Committees That Work: Common Traps - Creative Solutions
Publication date: Copyright © 2008 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved.
- About This Guide
- Trap 1: Letting Private Interests Influence Public Decisions
- Trap 2: Lacking Direction and Purpose
- Focus on Purpose and Results
- Activity B: Identifying Committee Results
- Set a Shared Vision and Goals
- Activity C: Creating Shared Vision and Goals
- Inform New Committee Members
- Trap 3: Filling Seats with the Usual Suspects
- Diversify Committee Membership
- Recruit, Retain, and Renew Membership
- Activity D: Recruitment Worksheet
- Trap 4: Going "Off Track"
- Use Appropriate Leadership Style
- Plan for Productive Meetings
- Keep the Group Focused
- Activity E: Feedback on Meetings
- Trap 5: Making Decisions Outside of the Meeting
- Decide How to Decide
- Activity F: Fist to Five
- Activity G: Criterion Grid
- Recognize The Cycle and Tensions of Group Decision Making
- Establish Information and Communication System
- Activity H: Communication System Review
- Trap 6: Getting Stuck in Conflict
- Recognize Conflict Type and Take Action
- Communicate to Diffuse Conflict
- Activity I: A Discussion Tool for Difficult Decisions
- Tackle Problem Meeting Behaviors
- Activity J: Conflict Management Survey
- Trap 7: Boring Business as Usual
- Find Alternatives to Giving Reports
- Activity K: Screening Agenda Items
- Encourage Creativity and New Ideas
- Activity L: Snow Cards Exercise
- Activity M: Station-to-Station Brainstorming
- Make Conference Calls Work
- Case Study: The Budget Cutting Meeting
- Stay in the Setting of Public Decision Making and interact based on the principles of public life rather than private life.
- Establish Working Agreements early on to build group trust and clarify individual responsibilities.
- A diverse group of people - the public. It is in the public that you encounter people different from you. In many cases, people are not linked by common interests but by a common problem. The public realm is often characterized by debate, argument, and conflict.
- Public is a quality of space that is open and visible to all - the public world. This is where your actions are visible for all to see and thus you are accountable for what you do.
- Public suggests a broad sense of common good - the public interest. The public interest is created by those with diverse interests who are engaged in problem-solving with each other.
About This Guide
Effective committees have engaged members, strong leadership and good process. When these areas are working well, a positive dynamic is created. When any area is challenged, it affects the other areas and can stall or lead to ineffectiveness. This guide includes strategies to strengthen these three areas.Common Traps
Traps are situations from which it is difficult to escape and which people feel confined or out of control to fix. This guide identifies seven common traps of committees. These traps will be used to organize the guide and are noted with this symbol.Creative Solutions
Creative solutions are ways that committees can get out of traps. This guide offers solutions for each trap, indicated by this symbol. Each solution represents ideas and information drawn from a variety of practical and academically-sound resources. Readers can explore these topics further. Committees are encouraged to work for cultural competency in implementing the guide's concepts as some elements vary across cultural lines.
The guide's authors value cultural competency and made an effort to consider cultural differences. However, they recognize and wish to stress the importance of learning about the specific cultures of those with whom you are working.
Trap 1: Letting Private Interests Influence Public Decisions
Committees are comprised of private individuals with a public job to do for organizations or a community. While it is natural for members to have self interests and relationships that may influence their work on the committee, this also has to be monitored. Establishing boundaries and guidelines for operating a committee based on the public rather than private arena will allow the committee to flourish. Avoiding the perception of favoritism, closed meetings, and/or bowing to special interests will give the committee credibility and trust of the public. Two solutions recommended to help avoid these types of situations are:
Stay in the Setting of Public Decision Making
Citizens involved in public work make meaningful contributions to society. Public has its roots in two Latin words. One is populous, meaning people; the other is pubes, meaning maturity, because puberty was the moment one entered the world beyond one's household. The term public refers to:
On the other side of the spectrum, the concept of private refers to the setting of close personal relations that one may have with family and friends. The ways of thinking and acting are different than in public. The values of love, intimacy, friendship, acceptance, and loyalty characterize the private setting. In the private setting, you are accepted for just being yourself with less emphasis on what you do. Examples of the private setting can be your home, neighborhood or circle of friends.
While both the private and public setting may be present in many situations, it is important to consider how decision-making differs between these. Conflicts of interest can be avoided by recognizing when the nature of a request is based on a private mode of operating rather than public.Differences Between Private and Public Settings
|Place||Home, circle of friends||School, workplace, associations, meetings|
|Characteristics||Alike, closed, closeness, loyalty||Diverse, open, recognition, accountability|
|Decision-making||Opinion, one person, spontaneous||Deliberate judgment, collaborative, strategic|
|Outcomes||Self-esteem, unconditional love||Problems solved, public creation|
Adapted with permission from: Boyte, H. and Skelton N. (1995). Reinventing Citizenship: The practice of public work. (p. 38). Minneapolis, MN: Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, Center for Democracy and Citizenship, in partnership with University of Minnesota Extension.Reflection Questions
Read the examples of private and public roles in the boxes below. Record your own roles in both public and private settings.
- List a few examples of private and public settings from your life and work.
Private Settings - Dinner with extended family on Sundays, Buying a family car
Public Settings - 4-H Leader, Purchaser for county government
- As you reflect on your work, name areas where you see examples of tension between the public and private settings.
4-H Leader: I feel tension when extended family members in my 4-H club want me to accept paperwork after the deadline. In my family I can negotiate late deadlines; in my role as 4-H leader I must enforce deadlines uniformly for all, including family members.
Personal car and work car: I can buy my own car at my brother-in-law's dealership; when I buy cars for the county, I must accept bids and review those to make the purchase.
If a committee member tries to influence public committee actions with private interests, the group needs to respond accordingly. Helpful points to consider include:
- Recognize when a request is not in the best interest of the public. Familiarity with the distinction between the public and private settings will aid members in identifying inappropriate requests or actions early on.
- Bring the issue to the attention of others on the committee. Transparency is important for building trust.
- The committee should follow appropriate group decision making procedures. Clear reasoning must be determined when making a decision that clearly is of private interest. Most importantly, the group must be transparent and accountable to the public for its decision.
- If the committee has established ground rules for what is appropriate, they should be reiterated so that all members are reminded of the need to keep public and private separate.
If the group lacks ground rules, now is the time to create them. The next section on working agreements details how to create such guidelines.
Establish Working Agreements
Working agreements (a short list of ground rules) describe what the expectations are for how the group will work together. Creating and enforcing ground rules early on can create a safe, friendly meeting environment and can help achieve the purpose of the meeting. Making them explicit helps clarify individual rights and responsibilities in the group setting. Effective ground rules help build group trust and manage problems before and as they occur.
The best ground rules come from the members themselves to meet the particular needs and challenges of the group. Examples help them get started, and the group adds to or modifies them as they see fit. Once they are established, participants should agree to abide by them. They become a contract that commits the group to constructive ways of engaging and should be revisited regularly and refined when necessary. Groups that consistently observe ground rules have a more constructive dynamic than do groups with no rules or with indifference towards rules.
Here are two examples of "working agreements" which have proven helpful for groups:
- Everyone participates; no one dominates.
- There is not one "right" answer.
- Committee decisions are to be made in the meetings.
- Keep an open mind.
- Listen carefully to others.
- Help keep the discussions on track.
- Try hard to understand the views of those with whom you disagree.
- It is okay to have friendly disagreements - everyone has a right to his/her own views.
- To help bring closure to a discussion, use the "I can live with it" rule.
- I will respect others for who they are and respect our differences of opinion.
- I will communicate (speaking and listening) to understand.
- I will take ownership of my own views by using "I" statements.
- I will put the purposes of the group ahead of my own needs and behavior.
- I will strive for a climate of healing, peace and good will.
- I will keep decision making processes within the formal meeting setting.
- I will consider the following if I react negatively to a statement made by someone else:
- Respond with a thoughtful question
- Paraphrase back what I heard
- Count to 10
- Try to understand the feelings
- Try not to use negative body language, facial expressions, or sounds
Activity A: Establishing Working Agreements
Follow these steps to establish working agreements or ground rules for your group.
- Individually, think about your group and how it operates. Write down guidelines you feel are most important for your group:
- Individuals share their ideas to create a master list of potential guidelines. Choose the best guidelines for your group by following your committee's process for group decision making. It is important that all members of the committee agree to adhere to these guidelines. Write your final group of guidelines here:
- As a committee, decide how the group can assure that the guidelines will be followed. What should be the consequences for individuals not following the guidelines?
- Consider establishing a schedule to review the working agreements each year to discuss whether it is functioning well and if revisions are needed as the group evolves. Record your next scheduled review here:
- Are there any cultual factors that need to be considered, e.g. time, gender roles, language barriers, meeting location, handicap accessibility?
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