An effective organization needs energetic committees!

• Committees are instruments for accomplishments.
• Cooperation is as important as what committee accomplishes
• Both chairman and members of committees have significant responsibilities.

Chairman Responsibilities:

• to present the project or problem,
• to clarify the problem or project,
• to stimulate group thinking,
• to follow the discussion,
• to summarize the discussion.

Committee Member Responsibilities:

• to take part in discussion,
• to avoid discussing unrelated matters,
• to keep prejudices in check and respect another’s views,
• to follow the discussion attentively,
• to share experiences for the benefit of the group,
• to help make decisions, then act,
• to attack problems impersonally and avoid arguments.

To enable committees to function effectively, certain principles should be recognized and supported with practice.

Operational Principles for Committees:

• Committees should expect to have significant work to do; committee member should be competent for that work.
• The committee chairman sets the tone, tempo and tactics of the operation of the committee.
• The leader, chairman and committee members should be knowledgeable about the operations of the committee.
• Committees accomplish more when members work on assignments between meetings.
• Effective communication requires effort on the part of both the speaker and the listeners.
• All committee decisions affect people; people should be considered when making decisions.

View printable PDF of this article, Committees — an Overview