IOR Committee FAQs

What Committees does the IOR have and what do they do?

The list of current committees and working groups in regularly on the website at https://ior.org.uk/about. Each Committee has a chairman and you can ask questions or make comments – including looking for technical advice – via our Contact Form. Committees are set up by the IOR Trustees to carry out a specific area of work.  They each have a set of Terms of Reference that say what they will do, who needs to be involved and what timescale they are working to. The Terms are reviewed annually to ensure they stay on track.  The Committees report to the IOR Elected Trustees.

We currently have vacancies on our Education, Membership and Service Engineers Section panel groups

Can anyone join a Committee?

A general call for volunteers goes out in the newsletter each January listing which Committees have spaces and occasional vacancies are advertised in the e-news between times, for example when a new working group is formed.  Volunteers are asked to send a mini-CV and statement about what they want to contribute and confirm their time availability and whether they can travel to meetings. The Committee will then issue an invitation to the most suitable candidates, trying to ensure that there are a good mix of different sectors and people in different types of job represented on each Committee.  Usually new committee members are asked to join for a trial period of a year to confirm that these working arrangements fit with their other work commitments.

How much of a commitment is involved?

This depends on the work of that group. Some will meet face-to-face once a quarter and do work in between. Some do most of their meetings by telephone conference over a short period of time.  Others only meet once a year to report back and carry out work between meetings.

Members are usually involved for about 3 years in the work of that group. For some groups where the work is on-going, if someone has specialist knowledge, or to ensure continuity, existing members may be asked to stay longer. For most Committees the two longest serving members will stand down each year to make way for new people to get involved.

How are the Committee meetings organised?

A Chairman is appointed by the Trustees, usually on recommendation of the existing Committee members and outgoing chairman.  Again, chairmen usually change every 2-5 years. There usually a minimum number of committee members that have to attend for a meeting to take place.  Where possible meeting dates are set up to a year in advance and locations vary across the UK. Agendas are issued usually 1 week before the meeting by email.  Notes of each meeting are taken by an IOR staff member and reviewed to confirm that they are an accurate record each time.  Some meetings take place as web based meetings or telephone conference calls if this is more practical.

How are the committees funded?

All of this work is voluntary. The secretariat, meeting room hire, webinar facilities and refreshments are provided by the IOR.   Travel expenses are not usually claimed, unless there are exceptional circumstances.  IOR pays for specialist help to support the outputs of committees such as web designers, printing, marketing and design, to ensure that the outputs of the committee is communicated or distributed to members.

How can I get involved?

Respond to the calls for volunteers to join vacancies in January or when they are issued in one of the e-news mailings. However, joining a Committee is only one way to participate, whilst it is an excellent way to meet more people and extend your knowledge in that area of work it does require a substantial time commitment to attend meetings. There are lots of other ways to help as well.

Are you a good speaker?

• give a talk about IOR to schools, colleges or your own technicians – we have an IOR presentation and video on you tube you can use
• give a presentation to service engineers on our regional Cool Talk or TechTalks

Are you a good technical writer?

• write up a good practice guide for service engineer publication

Do you employ service engineers or technicians?

• give a talk about IOR to work colleagues – we have an IOR presentation and video on you tube you can use, an fliers to give out
• encourage your engineers to join the IOR service engineers section (we have discounts for companies who sign up 5 or more technicians)

Do you know lots of people in the industry?

• Why not get together and form an IOR Regional Group – you just need 12 members to set up an IOR Group and will get admin & marketing support from the IOR, guidance on how to set up events and make contacts with other institute groups in your area, and a list of potential speakers

Do you have the time and specialist expertise to attend regular meetings?

• Apply to join one of the Committees that currently have a vacancy. Review the terms of reference and purpose of the group to confirm you can participate and provide a brief CV  for the Committee to consider.

Contact us to put your name forward