Success starts with the purpose

There are many formal definitions describing what a committee is but the essence of all such definitions could be stated as:
A committee is a group of people trying to accomplish something (the purpose) that cannot be better accomplished otherwise. The success, or failure, of your committee(s) requires your understanding of this. Whoa. What do I mean there needs to be a purpose? Many of the committees you sit on seem to be without. But of course! Thats why you find them non-productive.
If you do not know what you are trying to accomplish, then you are unlikely to succeed. And further, as you are a group of people, if the purpose can not be clearly articulated so that all members understand, how can you all work together to achieve it?
People are a key ingrediant to this essence. If your purpose can be accomplished by one or two people without forming a group, then do it that way. If a group is required then you must recognize that you require the appropriate people, no more. This is the foundation of a committee; purpose and appropriate people. That and good processes.

The same is true for meetings. If they don't have a specific purpose, forget about succeeding and worry about losing the goodwill and motivation of attendees.

So before you create any committee or meeting, before you evaluate membership or attendees, you need to determine what you are trying to accomplish. Please see MyCommittee.com to help you define/refine your purpose.

Perhaps a butterfly flapping its wings in a chaos theory world

For many of us, the impression of a committee is "an (dis)organized group that takes minutes and loses hours". While necessary in many instances, most people do not know how to achieve their objectives through committee work. But it doesn't have to be this way.

I am the creator of MyCommittee.com and this is my blog about all things committee and meetings. Along with our Best Practice Wiki this blog will contain my musings, advice, and experiences; being employed in non-government agencies for over 30 years gives me a lot of experience :).
Perhaps with a butterfly's weight of increase efficiency, we can have a grand affect on our world. Stay Tuned