Succession planning

What is succession planning?

It is the process of preparing for someone to take over a role from another person, making the transition as smooth as possible, and having a plan for emergency cover should a role suddenly become vacant. There are three key aspects to succession planning:

1. Sharing information: ensure knowledge is not restricted to just one person so duties can be picked up if something unexpected happens.
2. Recruiting new committee members: finding the right people for each role.
3. Planning transitions: a smooth handover from one role holder to the next, ensures no ‘gap in service’.

Why is it important?

• makes it easier for new people to join the committee.
• creates a regular influx of fresh skills and ideas.
• everyone knows their role and the structure of the committee.
• work is divided equally and people aren’t overloaded.
• handover between positions is smoother with no loss of service.
• you deliver a better service to your members and audience.

Getting your committee on board with succession planning may be challenging – some members may feel their position or duties are threatened. Use the points above to explain why the process is relevant and important.

1. Sharing information

Sharing knowledge makes it easier for new members to join your committee and helps when someone unexpectedly leaves. Their role has to be covered by someone else. There are several ways to do this:

• Keep everyone in the loop – through regular updates at committee meetings or by email/messaging etc. This encourages people to stay focused, and everyone is aware of what stage things are at if something suddenly changes.
• Consider holding shorter, more frequent committee meetings. This help everyone understand the overall goals of the committee and responsibilities of each committee member.
• Encourage the chair to check-in with role holders regularly – outside of committee meetings – and encourage delegating tasks to others when appropriate.
• Keep it simple – over-burdensome reporting can put people off. You don’t want key players spending too much valuable time reporting back.
• Can committee documents be stored electronically? Google Drive, One Drive and Dropbox are all common solutions. Make sure all information that you might need is saved and shared in this location:
  • Key contact information (e.g. venue contacts, music hire information, marketing contacts, social media logins);
  • financial reports;
  • committee meeting minutes;
  • role descriptions;
  • ‘how-to’ guides are;
• Password protect your shared drive and change the password each time someone leaves the committee.
• Have more signatories on the bank account than you need. This helps swift payment of invoices etc. Consider asking someone other than the treasurer to hold a spare cheque book just in case.

2. Recruiting new committee members

The reasons why people don’t want to volunteer to become committee members are many and varied – here are a few of the most common:
    •    It looks like hard work.
    •    They don’t have enough time.
    •    They don’t think they can make a meaningful contribution.
    •    They don’t want to get involved in committee politics.
    •    They worry about the legal responsibilities of being a trustee.

You may overcome many, if not all of these objections if you take a strategic approach to recruitment.

• Talk to your members individually during rehearsal breaks. Chat about their lives and how busy they are. Discover what skills and experience they have, and how they feel about your group in general.
• Ask people to do one small thing, rather than take on a whole role. They are more likely to become involved if you are not making big demands on their time.
• Can people help without officially being on the committee? This may help reduce any perceived pressure about volunteering. As long as they are reporting to someone on the committee, they can still be part of a cohesive team.

Committee meetings can be dull events - if you let them! Here are some things to to make them more enjoyable.

• Keep meetings concise and don’t get bogged down in the details. Minor things can be sorted out by email or a quick conversation in the rehearsal break. Focus on the bigger picture.
• Make as few demands on people as possible. Break larger tasks into smaller elements and sharing them among several people. This makes tasks more palatable.
• Recognise that life gets in the way. Allow people to be flexible. Can meetings happen on Zoom. Can those who live further away join by Zoom? Can 2 people share one role and attend meetings alternately?
• Add a social element to your meeting – drinks or food before or after, for example. Keep the social element separate from the business – ensure there is a clear dividing line!
• Consider where your meetings are held so that they can be as focused as they need to be. Is the local bar/coffee shop/restaurant a bit too noisy for a really good discussion? If you’re in someone’s home, will you be disturbed by other members of their family? If you’re meeting before or after a rehearsal, will other members coming and going disturb your meeting?
• Hold meetings in a central location with as few disruptions as possible. Bars and cafés can be great but can also be noisy and busy. If meetings are dragging out due to interruptions - consider a new venue.

People are more likely to contribute if they believe their efforts are making a tangible difference.

• Give credit to committee members formally in meetings (especially your AGM) and have it minuted.
• Thank volunteers by name in programmes if you have space.
• Listen to suggestions from your wider membership even if you’ve heard them before!
• Tag/credit them on Social Media posts.
• Value the contributions that people make, show them that you have taken them on board and if you decide not to follow them, offer clear explanations as to why not.

3. Planning transitions

Transitions are best done over time, with two people working side-by-side. A gradual induction process is the best method.

• Consider fixed time limits for positions. You then know when a handover is coming up and can plan ahead.
• Consider creating shadow positions where one role holder is shadowed by another for a period of time, e.g. the vice chair becomes the next chair.
• Ensure someone knows what the principal role holder does and who can access the relevant information in an emergency.
• Create a checklist of things that new people would need to know in order to carry out their role e.g. principal duties, passwords for shared drives, frequency of committee meetings, how and when to report etc.
• Take your time – don’t rush the process, at the end of the day these are voluntary roles.

As committee members and/or trustees…

• it is your legal responsibility to ensure that your group is planning ahead and making contingency plans.
• you should ensure that all operations and actions are carried out in the best interests of the group.
• dedicate time discussing some of these issues, so that you can give them the attention they require.
• if you don’t have the skills you need amongst your membership – you can recruit a committee member from outside your group. Most committees have the power to co-opt people onto the committee.
• you should invest some time in restructuring, to lessen the burdens of current committee members and get more people involved.
• create your succession plan in line with your strategic plan. Both should go hand in hand. If you haven’t got a strategic plan – you can find out more in our Guide to Strategic Planning.

Main image credit: Wood Chess - Disadvantages

We hope you find this Making Music resource useful. If you have any comments or suggestions about the guidance please contact us. Whilst every effort is made to ensure that the content of this guidance is accurate and up to date, Making Music do not warrant, nor accept any liability or responsibility for the completeness or accuracy of the content, or for any loss which may arise from reliance on the information contained in it.