Not Another Committee!

“To get something done, a committee should consist of no more than three people, two of whom are absent.” ~ Robert Copeland

Being assigned to a committee at work or an organization that you belong to can be a scary thing.

Often committees are not very successful at completing their goals because the people who are on them do not really know what they are to do.

What usually ends up happening, is that old 80/20 rule, where 20 percent of the people on the committee do the work and basically the other 80% of the committee are totally forgotten about.

I have been assigned to committees before and never assigned to do any particular task, Only to find out that the purpose of the committee had either been completed or fallen apart and I was clueless as to what had taken place.

Committees can be very useful when they are set up correctly. These five steps are crucial for a committee to be successful in completing their project.

1. Define the committee’s purpose. Details are necessary and all committee members need to understand them.

2. Establish the committee leader. This must be someone who can delegate, instruct and follow-up with committee members to insure goal success.

3. Define each committee member’s role and task. Make sure these are detailed or the committee leader will not know if the member has done their job. Make sure that the member understands what they are to do.

4. Develop a timeline and check points for committee member’s tasks and then keep on schedule.

5. Evaluate the results of the committee’s project. What worked, what did not. Give the information to all committee members so that everyone can learn from the experience.

Committees can work, but they take work and commitment by those who are on them.

What experiences have you had working on committees that worked or did not?

10/17/14