What’s the Role of the Representative Member?

For this post, let’s talk about the people who attend the Sexual Assault Response Team Meeting (SART). The folks who attend the meetings are critical components to the success of any SART. They are the ones who engage in the majority of the work and work on behalf of their agency. So, what is their role exactly?

• Act as an agency representative. Individuals are there to act as an ambassador of their home agency. They are not there to provide their personal views, but rather the views and policies of their agency. When they contribute, they contribute in the spirit of speaking for every one of their colleagues.
• Attend meetings. This is an easy and really important role. Representatives need to show up. Without them, the team will have a hard time functioning.
• Participate. This is another easy one. The role of the representative is to participate in the meetings and the outside work that is necessary to support the SART’s work.
• Communicate. Communicating with the team, the coordinator, and the home agency is absolutely the role of the representative. If any part of the communication breaks down, the team can struggle to be successful in enacting change.
• Make changes with their agencies. Finally, the role of the representative is to be able to make changes in practice, policy, and procedures. They don’t have to be the executive director, but they do need the support of the home agency. This role is the most important one of all for the representative member.

Hopefully, this brief overview of the roles of the agency representative helps you understand what is required of individuals who show up to the team meetings. Don’t worry, there are more roles for the individual, this serves as a summary. This information along with the role of the agency gives a great starting place for discussion with your potential or current team members.

Thoughts, comments, or questions? Anything to add to this discussion? Leave it below!