The
person who can't take advice doesn't reach old age
Many organizations
could benefit from a strong, active advisory committee. Many groups
which have advisory committees could benefit more if the advisory
committee were better organized, better informed, or better motivated.
LEARNING
OBJECTIVES
This module
will help you to:
1. Form (or
reorganize) an advisory committee.
2. Evaluate an advisory committee meeting.
BEFORE
YOU START RECRUITING COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Take a look
at your organization's mission statement (module E-13) and philosophy
(E-14). These two documents tell your purpose, how you are organized,
how you operate, and what you offer. If you do not have a clear
mission statement or organizational philosophy, you should consider
writing them as an activity of your organization. They will help
you to form the committee and to recruit specific committee members.
Next make
a list of your organization's stakeholder groups. Stakeholders
are groups or categories of individuals who are affected by your
organization's success or failure. List groups and organizations
who are involved in programs of your organization that are currently
important and likely to continue. List groups which might be important
resources to new programs that are proposed for your organization.
Consider the geographic region that your organization serves.
Should you have representation on your advisory committee from
each distinct part of that region? Consider client groups (and
potential new clients), gender, ethnic groups, age categories,
socio-economic categories, and any other category or group that
should be represented on your advisory committee. Make a list
of these groups in a column on the left third of a sheet of paper.
It might look something like this for a youth soccer program:
Take plenty of time
to make certain the list is complete. Then begin writing names
in the middle third of your sheet of paper. You will find that
some names will fit in more than one category. Draw a line from
the name to each of the categories that it fits. More lines (categories)
to a particular name may mean that this is a stronger candidate
for the committee. You should be able to pick your top candidate
from the list at this point. Now avoid a common mistake
in forming advisory committees. Avoid the temptation to choose
six more people who look just like your top candidate (why have
six people if they are alike). On the contrary, look for contrasts
and complements in your second candidate, then the third, etc.
The idea is to end up with a committee (five or seven is a good
number) that cover all (or most) of the categories yet can
work together.
Now you are ready to
recruit. Refer to module V-3. There you will find instructions
that use the other third of the worksheet you have started above.
THE
FIRST MEETING
Carefully consider
the agenda for the first meeting after forming the advisory committee.
You will want to be certain that all members know each other and
why each was appointed to the committee. They need to know the
purpose of the advisory committee and any limitations on its power.
They need to know how it fits in your overall organization. Make
certain that each member has an opportunity to express any concerns
or ideas that have been brought to the meeting (sometimes friends
and associates have requested that a specific matter be discussed).
A job description for committee members may be developed at this
point (if you did not already use one in the recruitment). If
you are developing a job description for the first time, refer
to module V-2. You may also want to introduce some ground rules
for advisory committee meetings (see module L-3). Most of advisory
committee work is done in meetings so the following checklist
(in addition to the one in module L-3) may be helpful.
ADVISORY
GROUP MEETING CHECKLIST
The following items
should be used to evaluate how the leader and participants perform
in an advisory committee meeting.
___ 1. Was preparation
for the meeting adequate?
- Members had necessary
preliminary information?
- The meeting room
and visual aids were ready?
- The meeting started
and stopped on time?
___ 2. Was the purpose
of the meeting clear to all?
- Meeting objectives
were clearly specified?
- The leader introduced
the agenda clearly and concisely?
___ 3. Was a free and
open climate established for the meeting?
- Tension was dissipated?
- All members participated?
___ 4. Was nonverbal
communication in tune with the meeting purposes?
___ 5. Did the meeting
stay on the agenda?
- The group had enough
freedom to work?
- The leader exercised
an appropriate amount of control?
- The participants
kept their contributions concise and pertinent?
___ 6. Did the meeting
come to sound conclusions?
The leader helped
the group to reach consensus?
___ 7. Did the leader
handle difficult situations well?
- The talkative member?
- The quiet member?
- Conflicts?
___ 8. Were plans made
to follow up and tie loose ends together either by another meeting,
sub-committee meetings, or memoranda?
___ 9. Does each member
seem to be comfortable in the group and contributing positively?
EXERCISE: Use
the information in this module to form or reorganize an advisory
group.
