3.4. Decision Making

Officers of the Club are expected to make decisions on behalf of the Club. These decisions are made usually through various committee meetings conducted by the Club (Management Committee, Surf Sports Committee etc). In this way the view of the committee rather than an individual member prevails through a democratic vote. In some cases officers may be required to make decisions independent of the committee, in these cases such decisions will be reported back through the committee and ratified.

In all cases decisions must comply with the guidelines provided by the Club through its various plans, rules, policies and procedures and within the constraints set by the constitution (i.e. certain decisions must be made by the Management Committee or by the Club Council at an AGM etc).

A simple guide for committees and officers in making decisions on behalf of the Club is to ask six questions:

1. Is it consistent with Club Values?
2. Does it help meet Club Objectives?
3. Does it comply with Club, South Coast Branch, SLSQ and SLSA regulations?
4. Have I/we got the authority to make this decision?
5. Can we afford it?
6. Is it value for money?
   

Once a decision has been made by a committee it is important that all members of the committee support the decision even though they may not have supported it in the debate. Officers who do not publicly support and comply with legitimate decisions made by committees undermine the structure of the Club and promote factionalism.

This is not to say that officers must support all decisions during the debate as officers are required to think and vote freely as in any democracy. However, after the vote, once a decision is made in the best interests of the Club by a committee, it is expected that all officers will comply with and show support for that decision.