The Route Secretary fills a very important role in your route. The route’s effective functioning as an organisation is only possible if the Secretary ensures that the Route Forum’s administrative and information systems functions well.

This Guide covers the Secretary’s responsibilities. It is essential for the route Secretary to familiarise himself or herself with this Guide so that he or she can fill the position as an effective leader. The Guide is also good reading for other route leaders and members, since it will give them a good understanding of what the Secretary’s role should be and what support they could be offering the route Secretary.

This Guide should be read together with other Guides covering the various leadership positions. You may also be interested in the Resource: Template Voluntary Association constitution.

Why is the role of Secretary important?

It is important that best possible candidate is appointed to the role of Secretary and that the appointed person is a good administrator.

The Secretary’s role is mainly to ensure that the route’s administrative systems and communication channels are working well. It is also important that the Secretary understands the rules set by the route’s founding documents and the legal requirements, since they may apply to the route’s functioning.

As a leader serving on the Route Forum, the Secretary should, along with the other Route Forum members, provide the leadership needed for the route to grow and function effectively. This does not imply that the route can not rely on the Open Africa head office to offer help! But it does imply that the route’s leaders, and specifically the Secretary, should be seeking such help when it is needed.

You are coming together in the route to achieve your common objectives with building and promoting a destination route that will bring more economic activity to your area, which will lead to growing local tourism businesses and the improvement in the quality of life of your local communities. While the Secretary may focus mostly on the administrative aspects of leading the route, it is the task of the leaders, including the Secretary, to ensure that the bigger intentions are reflected in the route’s activities and that these activities lead to positive results.

What are the Secretary’s duties?

If the route is formally constituted as a company or a trust, the Secretary will have some legal duties associated with the function of Secretary. These duties mainly relate to keeping all records up-to-date at the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC, previously called Cipro) and the Receiver of Revenue (Sars). In some instances, the Secretary may also be the person who must represent the company/trust/organisation for legal functions.

The route’s founding document (constitution, memorandum of association or trust deed) will specify what other formal obligations the Secretary has. These are important aspects of the Secretary’s role, but the responsibilities go beyond those formally listed in the founding document. It is important for the Secretary to study the founding document carefully with the aim to understand the intentions of the document in general, and the specific tasks and/or responsibilities assigned to the Secretary. The Secretary should also be aware of all the provisions of the founding document, so that the specifications and rules are correctly applied.

In addition to the formal or legal requirements, the Secretary is also responsible for the route administration and internal communication. The key outcomes attended to by a good Secretary will be seen in the fact that members are well informed of what is happening, that information is stored to be easily available when needed, that the rules governing the route are correctly applied, and that all legal requirements are met.

But we should look beyond the narrowly defined tasks included in the founding document and defined in the law.

Broadly speaking, there are the areas of responsibility for the Secretary:

• Ensure that the route complies with all legally required administration.
• Manage the route’s information, including filing of important documents, keeping record of decisions and minutes of meetings, and distributing documents.
• Keeping the route’s communication channels open so that all members stay informed.

The systems used by the Secretary may vary in level of sophistication, depending on the route’s requirements. For instance, in one route, a simple paper-based filing system and distributing hard copies of documents may be the best solution, while in another route, an online storing and document sharing platform may offer the required functionality.

There are specific aspects of the route’s functioning where the Secretary plays a central role:

Meetings

For Route Forum meetings, general member meetings, or any other formal route meeting, the Secretary is tasked with:

• Sending our invitations in accordance with the provisions in the founding document for notice periods and the format of the notice.
• Receiving and recording of  proxies or other forms of assigning authority to individuals to represent members at meetings (if applicable).
• Recording attendance at meetings and storing such attendance records.
• Taking minutes and/or record decisions at meetings, distribution of such minutes/records to the required people, and storing these minutes/records for future use.

Membership records

Except if membership administration is assigned to another Route Forum member, the Secretary is responsible for the following concerning membership:

• Receive applications for membership, process applications and communicate with applicants on the success or their applications, or if additional information is needed to process such applications, request such information from applicants.
• Keeping membership records up-to-date and reminding members to provide their new details should there be any changes.
• Sending reminders to members whose membership is about to expire.
• Support the Treasurer in collecting membership fees or other membership payments.

Functioning of the executive

Managing the information needed by the executive is one of the Secretary’s most important tasks, since a well-functioning executive will allow the route to achieve good results.

The Secretary’s role is not only to keep minutes or record of decisions at meetings of the executive, it is also to support the individual members of the executive in fulfilling their duties by ensuring that the route’s information is organised systematically in is accessible when needed.

Information from committees

The Secretary will not be involved in all the route’s committees or task teams, but is responsible for collecting and storing information relevant to the committees or task teams. In this regard, it is important for the Secretary to ensure that one person on each committee or task team is tasked with the secretarial duties of that committee or task team, and to receive the needed information from that person for storage.

The implementation of projects is normally assigned to committees or task teams. It is not the Secretary’s job to monitor the progress of these committees or teams, but it is the Secretary’s job to organise and store the reports submitted by these committees or task teams, and to ensure that these records are accessible for future use.

Use of this Guide

This Guide will help you understand the Secretary’s role in the route. It does not provide you with detailed instructions on the requirements of your founding document – this is why it is important to read this Guide along with the route’s founding document (constitution, memorandum of association or trust deed).

Other Guides, Examples and Resources

Other Guides and Case Studies in the Open Africa Route Toolkit will be of use:

• Guide: How To Lead Your Route
• Guide: How To Have Effective Meetings
• Guide: How to serve as Chairperson
• Guide: How to serve as Treasurer
• Guide: How To Elect Your Route Leadership And Appoint Them To The Best Positions
• Resource: Video: Ken Blanchard On Situational Leadership

Other resources to use

• Robert’s Rules of Order – http://www.robertsrules.org

 

Electing your route leaders and appointing them to specific leadership portfolios is perhaps the most important yearly responsibility of the route members.

As an Open Africa route subscriber to the Open Africa Charter, you are committed to transparent governance. As an organisation with its own founding document (constitution for a voluntary association, memorandum of association for a nonprofit company or trust deed for a trust). As an Open Africa subscriber, you are obliged to follow specified procedures in electing and/or appointing people to leadership positions. You should follow the exact procedures described in your founding document for elections and appointments.

In this Guide, you will not find the detailed instructions on the process that should be followed. The exact steps will vary from route to route, based on what is provided for in the particular founding document.

What this Guide provides is general guidelines on what you should consider in electing your route leaders and their appointment to fill specific leadership portfolios. You will find this useful in understanding who the best people would be to trust with the leadership responsibility and how to ensure wide support of the leadership by your membership.

It is worth distributing this Guide to members as part of the annual process of asking for nomination before elections take place – and to send it every year. The Guide may also be useful for training purposes when the roles of the route leadership are covered.

Why is it important to appoint the right leaders to the best positions?

Your route leaders play a very important role in determining the success of establishing and/or expanding a successful destination route. They have to inspire the members to remain active in route activities, to act as the public representatives of the route who interact with other organisations and recruit new members, and to make plans and implement projects. Above all, they are the people entrusted with governing the route as an organisation.

It does not matter which legal formation your route chooses as the best option – a trust, a nonprofit company or a voluntary association – since all organisations need leaders to take responsibility for key elements of healthy functioning. This is as true for a newly established route as it is for a well-established route. The calibre of the leadership will largely determine the route’s success.

Since the route leadership plays a key role in determining the route’s success, it is worth spending some time as route members on what the issues are to consider in electing the route leaders and appointing them to portfolios.

The election of route leaders is not a measure of determining the popularity of the nominated individuals. You will make a big mistake if you only focus on how well the candidates get along with everyone, although this is a very important success factor. There are many other considerations to take into account.

The two most important considerations in putting your leadership in place are:

• Transparency with full member participation in the election process.
• Allocating the best people to the positions that match their strengths.

What is involved in electing and appointing leadership?

The identification of route leaders will generally follow some basic steps, such as:

• Request nominations – commonly a circular is sent to all members (mostly along with notice of the AGM).
• Receive nominations – in many cases, it must be written, signed by the nominee as well as the person nominated plus a seconder, and must to be delivered to the Secretary.
• Appoint a presiding officer – at the meeting where the voting is to take place, the current Chairperson, or another person appointed by the Chairperson, or a person specified in the founding document will preside over the voting process.
• Motivate for candidates – this would take place at the meeting where the vote is to be taken.
• Vote – generally, each member (or appointed proxy) will have one vote that is exercised through a ballot (a ballot is mostly preferred above a show of hands when it comes to voting for people).
• Count – this is generally done at the meeting by the presiding officer and one or two generally trusted assistants.
• Announce the results – the names of those elected will generally be announced. If members request the detailed counts, this may also be announced, but is generally not required.

Many founding documents do not ask members to vote on the portfolios allocated to the elected leadership, but only for the people to serve on the executive structure. At their first meeting, those elected will then appoint from among themselves the individuals to portfolios such as the Chairperson, Treasurer and Secretary. However, the founding document may require that the vote takes place at the General Meeting to elect leaders portfolio by portfolio, which implies that the full process (from nomination to announcing results) will apply to each portfolio separately.

We have now covered the technical detail of the election and appointment process. It is very important that this process is managed in a transparent manner and that all members participate fully and are kept and informed.

The election of the best leaders and their appointment to the portfolios they are best suited for are very important aspects of setting the route up for success. Members should therefore be aware of what it is that they should look for in their leadership, and they should seek to ensure a good spread of competencies in their leadership team.

Here are some pointers for members to consider:

• Experience: There is no substitute for experience when it comes to the appointment of leaders – however, this does not imply that younger people are disqualified, since experience is not only related to time, but also to the exposure the candidates had to relevant contexts.
• Commitment: The level of contribution from leaders is dependent on what time and effort they can offer the route; it is not only a matter of their dedication to the route, but also the degree to which they may already be overstretched.
• Neutrality: Strong personalities may be controversial too, and may not be able to maintain healthy relationships with all the stakeholders and members. In this regard, it may be better to prefer candidates who are perceived to be neutral on any controversial topics or who are not seen to be representative of any “factions” in the local community.
• Trustworthy: Trust is something people earn over time through their actions, which is why trustworthiness is such an important indicator of the suitability of a person to serve as a leader of route members.
• Expertise: A variety of expert competencies are needed to form balanced leadership – from networking, to business management, to financial systems, to marketing, to product development, etc.
• Dreamers and doers: The route leadership should ideally include both the visionaries who see the possibilities others are missing as well as those who get things done and who work with great efficiency.

The route leadership will be assigned specific portfolios. In allocating these portfolios, it is very important to match the strengths of an individual with the requirements of the portfolio. You would ideally want to put the best person in the right position, just like a sports coach would aim to assign the team players to the positions on the field the individual players are best suited for.

Here are some pointers that could help decide which individual should fill which portfolio:

• Chairperson: The role of the Chairperson is to inspire members and encourage action. A suitable person will have a strong vision of how the route can contribute to local development. It will be a person who demands respect while showing energy and drive. The Chairperson should also be fairly well organised since he or she will be running meetings, doing presentations and evaluating the effectiveness of route projects. A very important consideration is that the Chairperson will act as the “face” of the route and must therefore be proficient in public appearances.
• Treasurer: It is very important that the Treasurer has an impeccable record and is trusted by members to look after the assets of the route and to manage the membership fees and other income. It is essential that the incumbent has knowledge of bookkeeping systems, but he or she does not need to be an accountant or bookkeeper.
• Secretary: The position of Secretary is ideal for a person who is meticulous in organising information and who understands the importance of sticking to the rules and keeping a good internal communication system going.
• Route Development Coordinator: The ongoing development of the route and the members’ businesses is a very important element in ensuring the route’s long-term sustainability. An energetic and well-organised person with a natural curiosity to explore new ways of doing things would suit this position.
• Marketing Coordinator: An energetic and outgoing person who easily connects with others is good for this portfolio. Passion for the region and its people is also a must.

Who is involved in electing and appointing leaders

Then election of route members should involve as many as possible if not all the active members of the route – both in the nomination process and the actual voting.

During the time that the route is being established, the Route Establishment Working Group will be responsible for getting the founding documents (constitution, memorandum of association or trust deed) drafted, they will organise the launch meeting where the founding members will sign the founding documents, and they will make all the arrangements for the first election to take place. It is important during this period that the Working Group involve as many as possible prospective members in the process and that they all have the opportunity to nominate candidates for election onto the leadership team.

Subsequent elections will be guided by the provisions in the founding documents. It is common for the Secretary to be the designated person to receive nominations and manage the election process, but founding documents may have different specifications in this regard, so you will have to familiarise yourself with the provisions of your route.

How to run elections and make appointments

As an organisation constituted through your founding document (constitution, memorandum of association or trust deed), you are obliged to manage your elections and appointment of office bearers in accordance to the provisions in the founding document. Study the document carefully and then plan the process leading up to the elections (which will most likely take place at your AGM).

When your elections have been concluded and the portfolios of the leadership team have been assigned, you should inform the Open Africa Head Office of the new leadership and their portfolios.

Use of this Guide

This Guide is suitable for distribution to members in advance of the election process and specifically when nomination for election to the leadership team is sought. It may be sent to members along with the notice of your AGM and other documents relating to the election process.

It is also useful in providing content for internal route training, when the election of office bearers and the leadership team are discussed.