Department Committees

Department Committees

“A committee can be a very effective working force of an organization if the committee has a clear, written purpose; the committee chair is chosen based on leadership and people skills; members are chosen to align committee needs with member skills and interest; members are chosen strategically to develop new leadership for the organization; and committee meetings are conducted efficiently.” (“Effective Committees,” Jannette Collins, MD, MEd FCCP, FACR University of Cincinnati)

Committees serve an important purpose in the work of a department. Below you will find several tips on effective, productive committee meetings, as well as practical tips for running meetings (including when to choose electronic meetings or face-to-face). The American Council on Education (ACE) has a useful article, “Using Meetings to Create Cohesion,” which can be found in the Appendix: Using Meetings to Create Cohesion.

Tips for Productive Committee Meetings

Compiled from multiple resources and revised for general use

Additional Resource: https://www.nsgic.org/public_resources/Running_Effective_Committee_Meetings_102611.pdf

What Makes for an Effective Committee?

Effective Committees

• Have clear, written purpose for the committee’s work
• Have an effective committee chair
• Have thoughtfully appointed members
• Have well-run meetings

Effective Committee Chair

• Is not necessarily the technical expert
• Works well with others
• Organizes effectively
• Motivates others
• Keeps people on task
• Good communication skills

What are the Committee Chair’s Responsibilities?

Responsibilities of Committee Chair

• Set agendas
• Call meetings
• Allow all members opportunity to contribute
• Assign responsibilities and follow up
• Recruit members
• Orient new members
• Report to Department Chair
• Be familiar with goals of the department and its by-laws
• Communicate with members
• Praise member contributions
• Prepare and present committee reports
• Groom a successor

Chair Does NOT…

• Talk the most at meetings
• Make all the decisions
• Allow one or more people to dominate the meeting
• Cut people out of discussions
• Allow meetings to become unproductive
• Make people feel foolish or useless
• Force people to contribute to discussion
• Lose temper
• Stay too long

How to Have Effective Meetings

• Set dates in advance
• Send reminders
• Send agenda with supporting documents
• Talk to members prior to meeting to gain consensus
• Choose a convenient, appropriately sized location with a chair for everyone
• Provide introductions
• Start and end on time
• Focus discussion
• Follow Robert’s Rules of Order
• Authority

How to Use Agendas

• Always have an agenda with approximate amounts of time to be spent on each item. The Chair should keep the members on task as needed.
• Items:
  • Title of meeting
  • Date, time, and location
  • Approval of prior meeting minutes
  • Reports from sub-groups
  • Old business
  • New business
  • Announcements
  • Date, time and location of next meeting
• During “Old Business” review previous action items, provide updates or progress reports.
• At the end of the meeting, recap the plans/decisions that were agreed upon.

How to Take Minutes

• Remember that minutes are a legal document
• They are used to keep accurate records
• They must be taken for any meeting where people vote
• They record decisions made by the committee
• Minutes Items
  • Title of meeting
  • Date, time, and location
  • People present, excused, absent
  • Corrections to previous meeting minutes
  • Actions relating to previous meeting
  • All motions and outcomes of votes
  • Items to be discussed and decided
  • Date, time and location of next meeting
• Do not include
  • Names of people who move and second motions
  • Details of debates—note general points of discussion that led to decision
  • Vote count – outcome is enough in most cases unless the committee decides otherwise
• Save minutes of committee meetings in appropriate location