Working Together: Officers and Staff
The officer and staff relationship is one of the most important in any students’ union. It is also one of the most consistently under-invested. This training programme creates the space to do something about that.
The relationship that makes everything else work
The dynamic between elected officers and the staff who support them is unlike almost any other working relationship. Officers arrive with a democratic mandate, a set of priorities, and limited time to deliver them. Staff bring continuity, institutional knowledge, and the professional expertise to make things happen. When that combination works well, it is one of the most effective relationships in the sector.
When it does not work well, the consequences ripple outwards. Strategies stall, communication breaks down, and both officers and staff end up frustrated by a situation that nobody quite planned for.
This training programme brings officers and staff together in the same room to do something about it. Not a lecture about how the relationship should work in theory. A facilitated, practical session designed around your organisation’s specific context.
The tension is structural, not personal
Most difficulties in the officer and staff relationship are not about personality. They are about role clarity, expectation management, and the genuine complexity of a dynamic where democratic accountability and professional expertise have to coexist.
Understanding that distinction is often the most important shift a team can make. This training creates the conditions for that understanding to develop in a way that is honest, constructive, and grounded in your actual working situation.
Officers leave knowing more about what staff need from them. Staff leave with better tools for supporting officers without overstepping. Both leave with a clearer shared framework for the year ahead.
Key topics and themes
Representational vs. Operational Roles
A clear and honest exploration of what officers are there to do and what staff are there to do, and where those responsibilities genuinely overlap or come into tension.
Understanding the Distinction
The elected officer and the staff member: what democratic mandate means in practice, what professional expertise looks like in the same space, and how both coexist productively.
Building Healthy Boundaries
Practical frameworks for establishing a professional working relationship with clear boundaries — not in a way that creates distance, but in a way that creates clarity and trust.
Communication and Feedback
How officers and staff communicate with each other when things are going well and when they are not, including how to have the difficult conversations before they become unmanageable ones.
Co-creating a Working Philosophy
The programme does not end with a model handed down from the front of the room. It ends with your team having co-created a practical working philosophy that reflects your specific context.
Real-world Challenges
Facilitated discussion around the actual situations your team faces, not hypothetical scenarios from a textbook. The session is shaped by what is real for your organisation.
Practical, applied, and built around you
Initial conversation
We talk with you about your team, your context, and what you most need from the session. No two organisations are the same and the training reflects that from the outset.
Tailored facilitation
The session is facilitated by an experienced Alkhemy practitioner who understands the SU sector. We adjust the agenda in response to what your team brings into the room.
Practical outputs
Participants leave with resources they can actually use, not just notes from a session. The working philosophy your team co-creates is something you can return to throughout the year.
Follow-up support
We are available for follow-up if questions or situations arise after the session. The relationship does not end when the training does.
Delivery and format
In-house deliveryDelivered directly at your institution or students’ union, on a date that works for your team and your officer cycle.
Online or in personBoth formats work well for this training. We adapt the facilitation approach to suit the mode of delivery.
Officers and staff togetherThe training is designed for both groups in the same session. The shared experience is the point.
Bespoke agendaWe do not run a standard programme and call it tailored. The agenda is genuinely shaped by your context before we arrive.
Pricing on requestWe quote individually based on your team size and requirements. Get in touch and we will have a straightforward conversation about what makes sense.
What people say
Experiencing Alkhemy’s Working Effectively training was a real game-changer for us starting the new year. The insightful and practical training has already begun to transform how I am able to collaborate and communicate with our officers, enhancing our working relationship significantly. The resources provided were a welcome addition and have uses beyond officer relationships. A heartfelt thank you to the Alkhemy team for this impactful training.
Ready to get started?
The best starting point is a conversation. Tell us about your team, your context, and what you are hoping to get from the training, and we will take it from there. No pressure, no obligation.