Most people seem to regard Committees as being at best a waste of time, and often the end of any chance of progress! Why is this so? It probably reflects the unfortunate fact that many committees are counter productive and only waste time. But does it have to be this way?

People sometimes claim that committees should be abolished and one person should be made responsible for carrying out what ever the task, project or function happens to be. Sometimes individuals do well, but often they do not fully represent the views af the parent group, do not have the range of skills required, or, even worse, operate purely to advance their own agenda.

The solution is a small group made up of mature people, all mature enough to work for the common good, having in total the skills and knowledge required for the task (or knowing how to find/employ people with the skills), and led by a person with the personality, skill and experience to build the members of the committee into a team, to resolve any personality clashes in a way which leads to fruitful teamwork, to train the committee members in working together, to keep the committee focussed on their task, staying focussed until the purpose for which they have been set-up has been achieved. If the committee is on-going, the chairperson will need to look for suitable replacement members, (including a successor as chairperson!) as needed. If the committee has a specific task, then the chairperson needs to see that the committee finishes the task as quickly as possible, wraps up any loose ends, and finishes up promptly.

Committees are most effective when all members are mature, capable people. But even if this is not so, a competent chairperson can often get an acceptable result from less than ideal members.

The functions of a committee are:

a) To bring together people with differing skills or knowledge so that the committee has more skills/knowledge than any single member. To provide all the skills needed for th particular task/s

b) To ensure that the legitimate interests of all factions of the parent body are adequately considered, without any one group dominating the proceedings.

(Sent by a friend).