Forming a group is a difficult task, at least for some people. I've had experience "putting" groups together so I know the challenge. It can be done but it does require some forethought, planning, and strategy. This is not to say that I am a master group-creator. I have been successful in the past and I have also led some less-than-functional groups and I remember how each committee was created.
Creating committees is almost always a risky undertaking. No matter how hard a leader tries, someone, somewhere will feel slighted, ignored, or insulted if not asked to be a part of the group. Even if the group is charged with a difficult or unpleasant charter, just the act of being "invited" or "not invited" is central to some people's needs to have their egos stroked. There are those who would never want to serve on certain committees but to not be given the option of refusal is tantamount to the greatest social slight in the world.
My least successful committees came from the "clipboard" or "sign-up-sheet" approach. This method involves opening up the membership of the committee to anyone who can use a pen or pencil to write out a name. This "shotgun" approach shoots out a volley and whoever gets hit by buckshot is deemed automatically well-suited to serve, regardless of interest, skill, or qualifications. Well-meaning people, who think it sounds like fun, may not make up the best cadre of members. Just because I like to look at myself in mirrors does not mean that I have a single shred of knowledge on how to make reflective glass, frame it or hang it. Committee efficacy also depends on forming a group with people who will all work for a common cause, with work being the operative word. Successful committees are staffed with people who will roll up their shirtsleeves and get down and dirty.....not just people who sit around and think about how others can work.
The groups who function the most efficiently and cohesively seem to be formed by invitation. Not invitations based on who is fun, good-looking, wealthy, influential, has the best "connections",or cooks the best but, rather, invitations by design. As I stated in an earlier paragraph, the thought needs to be, "Who are those individuals who can bring to the table the highest degree of skill and qualifications directly related to the task the committee has been charged with?" The effective leader knows how to seek out who would help achieve the best result and then goes about recruiting those who could bring productive and operational structure and culmination to a project.
I'm all for committees - anywhere and any time - but please, let thought always be given as to how they are created and who serves on them.
Ancora imparo
