1. A place to be

Many associations have their own premises to conduct their business, but not all do. Here are some suggestions for where to hold meetings:

• Group rooms on campus - here you have access to a screen and projector and tables can be set up according to the nature of the meeting (horseshoe, long table, group table).

• Does your campus have a student house? There is often a meeting room here.

• Cafés - suitable for more informal meetings.

2. Leadership

Being a leader in a student association often means gaining experiences and responsibilities that you would otherwise not get until after several years in working life. You are responsible for keeping an overview of the association's activities and finances, and ensuring that the volunteers play on the same team. We recommend that all new managers clarify expectations with their new employees, as well as regular staff appraisals and feedback rounds.

3. Meeting management

In a hectic workday where you're balancing studies, work and leisure time, it's important that you don't spend unnecessary time on ineffective meetings.

Here are eight tips on how to run effective and constructive meetings as a meeting leader:

1. Goals: Write down the goal of the meeting, then set the agenda. Send out invitations well in advance to give participants time to prepare for the agenda. What do you want to achieve? Is it to plan an event, discuss an issue, motivate each other, decide on an issue or get feedback?

2. Check-in: This is where you "tune in" the participants at the meeting and welcome them. Here you can communicate the goal and clarify expectations and meeting rules.

3. Reporting: Always have a secretary who can write down who attended the meeting, what was discussed and what was decided at the meeting. This is useful for remembering what happened afterwards, but is also a good overview for those who were unable to attend the meeting.

4. Role model: As the chair of the meeting, you are a role model. Be interested and friendly, create a sense of security and make room for everyone. At the same time, you must ensure that the meeting does not get out of hand and deal with any challenges such as disagreements, digressions and dominant personalities.

5. Facilitation: Facilitation involves managing a group process - and discussion - to ensure efficient use of time and the best possible outcome. In a meeting context, this may involve booking a suitable meeting room, perhaps arranging coffee and fruit? Set goals, an agenda and provide any documents and tasks in advance.

6. Activate and engage: Have a clear agenda and make sure this is known to all participants. Try to let participants speak in groups before the discussion is taken up in plenary.

7. Decisions: Once a decision has been made, it's important to make it clear who will do what and by when. Make sure that those who are to carry out the tasks have enough resources to do so.

8. Conclude the meeting: Here you summarize what you have discussed and what you have decided. Repeat the division of responsibilities and agree on the way forward.

4. Working environment

A working environment includes both physical and psychological factors. Here we give you as a manager five tips on how you can make sure that everyone in the association thrives:

1. Clarify expectations: How should we work and talk to each other? When you set up a working group, it's a good idea to clarify expectations, defining what you expect from the position, yourself and the others in the group.

2. Motivation: Respect that people have different motivations for joining the association. Some want a social replenishment, some are thinking about a career, while others want to help make a difference for others. All of this is fine! The most important thing is that they contribute to the group.

3. Ownership: When making decisions, it's important that everyone in the group feels ownership of the decision. This means that managers and employees should make it possible for everyone to share their ideas and input before the decision is made. This avoids anyone feeling "run over" or left out. A good way to ensure that everyone feels heard is to let people speak in small groups before discussing in plenary.

4. Recognition: When you give recognition, it should be deserved and specific. What has the person done to deserve praise? Create a good culture for positive gossip.

5. Conflicts: It's perfectly normal for disagreements to arise in a workgroup - and it can also be a sign of health that not everyone agrees all the time. However, it is important to ensure that disagreements do not develop and that a distinction is made between the issue and the person.

5. Board work

The main tasks of the board tend to be:

• Managing the business of the organization.

• Events, meetings, social gatherings, etc.

• Be responsible for the organization's finances.

• Take care of all important documents.

• Mail, applications and minutes etc. must be kept so that it is possible to go back and look at what has been done in the past.

• Provide information to members.

• Write minutes from board meetings. In this way, members can see what the organization is working on and the board can remember what they have decided and monitor the implementation of decisions.

6. Transfer of experience between boards

When a new board is elected, the information in the Brønnøysund Register must be updated and access to bank accounts, email lists and social media must be transferred.

We recommend that everyone with managerial and board positions writes experience letters with job descriptions and annual cycles that they give to their successors. It can be a good idea to write continuously throughout your term of office, as you often forget things that are good to include.

Set aside a weekend with the new board to go through major topics in plenary, where the outgoing and incoming board members can talk in pairs and the incoming board members can ask questions about things they are unsure about. Review the annual cycle, budget and accounts at such gatherings.