Effective Board committee work can be torpedoed by a Board that listens to a committee’s proposal—and then proceeds to alter or redo the work. As the Chair of a committee, you can envision the damage that results. Your committee members are frustrated—as are the other Trustees who feel that your group did not do its work well enough.
You can reduce the likelihood of such unhappy outcomes by following these guidelines in creating your written and oral committee proposals.
- Explain how your committee interpreted the original charge from the Executive Committee.
- Note the plan used to attack the various components of the charge.
- Mention the roles played by individual committee members and/or subcommittees.
- Show the sequence of steps that led to a narrowing of the focus and emerging conclusions. Convey the degree of challenge involved by quoting the number of person-hours, telephone calls, and meetings.
- Mention the significant contacts made and the resources studied.
- Show the major conclusions, listed in descending order of importance.
- Conclude with a draft resolution designed to focus the ensuing Board discussion and vote.
When Board members receive little more than a one-page list of conclusions and a resolution, a sense of superficiality can result. The approach suggested here emphasizes the process that was followed, building a foundation for the findings that resulted.
For more on committee structure and function, see The Trustee Handbook.
Additional ISM resources:
ISM Monthly Update for Trustees Vol. 10 No. 10 A Template for Full-Board Presentations
ISM Monthly Update for Trustees Vol. 11 No. 8 Objectivity and the Board
Additional ISM resources for Gold Consortium members:
I&P Vol. 28 No. 9 Charging the Board Committees: A Recommended Format
I&P Vol. 39 No. 5 Board Committee Structure and Function
