The Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association (OSCIA) is a unique non-profit farm organization that represents all commodity groups across the province. They are leaders in producer education, local association development, program delivery and consumer outreach.
On February 7th, 2017, OSCIA held a “How to Run a Successful Meeting” session in partnership with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA).
The purpose of this session was to learn:
- Ways to work with different personality types at meetings
- How to make meetings more effective
Over the course of the two hour session, there were group discussions about how to manage “Sticky Situations.”
These Sticky Situations covered issues such as:
- Individuals who try to push their own agenda
- Committee members who are not open to new ideas
- A Chair who is unwilling to evolve with technology
Some solutions provided by attendees for the Sticky Situations included:
- Build social time into meetings to encourage networking and fun
- Make a timed-agenda and stick to it. If your meeting goes longer, have the group decide to continue or add the outstanding items to the next meeting
- Use brainstorming to encourage new ideas
- Establish a nomination committee to build your board and committees all year
- Create detailed job descriptions so people understand their role
- Spread the tasks among many people to reduce burnout and build ownership of the organization
- Set aside resources (time and budget) for training
- Find ways to encourage use of technology or offer to take on tasks that require the use of technology
By the end of the session and armed with the “Running Effective Meetings” guidebook, the participants were well equipped to take what they had learned back to their associations. If you are interested in obtaining a copy of the Running Effective Meetings guidebook, please submit the request for it at: http://omaf.gov.on.ca/english/rural/edr/runeff_mtg.htm
Skills Development Training is available for OSCIA Local and Regional Association Board of Directors on the following topics: 
- Identifying Roles and Responsibilities
- Brand Awareness
- Membership Engagement
- Running a Successful Meeting
- Governance Training
For further details about training opportunities, please contact:
Brittany Roka
Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association
broka@ontariosoilcrop.org
(226) 706-8656
For more information, please contact:
Helen Scutt, Agriculture Organization Specialist
Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
Helen.Scutt@ontario.ca
(519) 826-3115
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