Tune up committees for peak performance: tips on preventive maintenance.

Committees are the engines that power many of our association programs. And like the engines in our cars, we may not think about committees much unless they sputter or refuse to start. With a little preventive maintenance and a tune-up now and then, your committees can run more smoothly.

As an elected leader, you have two things to consider: first, how to organize your committees, and then, how to ensure that they function effectively.

Organizing committees

The first question to ask is, Do you have the right committees? To answer this question, start with your association's strategic plan. Make sure it identifies your programmatic priorities and tells you what committees you need. Look closely at any committees you have that don't relate to the strategic plan. It may be time to eliminate these and free up that staff time and volunteer energy.

There's a move today toward fewer standing (that is, permanent) committees and toward more ad hoc committees or task forces formed to accomplish a specific task, then disbanded. It is often easier to convince members to volunteer for an ad hoc task force with a clearly defined task and time frame than to volunteer for a standing committee.

In organizing your committees, consider size and composition. Five to seven members is usually considered to be optimum for group process and effectiveness. If the committee is expected to accomplish much of its work by conference call, for example, large groups can be especially unwieldy.

Strive to make the committees representative of your association's membership, which may mean intensifying efforts to find new volunteers. Your efforts will pay off, however, in bringing new ideas into the committee and establishing a mechanism for identifying future association leaders.

Consider holding an orientation for all new committee chairs. A half-day session that covers the association's policies and procedures related to committees and provides a primer on how to run an effective meeting will set the stage for productive committee work.

Increasing effectiveness

Here are some tips to improve committee performance.

* Set goals. Give each committee a specific charge and objectives that relate to the association's strategic plan. Such a road map will help ensure that the group doesn't go off on unproductive tangents that are unrelated to the association's mission or long-range goals.

* Define expectations. Make sure all committee members have a written job description defining what is expected of them. Include in the job description the committee's purpose and authority; the length of the term; how many meetings members are expected to attend; whether work will be accomplished in face-to-face meetings or by conference call; how many hours of preparation time or outside work might be expected; and any financial considerations, such as whether committee members pay their own travel expenses.

* Define level of authority. Be sure that the people chairing the committees understand what authority (if any) their committees have to represent or make commitments for the association. Committees sometimes think they can commit the financial resources of the organization or sign contracts with hotels or other vendors, when in reality this authority is reserved for the board of directors.

* Build teams. Committees work best when members of the group trust one another. Encourage committees to devote some time to getting acquainted, especially at their first meeting. You may also want to take a page from professional facilitators and establish ground rules for the group process.

* Establish reporting mechanisms. Set up a regular reporting system so that you can spot trouble before it's too late. You might require reports 30 days prior to every board of directors meeting, for example, or at the end of each quarter. The report can be a simple one-page form that has the committee name, the chair's name, and spaces to note progress on each charge, any problems encountered, and any recommendations to the board. You may want to establish a separate report for board recommendations that addresses background, options, action steps, and financial implications.

* Identify personal benefits. Recognizing that your volunteers have competing demands on their time, try to provide some personal benefit for serving on the committee. When I chaired the American Society of Association Executives' Membership Section Council, for example, I tried to set aside a little time at each meeting to share some membership activities that were working in our associations. Everyone went home with some new ideas, their bosses saw some organizational benefit for their participation, and many of those ideas found their way into the section newsletter.

* Eliminate the deadwood." It happens: People agree to serve on an association committee, then never show up and never do any work. This can be demoralizing to the other committee members, especially if the deadbeats are included in committee recognition. Encourage the people who are chairing your association's committees to follow up with their inactive members. Sometimes it's a temporary problem, an unexpected crunch at work, or an illness in the family, and the member will be able to participate later in the year. If it's a more permanent change in circumstances, give the member the opportunity to resign gracefully from the committee.

* Celebrate committee accomplishments. I don't think I've ever heard volunteers complain about an association giving them too much recognition. And you don't have to wait until year's end. A letter from the chief elected officer can recognize a hurdle overcome, or a champagne toast can celebrate a committee success.

Ginger Nichols, CAE, is founder and principal of GinCommGroup, a San Francisco-based consulting and training firm. Nichols is an ASAE Associate Member Fellow and serves on the board of the Northern California Society of Association Executives, San Francisco.