Definition and Features
Definitions
Committee – A group of individuals committed to achieving a purpose.
Committees are commonly found in large business organisations; they may also be found in smaller organisations.
Feature
Description
Purpose
A committee is a formal body established for a particular purpose. It should have stated powers and authority.
Membership
A committee consists of several members.
In many committees, the members represent different interest groups, such as members from various departments.
Members may also be selected for their unique knowledge and expertise.
Collective decisions
Committees seek an agreement between members to come to an agreed decision or recommendation.
Committees are instrumental where it is more appropriate for decisions or recommendations to be made by a group of people rather than a single manager.
Meetings
Committees hold meetings, which are led by an appointed chair. The frequency of sessions varies according to the purpose of the committee.
Formal committees also have a secretary and established procedures for the conduct of meetings.
A committee may be established to advise a senior person or a more senior body.
For example, a committee may be established to advise on the best way of implementing new regulations introduced by the government.
A committee may be given the power and authority to make decisions.
For example, a disciplinary committee may have the authority to decide how to deal with cases of alleged misbehaviour by employees.
A planning committee may be established to coordinate the plans of different functions or departments, such as implementing new systems in an accounts department.
A committee may be established to check or review an area of operations or activities.
For example, an audit committee may check that the company’s control systems are working effectively.
A committee may be established to think up ideas (‘brainstorm’) through discussions among committee members.
For example, a committee may be established to discuss ideas for a new marketing campaign.
Committee type
Example
Board of directors
The supreme committee in the business organisation, as it is appointed by the shareholders (at a general meeting) and set up to represent them and direct the management of the company.
All power and authority in the company come from the board, and all other committees are ultimately responsible to the board.
The major investors in BPS Co have appointed several directors to BPS’s board to protect their interests in the company.
BPS’s overall direction and strategy must be approved and overseen by its board of directors.
Executive
A committee with the power and authority to make decisions affecting the organisation’s management.
A company has a senior management committee.
Led by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), this committee makes decisions about implementing a strategic plan or budget approved by the board of directors.
It meets regularly to discuss the current performance of the organisation.
Standing
A permanent committee that has been established for one or more specific purposes.
Examples include a disciplinary committee, an ethics committee, and a health and safety committee.
Ad-hoc
A temporary committee established for a specific purpose, existing until the objective has been achieved.
BPS Co has established an adhoc committee to investigate the recent increase in customer complaints about product quality.
Steering
A committee is established to monitor progress in a significant project, to check whether it is progressing towards completion on time, with the required resources and within the budget spending limit for the work.
BPS Co has established a steering committee to implement recommendations, investments, and improvements to improve product quality.
Subcommittee
A committee established to carry out a task for its parent committee. Its membership is taken (entirely or mostly) from members of the senior committee.
A company’s audit committee will be a sub-committee of the main board.
Match the committee with the most appropriate committee type.
Committee
A committee was set up to investigate a recent cyber-attack on the company’s IT system.
A committee is set up to decide remuneration for a company’s senior executives.
A committee is set up to plan budgets.
A committee meets every six months to review ethical practices within the business.
A committee that checks progress in designing and implementing the company’s new IT system.
Committee members will bring their knowledge and experience to the committee, which may improve the quality of discussion and decision-making.
This may result in a well-judged and well-considered decision or recommendation superior to that of an individual.
Committee members may each represent different interests or functions and allow for the perspective of these interests to influence the discussion and decisions.
This is important for specific tasks like budgeting which impact many different departments.
When a decision is approved collectively, there is a higher chance that each group will accept it, as their views have been considered.
A diverse committee will reduce the impact and perception of bias compared to individual decisions.
For example, a disciplinary committee’s decisions may be more fair and impartial than if a single senior manager makes decisions about punitive measures.
Committees can delegate tasks among their members, possibly achieving greater output and outcomes than individuals. The duties may be assigned to utilise each member’s strengths and resources.
Individual managers and their subordinates undertake some tasks in the ordinary course of their work. However, some jobs may be performed better by a committee, and others may be done well by either individual executive managers or a committee.
Determine if a committee or individual manager is better suited to perform the task.
Task
Committee or manager
Planning the maintenance schedule for factory equipment
Investigating the reasons for poor sales figures last month
Preparing the annual budget plan for the next year
Selecting a supplier for a large purchase order
Reviewing health and safety procedures throughout the organisation
Recommending a programme of significant investment over the next few years
Planning a short advertising campaign for one of the company’s products
Committees slow down the decision-making process.
It takes time to arrange committee meetings, and when they meet, committees may decide that they need more time to decide, so they put off a decision until a later meeting.
When a quick decision is needed, involving a committee is inadvisable.
Members of committees may argue and disagree. Strong disagreement will make it very difficult for a committee to reach decisions or recommendations.
When there are differences of opinion between committee members, the committee may agree to reach a compromise instead of an optimal decision just because it is acceptable to the committee’s members.
Compromise decisions can be poor because they may fail to deal with the issue properly.
An individual may dominate discussions and decision-making by a committee.
If so, the essential advantages of committees – combining experience and ideas and members’ involvement are lost.
If a committee makes a wrong decision, no individual is responsible for the mistake or failure of judgement.
In business, individuals may be held responsible for their mistakes.
This lack of direct responsibility may make committees more favourable to risky decisions.
if held too frequently, committee meetings can use much management time.
Committee members often complain about ‘time wasting’ at meetings. So the cost of having a committee may be greater than its benefits.
The chair leads the committee, and the committee secretary gives the chair administrative support.
Chair
Secretary
· Create meeting agendas
· Moderate and direct committee discussions
· Ensure the committee fulfils its purpose
· Summarise actions
· Call for action/decision
· Ensure the opportunity for members to participate
· Minimise domination by any single party
· Decide on split decisions
· Distribute agenda
· Record minutes
· Prepare necessary documentation and information
· Communicate committee decisions with relevant parties
· Organise committee meetings
· Prepare and distribute agendas
George
(CEO, Chair of executive committee)
I am George, the Chief Executive Officer of my company and Chair of the budget committee. We prepare the budget plan each year and submit it to the board of directors for approval.
The committee meets several times a year. Having a committee for this planning work is essential because the company has limited resources, including money, and all departments are affected by how the resources are allocated. The committee members include all the top departmental managers to ensure that each function has a voice.
Leading the committee can be difficult, especially when departmental managers get angry and argue about who gets how much money and resources.
Part of my job is to try to prevent and resolve arguments and to remind everyone that we are trying to reach an agreement about the budget.
I draft the agenda for the meeting and circulate it to the attendees for any comments or additions. When a meeting gets underway, I encourage everyone to speak out, but I don’t let anyone talk for too long and dominate the discussion.
And I keep meetings within schedule by informing everyone when we start, when I propose to end the session, and I encourage them all to keep an eye on the time.
It’s my job to make sure that we work through the agenda, so I decide when it’s time to agree on something or to call for a vote if we can’t get an agreement.
Then we move on to the next item on the agenda. Being a chairman is mainly about ensuring that the committee fulfils its purpose and does what it needs to do in a sensible amount of time.
Sarah
(Secretary)
I am the head of the administration unit at the head office and act as secretary for the budget committee.
My job is to assist the Chair by ensuring that the committee does its work efficiently. I take the minutes and distribute them to the committee members before the next meeting, together with the agenda and any documents for the meeting. And I make sure that the meeting room is made ready
If the committee agrees on any action points, it’s my job to chase up the committee member responsible and ensure they have done it.
And if any committee member needs assistance or information, they can call or visit me in my office anytime.
Finally, when the budget committee has agreed on a budget to recommend to the board, I work with the finance director to get the budget into a form for submission to the next board meeting.
Agenda – Committee meeting discussion items.
Minutes – Committee meeting records.
A typical committee meeting flow includes:
A committee meeting begins with a review of the minutes taken of the previous committee meeting. The committee members agree that the minutes are a fair record of the discussion, and the minutes are then signed.
The committee goes through the items recorded in the minutes of the previous meeting. It discusses any other matters arising from them – such as whether action has been taken on issues agreed upon at the meeting.
These are listed individually in the agenda and are discussed. If any decisions are made about what should be done next, these will be recorded as an ‘action point’ in the minutes.
Committee members are invited to raise any other matters they would like to discuss.
The meeting ends with a decision about when the next meeting should be held.
