When was the last time you had people from the general public attend your committee meetings?

Rarely does this happen, as often meetings are seen as internal or private processes and not suited to the public.  In some cases this is certainly right but having the public attend a meeting opens up some great opportunities.

This provides a great way for them to meet the members of the committee of management and see how they work.

In addition, it provides an effective and direct way to get input and feedback from the general public.  For example, your organisation may be intending on making changes to its location, the range of services it provides or even changes to the operations of the organisation.

As such, by having their direct input at a meeting can help with making related decisions.  Plus it also shows you respect and value their opinion.

Another benefit of allowing the general public attend a meeting is that it is a great way to promote your services as well as to recruit new members if you are a club, enrolments if you are a kindergarten or even volunteers to help out at your organisation or any upcoming events.

Importantly, if you do decide to have meetings open to the general public, make sure to actively promote it and highlight why your organisation would like them to attend.  Ensure you have part of the meeting specifically devoted to engaging with the general public.  Also, make sure you have additional brochures available promoting the services, membership forms, volunteer forms as well as details of any upcoming events.