20 characteristics of a dysfunctional Committee of Management … and how to avoid them

In this help sheet, the term 'Committee of Management' (COM) is used but it is intended to apply to whatever governance structure your group has, such as a Board. The term "CEO" (Chief Executive Officer) is used but it is intended to apply to whatever name your group has for its head person (coordinator, general manager, chief executive, executive director etc.).

1. Committee of Management meetings are unspeakably boring and/or interminably long.

Probably the number one reason for a COM's ineffectiveness, this problem is usually caused by a poor meeting structure and lack of discipline.

Remedies:

• The agenda is the most important tool in creating effective COM meetings so take some time to get it right. Ensure that agendas are brief, relevant, logically presented and distributed well before meetings. Importantly, minimise "for noting" agenda items - if a decision is not needed at that meeting, the item may not need to be on the agenda at all.
• Think about allocating a set amount of time for each item to be discussed - this need not be followed strictly but will help to provide some structure to the meeting.
• If meeting times are being blown out by rambling COM members, put in place time limits on individual contributions. That ensures everyone gets the chance to be heard without dominating discussions.
• Start meetings on time, even if people are running late.
• Ensure all COM members know the meeting rules and are committed to following them. Undertake a COM training course if necessary.
• Think about the effectiveness of the COM Chair. If the Chair is unable to keep order or keep the meeting on track, s/he may need to undertake some training.

2. Committee of Management members are unclear about their responsibilities.

It is frighteningly common for people to begin their role as a COM member without being clear of their roles and responsibilities. This is not only legally dangerous but is almost sure to impede the effectiveness of the COM.

Remedies:

• Ensure all new COM members are fully briefed about the contribution and commitment required of them. Give every new COM member a written job description.
• Put in place an induction process for all new COM members that involves discussion about and clarification of roles and responsibilities.
• Carry out annual training sessions for the COM to revisit and renegotiate each member's roles and responsibilities.

3. Committee of Management members don't take their role seriously.

This is a similar problem to Number 2 above, but a more difficult one to tackle as it involves dealing with attitudes, rather than a mere lack of information. There is an alarming tendency for some not-for-profit COM members to take their roles less seriously than they would a company board position - despite the fact that the legal requirements for each are identical.

Remedies:

• Ensure that all new and existing COM members are aware of their roles and responsibilities, particularly when it comes to financial and legal obligations. Our Community's handbook, Surviving and Thriving as a Safe, Effective COM Member, is a good place to start.
• Pay for COM members to attend an outside training course on COM responsibilities, or put in place your own training session.

4. Committee of Management meetings are enjoyable but decisions are rarely made.

This problem can be caused by a number of factors, including structural and operational deficiencies.

Remedies:

• Ensure that the COM is being provided with enough information before and during meetings to allow it to make a thoughtful decision. Meeting papers should be comprehensive (but not packed with irrelevant information).
• Think about the COM's size and structure and whether it may be too big and ungainly to carry out its role effectively.
• Examine the conduct of your COM meetings to see if improvements need to be made (see Number 1 above for tips).
• Ensure the COM's mission and vision are restated and/or reviewed from time to time to make sure members are focused on the future direction of the organisation.

5. Decisions are made but they aren't followed through / implemented.

Again, there could be structural and operational problems at play here.

Remedies:

• Take another look at your COM's committees and sub-committees. Do they meet regularly? Are their meetings conducted efficiently? Are committee members committed to their roles? Are they led by an effective committee Chair? Is everyone aware of their responsibilities?
• Ensure that tasks are assigned and that minutes record to whom all tasks have been assigned. Follow up on the progress of assigned tasks during every regular meeting.

6. The Committee of Management's decisions are inconsistent.

COMs are often accused of being inconsistent in their decision-making - approving one course of action one month and rejecting a similar proposal the next. This can lead to uncertainty and frustration among the community group's staff, members and other stakeholders.

Remedies:

• Ensure all COM members are conversant with and committed to the mission and vision of the community group, as well as its long and short-term goals.
• Ensure the COM has developed a range of policies to guide COM members in their conduct and decision-making. Policies could cover issues such as ethics and conduct, volunteer management, financial management, accountability, and so on. See Our Community's Policy Bank (www.ourcommunity.com.au/policybank) for some sample policies you could adapt for your own group.
• Ensure policies are well-articulated, clearly understood and strictly adhered to. All meeting agenda items should refer to any policies the issue touches upon.

7. The Committee of Management has a terrible relationship with the community group's staff.

This problem has the ability to undermine the very foundations of a community group. While the COM can be considered the "mind" of the organisation, staff members are the body - and neither can survive without the other.

Remedies:

• Make sure that the respective roles and responsibilities of COM and staff members have been discussed and defined - preferably in writing. This will minimise situations where the CEO tries to run the COM - or the COM tries to micro-manage the staff.
• There should be a structured process in place for recruiting and monitoring the organisation's CEO, providing feedback where necessary. If the COM feels the CEO is not performing properly, corrective action should be taken.

8. The Committee of Management is constantly accused of being out of touch with the community group's members.

A good relationship between the COM and the community group's members is as important as a good relationship between the COM and the organisation's staff. If the members are not happy with the conduct and direction of the group, they will have little incentive to stay and work for the success of the group.

Remedies:

• Put in place a diversity strategy to ensure that the COM is loosely representative of the stakeholders it is serving, taking into account the gender balance, ages, cultures, etc. of the membership base.
• Ensure that COM members are aware of who the community group's stakeholders are and allows them the opportunity for feedback.

9. Committee of Management members do not get along; conflicts are common.

Some conflict within a COM is not only inevitable but is actually desirable - the most effective Committees are those that invite differences of opinion. However, too much conflict can become a destructive force in a COM.

Remedies:

• Think about the root cause of the conflict and try to treat that - for example, does one party feel others are not pulling their weight? Does someone feel they are not being listened to? Is there a personality clash?
• Consider holding a retreat or social event to allow COM members to interact outside the pressures of the boardroom environment. Talk about the need for all members to focus on the organisation's overall mission, rather than the interests of individuals.

10. The Committee of Management is dominated by a clique.

While it is common for similar-minded individuals to join forces on particular issues, it can become quite damaging to the COM dynamics if the remaining members are consistently having their opinions overruled. Constantly defeated COM members are likely to lose interest in their role and conflicts could result.

Remedies:

• The Chair must take the lead in ensuring that all members' opinions are heard during debates and that all members are given an equal vote. Of course, if one group has the numbers, they will always win the vote; that's democracy.
• Think about putting in place sub-committees to deal with specific issues so that the power structures of the full COM can be diluted, or at least shared.

11. The group does not have enough money to function properly.

This is a potentially fatal problem for not only the COM but for the community group it is serving. While most community groups operate on a shoestring budget, they must have enough funds to pay the bills and carry out programs.

Remedies:

• This is not a problem that should be dealt with by a quick-fix. Strict procedures must be put in place immediately to ensure the organisation's financial status is improved and regulated.

12. There is a distinct lack of leadership in the Committee of Management.

The quality of leadership is hard to define - but you know it when you see it. And you are most likely to recognise its worth when it is absent. A competent, efficient and inspiring Chair is probably the greatest asset a COM can possess.

Remedies:

• Some leaders are born, but most need some help to develop their skills. The COM needs to put in place strategies for building leadership skills. An easy way to do this is to share around Committee Chair positions so people can get some practice in a leadership role. It is also a good idea to have COM members serve as a Deputy Chair before they are put forward for the Chair's position.
• Leadership courses can also be useful - see Our Community's free database of leadership courses for more information. The Our Community Leadership Centre has a range of other useful resources, including help sheets and interviews with great Australian leaders.

13. The Committee of Management has become unstable because of a high turnover of members.

There is often a regular turnover in membership of community group COMs. This in itself should not be considered unhealthy as new members can bring new ideas and perspectives and can often reinvigorate a stale COM. However, too much transition all at once can be bad for a COM, particularly if replacements are hard to find.

Remedies:

• If there are a lot of members resigning before their terms have expired, it is crucial that the COM discovers what may be causing the exodus - there may be serious structural problems at play. Conduct a private exit interview with outgoing members to find out their reasons for leaving. Carry out a confidential survey with remaining members to find out if other people are unhappy with how the COM is operating. Take immediate steps to fix any problems.
• Ensure that the COM has an effective succession and recruitment plan in place so that institutional knowledge can be preserved and there is an orderly process for replacing outgoing members. An effective induction process is also crucial to minimise disruption when COM members leave and others take their place.

14. The Committee of Management is stale - things coast along but nothing new ever happens.

"The way things are always done" is not necessarily "the best way". COMs need to be constantly reviewing what they do and how it they do it. Staleness most often results from too little turnover in COM members, or failure to recruit enthusiastic or innovative COM members.

Remedies:

• Ensure there is a well-thought-out recruitment strategy in place to identify the skilled and enthusiastic prospective members the COM needs.
• Consider putting in place maximum terms for COM members to ensure a regular and orderly turnover of members.

15. Committee of Management members are bored.

It is normal for a person's interest in their COM role to wax and wane a little depending on what projects are on the boil at any given time. However, long-term or widespread boredom is highly likely to create a treadmill straight out the door. Even if bored COM members stay on, they are unlikely to fulfill their responsibilities well if they feel disengaged.

Remedies:

• Look at your COM's structure to see if it may be creating boredom; for example, if the COM is too big, there may be some COM members who will have nothing to do.
• Ask members what interests them and try to cater for their interests when COM roles are allocated - by nominating them for a committee that interests them, for example.
• Rotate committee memberships to ensure that members do not become stuck on one particular issue.

16. The Committee of Management ticks along nicely in calm times but can't cope with change or crises.

Every COM will at some point have to face the prospect of change or upheaval. Getting spooked by such challenges can have serious damaging effects on the long-term future of the organisation.

Remedies:

• The COM's structures should be examined to see if there are ways they can be improved. Is there a clear line of command during times of crisis? Are there clear lines of communication? Are COM members kept abreast of the evolving situations and encouraged to take ownership of them?
• After a crisis has passed, undertake a review to look carefully at how the situation arose, how it was handled and what the COM could have been done better. Encourage all COM members to participate in the review process.
• If necessary, consider revamping the COM's membership to bring in people who are more experienced or more adept at coping with change.

17. The Committee of Management seems to lurch from crisis to crisis.

Poor management is usually at the root of this problem. Most COMs will face crises from time to time but constant turmoil is a sure sign that something needs to change.

Remedies:

• The COM needs to give risk management a higher priority. Risk management is not just about responding to a crisis, but learning to identify things that might cause a crisis and working to prevent them. Refer to Our Community's Insurance & Risk Management Centre for more information on this topic.

18. Committee of Management members seem out of their depth. No one seems to know what they are doing.

This is a common problem in new COMs or those with inexperienced members. No one is born with governance experience, everyone has to start somewhere and enthusiasm can go a long way to making up for lack of experience - however, if everyone on the COM is similarly inexperienced, progress is likely to be slow.

Remedies:

• Ad-hoc COM building with little thought given to the overall makeup of the COM is likely to have created this problem. Now is the time to put in place a structured recruitment process to ensure the problem does not recur in the future
• Put in place an orientation program to ensure all new or struggling members are brought up to speed quickly. Provide them with as many resources as possible - including access to these help sheets, and a copy of the Our Community publication, Surviving and Thriving as a Safe, Effective Board Member.
• Consider enrolling members in a COM training course or, if finances don't permit, hold one of your own, perhaps inviting more experienced COM members along to answer questions and offer advice.
• Set up a mentoring program, putting new or struggling members in touch with more experienced COM members (not necessarily from your COM) who may be able to guide their development.

19. The Committee of Management has a poor standing or low profile in the community.

Flying under the radar may make you feel safer but it will do your group no favours when it comes to advancing your mission, attracting new members and garnering support and funding. Even worse than an invisible public profile, a poor public profile will make carrying out your work almost impossible.

Remedies:

• The COM needs to make a concerted effort to educate the community about the role and mission of the community group it is governing - and that means undertaking a publicity campaign. Put out a media release, put on a special event, take out an ad - do something!
• You also need to put in place day-to-day processes for communicating with the media and the community (for example, a media spokesperson).
• Sometimes a poor public profile can be a legacy of past actions or inactions of a COM, often involving members who have long gone. Use your networks to spread the word that the COM is "under new management".
• Ensure your COM has in place systems and procedures that encourage accountability and transparency - this will win you trust and create a better public opinion of your COM.

20. Communication is a problem. Committee of Management members don't know what their colleagues are doing, the staff don't know what the Committee of Management is doing, and the members don't seem to know what anyone is doing.

Clear and effective communication is very important to ensure that everyone is heading in the same direction.

Remedies:

• Consider developing a communications policy that deals with communication both within the COM (taking in the use of emails, procedures for briefings, official lines of communication, etc.) and between the COM and others (newsletters, briefings, speaking to the media, formal consultation processes, etc.).
• Communication needs to be two-way - not just from the top down - so ensure your processes allow for ideas and comments to be fed to the COM from members and staff.

 

 

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