A camel is a horse designed by a committee! (Sir Alec Issigonis *)
In companies, we all live with committees (read: project groups, taskforces, working groups and the likes). In some instances days are entirely made out of committees. Terrible if you think about it. A great deal of inefficiency, a clear way to screw up work/life balance, and a risk of innovation getting killed. Why? Committees, in their very nature, only function when consensus is reached. And consensus, for innovation, is an absolute killer: it makes ideas mediocre and it slows down the process.
Don’t get me wrong here. Sometimes you can’t do without a committee. And team work, cross-functional alignment is paramount to getting things done in a large corporation.
With that in mind, you just need to make committees EFFICIENT!
Here are the 5 things (with their ingredients) you need to get right to get a group/committee to work well:
#1. THE RIGHT TASK
The ingredients: a clear, defined, written goal + challenged at the start but not being changed during the lifetime of the committee
#2.THE RIGHT PEOPLE
The ingredients: people that know the subject/task at hand + motivated to participate + empowered to take action + culturally diverse + accepting the team process
#3.THE RIGHT LEADER
The ingredients: the leader must have and keep an overview (of the task and the progress) + has an “idea” of the endgame + listens & leads and leads & listens + facilitates more than tries to push his/her idea through + empowered to lead the group by his seniors + trusted
#4.THE RIGHT MINDSET
The ingredients: the goal/endgame leads, not the consensus + the will to make it happen + fight for the best, the strongest idea
#5.THE RIGHT TIME FRAME
The ingredients: quick is better than slow + precise timing for how long the group will work on a task is better than non-defined or “endless”
There are some key enablers not to loose sight of: an agenda, a timekeeper, minutes and action points. See my blogpost on meetings.
Put all of the above in a blender, and you’ve got a high right to succeed with your committee.
Here’s an interesting TED talk about how committees/team work & how groups get things done:
And, an interesting experiment around group dynamics:
What are your experiences with committees, taskforces, working groups, etc?
* Sir Alec Issigonis was the father of the mini.
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Loved your clear, concise points about how to form a great committee. Number 1 is so key. I also find that starting each committee meeting with a quick 1 minute review of the ultimate objective really helps keep people focused on the true purpose. Thanks!
I look forward to watching the ted talks when I have a few extra minutes.
Hey Molly! Thanks. Stay tuned in for more …
WALK&MEET! http://www.ted.com/talks/nilofer_merchant_got_a_meeting_take_a_walk.html