the loud ones, keeping focus on the issue not the personalities
• Purpose, process and pace — and why the Chair should never be focused on the content
• When to invoke the formal rules of debate — and why just knowing they exist is usually enough
• What makes a committee decision stick — and what happens when you miss one of the five steps

Free plain-language rules of debate guide in the show notes.

Full show notes at thecommitteeroom.com.au

A great meeting is almost entirely built before anyone even sits down. In the first episode of the Smarter Meetings series, Kate H and Kate M cover the four-section agenda that puts important things where they belong, why general business needs to be deleted from your vocabulary, how reports should be structured so they're actually useful, and what every committee member needs to do before they walk in the room. Free agenda and report templates in the show notes.

Show notes and free downloads at thecommitteeroom.com.au

In this Bastille Day special — recorded live from Central France — Kate M and Kate H use the French Revolution as a case study in what happens when an organisation completely fails at succession planning and performance review. They cover the skills matrix, the cautionary tale of Robespierre, how subcommittees work as a talent pipeline, and a simple three-part performance review process that any committee can use. The governance content is completely serious. The framing is not.

Also covered in this episode:
What succession planning is — and what it is absolutely not

• L'État, c'est moi — the fastest route to a committee that has lost touch with its members
• The Committee of Public Safety: 12 members, enormous powers, zero accountability — and what followed
• The question every long-serving committee member needs to ask themselves honestly
• And the compelling case for recruiting firefighters onto your committee 🚒

Questions covered in this episode:

• Taking accurate minutes when the secretary is also the most argumentative person in the room?
• Whether you can require committee members to prepare for meetings?
• What happens when a chair refuses to act on a decision he disagrees with?
• Whether decisions made without a quorum are legally valid?
• What to do when a nominee won't supply a candidate statement?
• Handling a committee member who's breaching confidentiality?
• Whether your fundraising raffle needs a licence?
• Whether the committee can reject a nomination for personal reasons?
• What to do first when your treasurer resigns without notice and takes everything with them?
• How to move a club forward without offending the past?
• How to move on a long-serving president without causing a war?

Got a question of your own? Submit it at thecommitteeroom.com.au — your question might shape a future episode.

Full show notes and free downloads at The Committee Room

In this episode Kate H and Kate M make the case for the delegations register — not as dry governance paperwork but as one of the most practically useful documents a committee can have. They cover decision-making authority by role and function, how tiered financial authorities work in practice, who can enter binding contracts and under what circumstances, why listing what can't be delegated matters just as much as listing what can, and how to start from scratch if your committee has nothing written down.

Full show notes and free download at The Committee Room. 

In this episode Kate H and Kate M introduce three structures that fix this: portfolios, subcommittees and working groups. They cover how each one works, how to set them up properly, why delegation is not the same as abdication, how terms of reference protect everyone involved, and how to find the hidden gems in your membership who've been waiting to be asked. Free terms of reference template in the show notes.

Show notes and free download at The Committee Room.  

In this episode Kate H and Kate M make the case that induction is a process, not a document — and that it starts well before anyone's been elected. They cover what goes in the manual and why each item is there, the nomination checklist that sets expectations before the election, the personal welcome letter that sets the tone, the pre-meeting coffee where induction really comes alive, and the dedicated induction meeting that gives the whole committee a useful annual reset. Free induction checklist and manual contents list in the show notes.

Full show notes and free downloads at The Committee Room. 

In this episode Kate H and Kate M get into why people don't ask the hard questions — and why that silence is never neutral. They cover the four forces that keep committee members quiet, the baseline questions every committee member should feel comfortable asking across finance, risk and strategy, how to frame questions that get you information rather than defensiveness, and why the quiet meeting where nothing is questioned is a warning sign, not an efficiency win. Plus the elephant in the room, the good chairperson, and a free Questions Are Gold checklist in the show notes.

Show notes and free download at The Committee Room.

In this episode Kate H and Kate M make the case for ditching nominations from the floor forever — and walk through the eight-step election process that gets the right people in the room. They cover informed candidates, proper voting, returning officers, staggered terms, term limits, and the uncomfortable truth about past presidents who don't know when to let go. Free election checklist and candidate statement template in the show notes.

Show notes and free downloads at The Committee Room. 

In this episode Kate H and Kate M explain what each duty actually means in plain English — the duty of care and why 'I assumed someone else had checked it' is not a defence, the duty of loyalty and how to handle conflicts of interest properly, the duty of obedience and what happens when the committee ignores its own rules. Plus the reasonable person test: the standard you're held to, and why it's more reassuring than it sounds. Free three duties summary card in the show notes.

Show notes and free resources at The Committee Room  

In this episode Kate H and Kate M unpack the three dimensions of committee responsibility — organisational, cultural and group dynamics — explain why confidentiality matters more than most people realise, and make the case for job descriptions and a code of conduct that's actually worth having. Plus a free role description template in the show notes.

Full show notes and free download at The Committee Room

In this episode Kate H and Kate M tackle committee composition from the ground up — the three committee models and when each one makes sense, why seven to nine members is the sweet spot, why odd numbers matter, what genuine diversity of perspective actually looks like, and why a committee where everyone agrees is a warning sign, not a success.

Show notes and free resources at The Committee Room

Kate Hartwig and Kate McPhee are governance consultants who've spent decades helping volunteer committees stop doing things the hard way. In this first episode they explain what governance actually is, why it matters, and why it doesn't have to be as painful as it usually is. Six words that change everything: doing the right things, and doing things right.

Full show notes at The Committee Room