How committee’s really work (or don’t work)

Dear WW: Recently my boss asked me to sit on a new committee. I work in a warehouse and have never done anything like this before. Any tips? NEW TO THE MEET MARKET

Dear Meet,

There’s a tree house at the end of my block. It’s a regular architectural masterpiece, with gables, shutters and a shingled roof, all suspended between five trees. Or I guess I should say it was a masterpiece, because during a windstorm last week the wind pulled the trees in opposite directions and the house came crashing to the ground.
Sort of reminded me of the last committee meeting I attended. Everyone was blowing in different directions, then there was a loud crash and debris everywhere. Unfortunately that’s not unusual. Lots of committee meetings go that route because the leader and the members haven’t clarified how the committee’s decisions will be made. People go into the meetings with different expectations, then crash when it’s time to come to a resolution.

You can help minimize that problem by asking the committee leader how decisions will be made. Simply asking the question may prompt her to discuss this with the other members so everyone’s expectations are in sync. Knowing the decision making process will also let you play your cards (and your boss’s) most effectively. The following questions can help. They were developed at Intel and were included in an article in Fast Company entitled “The Seven Sins of Deadly Meetings” (available online at http://www.fastcompany.com).

Will all decisions be made by the committee leader, regardless of members’ input? If so, pay attention during the meetings in case there’s some useful information, but don’t hustle to get your points across. You’ll be talking to a wall.

Will the leader make the decisions using members’ input? If so, advocate strongly for your position. Think of yourself as a consultant to the leader: make a case that will be hard to resist.

Will committee members vote on major decisions? If so, your task is to influence your fellow members. If necessary, horse trade, compromise; do what it takes to get the votes you need.

Will a decision require every member’s agreement? Consensus comes from the Latin words “con” and “census” (meaning “you’ve been conned if you think a roomful of our employees can agree on anything”). Consequently it’s not often called for in corporate committees. But if your committee requires consensus your game plan should be this: look for the elements you know everyone can agree to and tie key parts of your agenda to those. Hopefully people will agree to your items in order to get the other things they want.

Knowing how decisions will be made will make you a far more effective committee member. It will also streamline your committee meetings. I guess the moral of this story is: tree houses are for birds-and so are meetings with undefined rules about how decisions will be reached.

Bob Rosner is a best-selling author, speaker and internationally syndicated columnist. Sherrie Campbell is a relationship and business professional, having applied her counseling background in a variety of challenging organizational settings. They’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic, especially if you have better ideas than they do. Also check out their complete column archive at workmash.org, “The Boss’s Survival Guide” and “Gray Matters: The workplace survival guide.” Send your questions or comments to bob@workmash.org.