the Office of Consumer Empowerment

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the Office of Consumer Empowerment
Alabama People First Officers Handbook
April 2004

• People First of Alabama

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Whats in the Handbook?

• Introduction and purpose of this handbook
• What are Officers
• What is an Advisor
• Working Together
• Rules to Run Your Meetings

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The Purpose of this Handbook
1.

• The purpose of this handbook is to show how
  Alabama People First members can work together to
  reach goals they set.

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The People Who Work Together

• Members support the group and are part of
  activities.
• Officers make sure that chapter activities get
  done.
• Advisors support, assist, and help the members
  and officers to do what they want to do.
• When everyone works together groups can be
  successful.

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Working Together!
Success!
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What is a Leader?

• Some people find it easier to be a leader than
  others thats okay!
• Anyone can be a leader if they make the
  commitment to do so!
• Some leaders are elected to be officers.
• Successful officers are good leaders.

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Being a Good Leader Means

• Supporting other members to get things done.
• Supporting the group to reach their goals.
• Teaching others and learning from others.
• Listening well.
• Doing what you say you will do and getting
  support if you need it.
• Making sure things get done.

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Can you think of other things that good leaders
do?

• If you want to be a leader some day, what do you
  need to learn?

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Good Leaders

• Work hard to make their chapter strong.
• Work hard and know when to ask for help.
• Have confidence in their members and state
  chapter to get things done.
• Share the responsibilities and the work.
• Celebrate chapters successes with everyone.
• Represent the chapters ideas and goals when
  visiting other chapters or groups.

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Good Leaders Are Also

• Positive thinkers
• Well organized
• Hard working
• Honest
• Proud of their group
• Risk takers
• Problem solvers
• Team players

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What Are Officers?
2.

• Officers are members who have been elected by the
  group. Officers work together with members to
  help the chapter reach its goals by

• Working together,
• Planning events,
• Raising money and making a budget for chapter
  activities, and
• Getting members involved in chapter activities.

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Lets meet the officers

• The President
• The Vice President
• The Secretary
• The Treasurer
• The Sergeant at Arms

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The President leads meetings by

• Working together with other officers to help them
  get their duties and paperwork done
• Calling the meeting to order
• Asking the secretary to take roll,
• Introducing and welcoming guests,
• Asking for the minutes and special reports,
• Starting to talk about things the group is
  working on, Keeping order,
• Ending the meeting.

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The President also

• Attends officers meetings to plan the agenda.
• Guides the vote when there is an issue to be
  voted on.
• Attends chapter meetings
• Lets fellow officers know when he or she is
  unable to attend.
• Schedules local and state meetings and
  conferences.

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The Vice President

• Supports the President.
• Works together with other officers to get things
  done
• Helps others with their duties and paperwork.
• Attends officers meetings to help plan the
  agenda
• Lets fellow officers know when he or she is
  unable to attend.
• Leads meetings when the President is absent.
• He or she must follow the agenda, and
• Asks the other officers for support if needed.

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The Secretary

• Works together with other officers to get things
  done
• Helps others with their duties and paperwork
• Attends officers meetings to help plan the
  agenda
• Lets fellow officers know when he or she is
  unable to attend.
• Takes roll call at meetings
• Keeps a record of what happens in the Book of
  Minutes.
• Reads the minutes at each meeting.
• Posts the calendar and reminds members to come to
  meetings.
• Performs the Vice Presidents duties if he or she
  is unable to attend

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The Treasurer

• Works together with other officers to get things
  done
• Helps others with their duties and paperwork
  (like agendas, minutes and reports).
• Attends officers meetings to help plan the
  agenda
• Lets fellow officers know when he or she is
  unable to attend.
• Knows how to add and subtract money.
• Puts money in the bank.
• Takes money from the bank to pay for chapter
  expenses.
• Gets receipts when paying for chapter expenses
  like snacks and supplies.
• Keeps track of expenses by using a receipt book.
• Gives the monthly Treasurers report about the
  budget.
• Collects dues from the members.
• Performs the Secretarys duties when he or she is
  unable to attend.

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The Sergeant of Arms

• Works together with other officers to get things
  done
• Helps others with their duties and paperwork .
• Attends officers meetings to help plan the
  agenda.
• Lets fellow officers know when he or she is
  unable to attend.
• Keeps meetings in order. If it gets noisy he or
  she calls for order.
• Performs the Treasurers duties when the
  Treasurer is absent

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Things That Chapters Need to Decide

• How often to have chapter meetings and how long
  meetings will last.
• If there will be snacks at the meetings and how
  to pay for them.
• How often officers should talk to each other.
• If members will pay dues.
• How to get members involved in chapter
  activities.
• How to stay connected to the state chapter and to
  other local chapters.
• Can you think of other things that chapters need
  to decide?

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What is an Advisor?
3.

• An advisor provides good support to officers and
  members. This means that the advisor
• Listens to the group,
• Works hard to give the support that the group
  asks for,
• Watches to make sure the group likes the support
  they get, and
• Asks how he or she can help.

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Unsuccessful Advisors

• Some advisors do everything themselves or they
  push their own ideas on the chapter
• This makes members and officers feel like their
  voices and choices are not being heard.

Somebody got some Bad Advice!!
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Unsuccessful Advisors

• When advisors do everything, members and officers
  dont learn how to do things for themselves.
• When advisors push their own ideas on the
  chapter, the chapter cant stand on its own and
  decide things for themselves.
• This kind of help gets in the way and makes it
  hard for the chapter to reach its goals.

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Successful Advisors

• Successful advisors provide good support
• Good support sets people free to work towards
  their goals. A successful advisor

As an advisor I may have my opinion but I have to
be a good listener first and do what the officers
want me to do. My job is to support the chapter
and the decisions they make. Teresa Moore,
Grant Advisor People First of Arizona
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Good Advisors

• Believe self-advocates should be able to live
  like everyone else with the right supports.
• Believe that all people have abilities and learn
  at their own pace.
• Know about developmental disabilities and
  services in your area.
• Believe in self-advocacy and what your chapter
  wants to do.
• Are great listeners.
• Help people understand ideas so they can make
  good decisions.
• Do not vote or give their opinion unless they are
  asked.
• Spend time with the chapter without being paid.
• Provide the support the chapter asks for without
  taking over.
• Do what the chapter asks.
• What other qualities do you want your advisor to
  have?

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Where to Find a Good Advisor

• People who are involved in groups or activities
  like parent groups or church youth groups.
• Family members of people with disabilities,
  including brothers, sisters, parents and others.
• People who have connections to community
  resources like knowing lots of people or access
  to a meeting space.
• A teacher or support staff at a local high school
  or college.
• Members who have lots of skills and experience.

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If Advisors do too much you can

• Make a list of things you want the advisor to
  stop doing.
• Tell the advisor what things you want him or her
  to stop.
• Make a list of things you want the advisor to do.
  You can use examples for this too.
• Tell the advisor you only want help with the
  things on the list.

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If Advisors do too little you can

• Make a list of things you want the advisor to
  help with.
• Tell the advisor exactly what you want him or her
  to do. Use examples to help him or her
  understand.

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• Remember Its important to have an advisor who
  listens to your group.
• If your advisor doesnt listen its time to
  find a new advisor!

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Working Together
4.

• Working together is very important to the success
  of People First. Members, officers and advisors
  work together to get things done and reach goals
  that are important to the group.

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Working Together Means

• Officers are good leaders,
• Advisors provide good support, and
• Members participate in group decisions and
  activities.
• When everyone works together we can reach our
  goals.

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Being a good member means

• Making a commitment to be involved in the group.
  
• Saying what you think,
• Voting on issues,
• Working on committees, and
• Helping others to get things done.

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Members are importantThey

• Attend meetings.
• Are good team players.
• Serve as officers when they are elected.
• Serve on committees.
• Treat fellow members with respect.
• Listen to each others ideas.
• Encourage other members to be the best they can
  be.
• Treat others with kindness and respect.

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Successful Chapters

• Have members, officers, and advisors who work
  together on their goals.
• Are organized so that they can get things done.
• Plan activities that address issues and celebrate
  the goals they accomplish.
• Stay in regular contact with the state chapter.
• Meet regularly to stay in touch with members.
• Encourage kindness and respect for everyone.
• Create opportunities for members to learn new
  skills.
• Give every member something to do during
  activities.
• Encourage members to participate and volunteer.

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Important Questions To Ask

• What does self-advocacy mean to you?
• What local issues do we want to work on?
• How can the state chapter support us to be a
  successful chapter?
• What qualities do we want to have in our advisor?

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Rules to Run Your Meetings
5.

• Working together is fun but it can also be hard
  work. Many groups use rules to help things run
  smoothly. These rules help people share their
  ideas, make decisions, and run meetings.

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Roberts Rules of Order

• 1. Motion to make decisions
• 2. Vote
• 3. Take breaks
• 4. End the meetings

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• Roberts Rules help people talk to each other in
  groups and provide ways for the group to run
  smoothly.
• Sometimes its hard to remember what to say with
  Roberts Rules and thats okay.
• Groups can change these rules to meet their needs
  and help everyone understand.

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Some Things To Remember

• Build in time to relax and have fun.
• Arrive to meetings on time.
• Respect the thoughts, ideas, opinions and
  decisions of others.
• Use the agenda to stay on time.
• Teamwork means doing things together.
• Celebrate all the work and decisions your chapter
  has made.
• Use your self-advocacy to speak up about what you
  think.
• Information get itShare it.
• Everyone counts.
• Stay in meetings until break time or until the
  meeting is over.
• Be creative.
• Be flexible.
• Work on issues together.

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The Business Part of Meetings

• What should I do when others are talking?
• What should I do when I am speaking?
• What else can we do to run our meetings smoothly?
  
• How do we vote on issues?
• The motion has been seconded. Now what?
• How does someone stop the talking?
• What if the group needs more time to have
  discussions or gather information before they
  vote on an issue?
• What are other ways to keep order?

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What should I do when others are talking?

• Hint It gets confusing when a lot people are
  talking at once!
• Listen to what others are saying.
• Raise your hand and wait to be called on.
• Ask if you dont understand.
• Dont interrupt the speaker.
• Listen and consider others suggestions.

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What should I do when I am speaking?

• Hint You can make a list before you come about
  the things you want to talk about.
• Know what you will say before you talk.
• List the points that you want to make.
• Be sincere and talk from the heart.
• Include everyone speak to the whole group not
  just one person.
• Share your ideas when the group is making a
  decision.

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What else can we do to run our meetings smoothly?

• Hint It helps to write down what to talk about
  on the agenda!
• Create an agenda and share it with the group.
• Set times on the agenda for each issue.
• Set a timer at the beginning of each issue to
  keep the time.
• Schedule breaks on the agenda.
• Read or listen to the minutes and committee
  reports from the last meeting.

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How do we Vote?

• Hint You can use Roberts Rules. When you have
  something you want the board to vote on you make
  a motion.
• A motion is an idea that you want to take steps
  to do something. A second motion means that
  someone else agrees with what that person wants
  to do.
• To make the motion you can say I make a motion
  to... then say what you want people to vote on.
• Another member must agree with motion.
• This person can say I second the motion.

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The Motion was seconded Now What?

• The President should ask the group, Are there
  any comments?
• The group also talks about the pros (good parts)
  and cons (bad parts) of the issue or idea to be
  voted on.

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How does someone stop the talking?

• When there has been enough talking its time to
  vote.
• Then someone can say Are we ready to vote?
• This gives everyone the opportunity to make sure
  that they understand the issue. When there is no
  more talking its time to vote.

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What if the group needs more time ?

• Hint You can talk about the issue at your next
  meeting.
• Sometimes you may decide to talk about an issue
  at the next meeting.
• You can ask the group to do this by saying, I
  move that we table this issue until our next
  meeting.

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Are there other ways to keep order?

• You may want to use something like a talking
  stick.
• A talking stick is used by Native Americans to
  remind the group to listen to the person who is
  speaking.
• When a person holds the stick he or she is the
  only one talking.
• Its also a symbol that reminds the group of the
  rules.
• The stick starts with the President.
• When other members want to speak they can raise
  their hand to get the stick passed to them.
• Then, the Vice President passes the stick around
  to people who want to speak.

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Congratulations for making it all the way
through the handbook!
Do You Have any Questions?