This month is the first of two parts, where I’m going to take a look at the serious issue of governance of our growing club.
It should be clear to anyone involved with TVAM that we’ve gradually been growing. At the last count we had 1165 members, the largest IAM RoadSmart group in the country by an order of magnitude. Our size brings opportunities, such as the breadth of courses and activities on offer, but it also brings problems.
There are two current challenges that are exacerbated by our size: the IT systems we use to run the club need to be strong and robust enough to get the job done, and the team of volunteers have to be able to complete their roles.
The IT systems are being upgraded, including a successful upgrade of the membership database last year (a fantastic and understated achievement in my view), and an ongoing evaluation of next steps.
However, the subject of my article this month is the processes, roles and responsibilities that underpin the governance of our club. I’m going to take a look at the reason we need to review these items, with a follow-up article to explain the revision we’re introducing.
At risk of stating the obvious: TVAM is run entirely by volunteers. We have a great team of people contributing to the club, including club trustees, observers, training course coordinators and those manning the tea and coffee bar at St. Crispin’s. We are also a charity, and as such we operate withing a legal framework that is laid down in legislation and regulated by the Charities Commission. This places several restrictions and obligations on the Club.
The Club has grown into a complex organisation, operating within an equally complex regulatory framework. This has led the committee to review the overall governance structure, to ensure it is fit for purpose in delivering effective management for the members. In the review, it has been important we acknowledge that:
- We have continued to grow in size.
- Some individuals are doing a disproportionate amount of work.
- Not all activities have the appropriate oversight of governance.
- Committee members should have deputies/assistants and/or succession plans in place. • We need succession plans for some roles outside of the Committee.
- Some Club members feel that some key roles are filled by unelected officers.
- Some existing role holders have expressed a desire to step down.
- Expressions of interest in volunteering for roles must be acted upon effectively.
- We must continue to respect the goodwill of all volunteers.
The committee has been working to consider this in a governance review, also taking particular account of some of the key roles. Some volunteers put in considerable hours. There needs to be more distribution of work across key office holders, with clearer demarcation of responsibilities.
The Chief Observer has been seen as the “managing director” of TVAM; a person who effectively runs the Club on a daily basis. This has developed following huge contributions from previous postholders but has grown to an unsustainable level of work. One change Barrie and I have already made is for the Chief Observer role to focus on elements of training, passing anything else to the Chair. In combination with good communication this has worked well, but there is still work to be done.
The Chair is a trustee of the charity, and the external face of TVAM. The role is there to represent and support all our membership.
Although the Club is a road safety charity affiliated with IAM RoadSmart and has a clear obligation to train riders to achieve their Advanced Motorcycle Test and beyond, we need to recognise that around three quarters of the Club’s membership are Full Members already and they are looking for things in addition to training, especially on the social side. Green Team members do need more recognition, representation, and support.
In my next article, I plan to introduce the revised governance framework, and hopefully explain what we are doing. It will include a clearer definition of structure, roles and responsibilities, including some new roles that we hope to fill. As I write, this is in effect a proposal because it has not been formally ratified by the committee, but we’re almost there and expect to have it ready for my part two.
At the end of May, we successfully ran a “Be a Better Biker” event. It was good to see a room full of delegates doing a workshop with our Chief Observer and meeting our Observers for a riding assessment. The feedback received on the day was very positive, with everyone saying they’d learnt something and several delegates committing to register for the full IAM RoadSmart course. A big thank you to everyone involved with setting up this event. I look forward to the next one on 22nd June.
Kevin Dunwell
TVAM Chair
