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.