**“But Do We Have to Vote on That?”

How Smarter Decision-Making Can Save Your Club Time (and Sanity)**

Let’s be honest some committee meetings feel less like a strategic discussion and more like a drawn out group chat about who’s bringing the oranges.

Every club has faced it:
A simple decision gets dragged into a full vote, someone says, “We should probably check the constitution,” and suddenly you’re 40 minutes in, still talking about whether you can buy a new gazebo.

So here’s the big question:
Do you really need to vote on everything?

Why decision-making gets messy

In many community clubs, decision-making is bogged down by:

• A fear of “getting it wrong”

• A lack of clarity about who can decide what

• Committees trying to be inclusive but accidentally becoming inefficient

• No clear distinction between operational and governance decisions

This well meaning messiness slows down progress and burns out volunteers. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Not all decisions are created equal

Here’s a simple rule of thumb:

Governance decisions = big picture, long term, strategic
Operational decisions = day to day tasks, logistics, actions

Not everything needs to go through a vote or be escalated to the full committee. In fact, clubs run best when routine decisions are trusted to the people in charge of those areas.

Creating a simple decision-making matrix can help everyone understand:

• What requires a full vote

• What can be delegated

• What falls under individual roles

Tips to streamline your club’s decisions

1. Define decision boundaries
   Agree on what’s operational vs governance and communicate it clearly.

2. Empower subcommittees
   Give them clear scope and trust them to deliver.

3. Document it
   Whether it's in your constitution, bylaws, or internal policies, clarity avoids confusion.

4. Use tools that track decisions
   Platforms like TidyHQ let you assign actions, record outcomes, and keep everything transparent.

5. Review and reflect
   Ask after each big meeting: “Could we have made that decision quicker, or at a different level?”

Final thought:

Efficiency is not the enemy of inclusion.
Clubs can be inclusive and efficient but only when everyone knows where they stand and how decisions get made.

If your club wants to spend less time voting on sausages and more time building impact it might be time to revisit your approach to decision making.