As private and public
sector organizations grow and change, internal committees become an
increasingly important way to integrate different parts of the business and get
things done.
While internal committees come in many forms, and can be
called task forces or working groups or committees, they are essentially a way
to bring together a mix of people with different skills and perspectives to
address corporate-wide priorities and cut across departments and geographies.
Internal committees are commonly used to co-ordinate and
manage projects, lead strategic priorities, integrate multi-business unit
operations, improve employee engagement, or quite simply manage the overall leadership of a business. When
managed well, internal committees can add significant value, strengthen
communications, and serve as an agile organizational design practice that most
businesses can’t do without.
Unfortunately, for many larger, more complex organizations,
internal committees are not well managed, resulting in wasted time and energy –
and lost opportunities.
In fact, many organizations don’t even know how many
internal committees they have, let alone what they do and what resources they
consume. In the worst of cases, internal committees trip over each other,
duplicating and confusing the efforts of other committees as well as core
business units.
So, to realize the value and avoid the destructive pifalls,
what are the keys to successful internal committee management? Here are
five tips.
1. Know what exists
Have an inventory of your committees, task forces and
working groups, and know how they support the business and complement each
other.
Not doing so will run the risk of perpetual confusion,
fragmentation and duplication, unknown and misaligned resource allocations, and
muted or failed outcomes. To actively manage your company’s range of committees,
you need a dedicated point-person accountable for their oversight, and
responsible for co-ordinating their internal governance.
At one progressive client, this role was actively led by the
chief human resources officer, and included quarterly updates to the executive
team.
2. Make it clear how
committees are formed
It’s essential to have clarity through the company as to how
committees get created in the first place. Have guidelines for their creation,
structure, composition – and how they come to an end. Anything less could
result in a “wild west” culture where managers can create committees at any
time, with increasing levels of internal dysfunctionality and resource drains
as more committees get added to the mix.
One Saskatchewan-based energy company has instituted a
simple but formal set of protocols to guide committee creation, resource
deployment and performance expectations.
3. Have a clear
mandate
To reduce redundancy and improve productivity, committees
must be clear about their mandate, roles and responsibilities, and how their
recommendations and decisions connect with management processes.
Ideally, each committee should have simply documented terms
of reference specifying its objectives, how it works, how it measures its
performance, and, most importantly, how it fits into the broader organizational
structure.
4. Track performance
Taking the time to plan, measure and understand the level of
effort and cost of each committee and of the collective portfolio of all the
organization’s committees will serve you well.
When this tracking is done, most organizations are initially
surprised to see how much time and financial effort they are putting into
internal committees. Invariably, these profiles result in portfolio
streamlining, better balancing of individual commitments and resource
allocations, and greater clarity of committee mandates. In other words,
committees suddenly become more efficient and effective, and better complement
the broader corporate structure.
5. Hold committee
members accountable
Key to the success of your internal committees is formally
recognizing and holding people individually accountable for their committee
commitments and results. This is especially important since committee
participation is usually a part-time effort over and above a staff member’s
full-time job.
While most employees will have an interest in participating
on a committee, other competing priorities and commitments can be distracting.
Careful management helps to balance these competing interests and focus efforts.
Companies can see an immediate benefit when they begin to
take a formal and practical approach to managing their internal committees.
In one particular client case, a newly appointed CEO
suspected that the number and mix of internal committees simply hadn’t been
managed, with the costs and complexities far outweighing the benefits to the
business.
With a comprehensive inventory and an assessment of related
costs and benefits, the CEO quickly made changes. This began with the
recognition that while internal committees were useful, there needed to be
executive commitment to formally managing them as a strategic portfolio and as
part of the company’s organization design. While the transition to formal and
better portfolio management of internal committees took time, this company made
them a priority and is now reaping the benefits.
Internal committees can be a useful organization strategy, but
if poorly managed, they can create decision-making and organizational
confusion. Thoughtful and practical management of internal committees will
guarantee a higher rate of return.
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