Committee
From Free net encyclopedia
A committee is a (relatively) small group that can serve one of several functions:
- Governance: in organizations too large for all the members to participate in decisions affecting the organization as a whole, a committee (such as a Board of Directors) is given the power to make decisions. A committee of this type is a form of a deliberative assembly.
- Coordination: individuals from different parts of an organization (for example, all senior vice presidents) might meet regular to discuss developments in their areas, review projects that cut across organizational boundaries, talk about future options, etc. Where there is a large committee, it's common to have smaller committees with more specialized functions - for example, Boards of Directors of large corporations typically have an (ongoing) audit committee, finance committee, compensation committee, etc. Large academic conferences are usually organized by a co-ordinating committee drawn from the relevant professional body.
- Research and recommendations: committees are often formed to do research and make recommendations on a potential or planned project or change. For example, an organization considering a major capital investment might create a committee of several people to review options and make recommendations to upper management or the Board of Directors. Such committees are typically dissolved after issuing recommendations (often in the form of a final report).
- Project management: while it is generally considered poor management to give operational responsibility to a committee to actually manage a project, this is not unknown. The problem is that no single person can be held accountable for poor performance of the committee, particularly if the chairperson of the committee is seen as a facilitator.
It is common for a chairperson to organize a committee meeting through an agenda, which is usually distributed in advance. The chairperson is responsible for running meetings: keeping the discussion on the appropriate subject, recognizing members (calling on them to speak) [often omitted in smaller committees], and calling for votes after a debate has taken place [formal voting is normally only done in committees involved in governance]. Governance committees often have formal processes (for example, they might follow Roberts Rules of Order); other types of committees typically operate informally, with the chairperson being responsible for deciding how formal the committee processes will be.
Minutes, a record of the discussion and decisions of the meeting, are often taken by a person designated as the secretary of the committee; they may be legally obligatory (again, typically for governance committees). For committees that meet regularly, the minutes of the most recent meeting are often circulated to committee members before the next meeting.
Committees may meet on a regular basis, often weekly or yearly, or meetings may be called irregularly as the need arises. During an emergency, a committee may meet more than once per day, or sit in permanent session, as, for example, ExComm (the President's Executive Committee) did during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
A committee that is a subset of a larger committee is called a subcommittee. [Where the larger group has a name other than "committee" - for example, "Board" or "Commission", the smaller group(s) would be called committee(s), not subcommittee(s)] For organizations where the Board of Directors is large - say 20 people or more - it's common to have an Executive Committee, of Board members, which is authorized to make some decisions on behalf of the entire Board.
Committees, both permanent and ad hoc (unofficial), appear both in representative democracies and in non-democratic structures. They may bear titles such as Commission, Board, Council, Presidium, or Politburo. Unofficial committees often get unflattering labels such as junta, camarilla or cabal.
Committees are a necessary aspect of organizations of any significant size (say, more than 15 or 20 people). They keep the number of participants manageable; with larger groups, either many people do not get to speak (and feel left out), or discussions are quite lengthy (and many participants find them duplicative and often boring).
Committees are a way to formally draw together people of relevant expertise from different parts of an organization who otherwise would not have a good way to share information and coordinate actions. They may have the advantage of widening viewpoints and sharing out responsibilities.
Their disadvantages appear in the possibilities for procrastination, undesirable compromises in order to build consensus, and groupthink, where (valid) objections or disconfirming evidence is either not voiced or is ignored. Moreover, the need to schedule a meeting, get enough committee members together to have a quorum, and debate until a majority agrees on a course of action, can result in undesirable delays in taking action. (A common joke, in organizations, is that when someone doesn't want to make an unpopular decision, he/she creates a committee to study the question.)
Contents |
Famous committees
- Committee of Public Safety
- Central Committee (of a Communist party)
- House Un-American Activities Committee and other U.S. Congressional committees
Notable subcommittees
The Committee Game
Any large organization has day-to-day tension where management desires to make decisions while the managed want their concerns voiced and "fair" decisions made. This tension plays itself out at all types of committee meetings: faculty, stockholders, staff, and milestone meetings just to name a few types.
Game Rules
In these meetings, it is in the best interest of the management and the managed to protect their current positions and resist change. Therefore, it should be noted that beyond (or behind) any stated reason for the committee meeting, the overall objective of meeting participants is to score points for their side by:
- Blocking, if at possible, the development of significant decisions, and
- Offuscate, diffuse, delay, or somehow make unrecognizable any issue before the members.
It is possible for any number to play, but larger groups from five to 15 members provides the greatest satisfaction for the accomplished player. Generally, playing is an individual sport, but be prepared for spontaneous teams of two or three to form.
Committee Game Strategy
First, slow the proceedings as much as possible. These meetings offer a perfect opportunity to promote yourself. Inject gossip about high-level management or administrators (everyone loves to hear it and they judge it as valuable information). Proudly announce any award or recognition you may have received no matter how trivial. Finally, if there is a lull in the conversation offer day-to-day stories which show how you helped someone.
Second, be suspect of any proposed changes, especially if there is a call for a specific plan of action. Use phrases like "if it already works, why break it," "this is too mechanistic," "why is this structure necessary," and "this has all the trappings of the cult of efficiency."
Third, if a decision seem imminent, defer the decision to another committee. Best of all, defer the decision to a higher-level state or Federal committee. Otherwise, form a sub-committee of just two or three members with yourself as the head of the sub-committee.
Committee Game Score Card
The committe member with the highest point total wins.
For 10 points: In the middle of a group discussion, use the pseudo Robert's Rules of Order phrase "I make a motion" to give an air-of-authority for a somewhat related (hijacked) course of action. 25 bonus points if someone seconds your motion. Zero points if the correct form "I move..." is used to solidify a consensus.
For 5 points: Interrupt the current speaker in mid-sentence, inject a quip, and get a laugh. 10 bonus points if the speaker continues the train of thought, but subsequently distracted with a second quip.
For 25 points: Use a metaphor from the previous speaker as the basis for a new (hijacked) direction in the conversation.
For 15 points: Bring up a decision passed earlier for renewed discussion. Ten bonus points if the group continues the renewed discussion.
For 3 points: If none are present, criticize administration. Explain how their lack of vision has led to sorry current state of affairs.
For 4 points: Criticize any service branch of the organization for inefficiency. Five bonus points if you mention the janitoral service or the IT department.
For 0 points: Question the morality of a discussion topic. 50 bonus points if the group agrees there is a moral problem.
For 25 points: Ask the group if there is a possible conflict-of-interest among the individuals being considered.
For 15 points: Demand to bring others in as participants into the group discussion.
For 10 points: Move that the meeting go into executive session.
For 50 points: Phrase a motion so that those opposed to it on a previous vote, vote in favor of the motion this time.
For 100 points: Have the opposition request adjournment.