Don’t Do the Committee Work at the Board Room Table
By: Debi Peverill
Tags: Governance, Board, Productivity, Meetings, Committee

You want your meetings to be effective. You want your meetings to be short. You can move closer to achieving these goals by only focusing on the work that the board has to do. If there is work that can be done by committees then set those committees up and let them get at it!

Many organizations will have a committee structure. Typical committees will include an audit or finance committee, a nominating committee and a program or fundraising committee. There are two categories of committees, the standing committees and the ad hoc committees. The standing committees are always in place, which is how they got their name. These would be the finance committee for example. An ad hoc committee is struck for a specific purpose and it only exists until that purpose is achieved. For example, you might strike a committee to host an event and this committee disbands once the event has been held and all the bills paid.

A committee can be a great way to involve subject matter experts to help your organization achieve their goals. People with specific skills may be willing to serve on a committee, particularly one with a limited life, rather than agreeing to serve on a board. People who have had governance training can be reluctant to take on the responsibilities of serving on a board. They may be willing to help in their area, not so much interested in hearing about all the other stuff that goes on in the organization.

An example is your finance committee. You might be able to attract a couple of bankers and accountants to sit on this committee. They will be content to review your monthly financial statements and talk to your auditor. These are the types of things where their interests and expertise align. They do not want to be at the board meeting which also talks about staffing, programming and safety issues. This committee structure can be a win-win. Your group gets the expertise it needs and the participants get shorter board meetings.

The finance committee will meet and review all of the areas under their terms of reference. The board member who serves on this committee will report to the board at the board meetings. The board meetings will be shorter because the entire board will not be involved in the detailed work that the committee does. The review work has been done by experts, not all of which have to serve on the board.

Another example is of an ad hoc committee. The group has decided to host a conference. A committee is struck which is tasked with preparing for and hosting the conference. A board member, or two will also serve on this committee. The remaining members will be people with event experience, people who have skills around public relations and a couple of subject matter experts who would be able to choose speakers for the main stage and the concurrent sessions. You get the idea. This committee will spend time talking about decoration options for the venue, choosing a venue, choosing speakers, looking for sponsors, working on menus and making pricing decisions. As you can imagine this can take a lot of time. The board will get a report at each meeting and approve all these decisions. The board will not be involved in the details.

Consider the committee structure at your organization. Are there other committees that could be struck to improve chances of achieving the goals of the organization and make the board meetings shorter?