Committee role - A different philosophy (candidate information)

Long long ago in a place far far away, I espoused a totally different philosophy from a current board member on the roles of committees. This verbose (and controversial) member of the board espoused that committees are to be directed by the Board to get down into the weeds so the Board did not have to. My view, which is not hers, is the committees exist as nonelected member representatives. In my view, they should be the eyes and ears of members. Board committee chairs and cochairs are facilitators and referees. Her view is that committees only exist at the pleasure of the board and need "direction" from the Board on what their views should be. They are not a resource, they are a tool to endorse the Board's point of view. I could not disagree more! What a waste of human life!

 

That is an uphill battle John when board members serve as chairs and co-chairs of committees. Way to much “conflict of interest” can occur because of the policy.

 

Agree Tom and that may have been her point that the committee is only there to validate the Board (or Board member's) decision. I fundamentally disagree.

 

Gee, heard similar months ago..........................."
"I said before the jig has been up for a long time, it's Josie. I still think board members are involved in too many things and not allowed to focus on the 'Big picture" like you stated. A hospital for example has smaller meetings within each department that report up to the board on CEO board day. The director of each department goes to the board meeting and gives a report eg, the ED, CardioPulm, Maternity, NICU etc. Many hands make the work load light. And you may be surprised, more people may want to get involved if it doesn't involve being similar to a full time job. Judging from the schedules of our board it is almost a full time job. Been there, done that."

Happy Hippie, Mar 16, 2024

 

HH - I had several dialogues with another member of the board on ways to lighten the load on Board Members and came s with some interesting ideas, The key is focusing on the big picture and leaving operational matters to the GM.

 

I have said that so many times, but alas, I am not worth listening to per the Grand Puba and all were told to hit the ignore button on me. Believe it or not I have found that if you listen rather than accept an autocratic leader as gospel things may just change for the better. However this little ditty that started with just Bill and myself turned into a hate fest. It's almost like a Jim Jones cultish thing.

 

What flavor kool aid I can I put you down for? That’s a joke before you go all paranoid on me.

 

Agree totally, John. A Long Range Plan, not just a financial one, lays out the "big "picture". We need one!

 

I intend to propose an amendment to the bylaws at the next Annual Membership meeting that would allow, at least, the co-chair to be an ordinary Member.

I believe we have members in the community who perhaps have spent their entire careers in the same profession that a committee is tasked with administering.

So rather than sticking two Directors, who may only have little to no experience in the field as Chair and co-chair, let's place a Member with extensive knowledge in at least one of those positions.

Perhaps with a little incentive (non- monetary) we could get more Members to participate in committees.

I believe we have a wealth of knowledge in our community. All's we need to do is tap into it.

Am I making too much sense?

 

Rhetorical question, if a member has a particular skill set why are they not on the committee but would be as co-chair?

Any member who wants to be ch-chair would have to have a serious A game as we deal with many complex policies and layers. Sorry, but people who dealt with Ricky dink coverages with a small local agent need not apply. This is big time insurance with committee members who haves decades of experience at this level. You are always welcome to sit in on the renewal process in March.

 

I'm not seeing how simply changing the face of the co-chair or chair will solve the problem. Either the Chair is acting as self-serving dictator or they are acting as facilitator. Seems we need clearer written definition of Chair's duties and responsibilities (as facilitator in my opinion). Then maybe we need committees to have the power to elect and/or remove the Chair?

 

I like this idea of the committee electing the Chair.

 

I also like the idea of the committee electing the chair. It frees up a tremendous amount of Board resources.

 

That would probably be the best solution providing you have someone with the proper knowledge, however, the Board would never allow a committee to not have a Director there because they always want a Board member there to know what's going on and making sure it's in their best interest.

Small steps people. First let's see if we can even pass a motion for a co-chair before we go for the chair!

 

FYI - I am going to try and find an applicable definition of the role of the chair of a board committee chair. Do you have any suggestions on where I should look?

 

This is from the Diligent Brands Website and I found it informative. The last sentence summarizes the reason I disagree with a Board member on the role of the chair of a committee.

Role of the Committee Chair
An important skill for those who serve in the role of committee chair is effective planning. While the board provides the committee with a charter and specific duties, the committee chair must keep the organization's purpose, mission and strategic direction in mind as the committee pursues its course. A committee chair must carefully plan an agenda and send it out to the committee members in sufficient time for committee members to attend the meeting and to participate thoughtfully. Careful preparation on the committee chair's part will streamline the committee's work as they conduct investigations and perform research on the issues they need to tackle.

The Role of Committee Chair Requires Excellent Facilitation Skills
The role of the committee chair requires having excellent facilitation skills. For some people, facilitation comes naturally. For others, training in facilitating meetings can be very helpful. ...

With this in mind, a committee chair should not be afraid to address a committee member who takes the group off-topic or who merely regurgitates another member's opinion. The committee chair must be in charge. It's important to address such issues early and to be consistent with how they're handled. For example, a good response to use when someone is off-topic is, 'How does that apply to our agenda?' If the issue is indeed off-topic, but important to discuss, a chair may want to table it to later in the meeting.

A good facilitator uses phrases and tools to help the group move forward. A committee chair should never make decisions for the group or steer the group toward the chair's personal opinions.

 

And I would agree. The Chair simply needs to keep the meeting on topic but any decision made in that committee meeting needs to be made by the entire committee and not the chair alone.

I have attended too many committee meetings where the chair has made decisions and even rules on their own without asking the committee members for a vote.

The Chair doesn't really have any more authority than each individual member. They are there to simply preside over the meeting and keep the meeting to task at hand in an organized manner.

 

Spot on FYI - But it may be a wrong without a remedy....

 

Take it all away...Duffeeland. Libraries. Fans. Foundation funds. Use of cash. Water fountains.