A committee is a subgroup of people appointed or elected by a larger group with a purpose of representing the interests of the whole group. They are a vital pillar of an organization as both leaders and decision makers. This article covers the functions of a committee, roles played by the members in attendance and the interactions of the committee members in relation to decision making as a form of shared governance. Collective shared governance advocate for collective intelligence and universal acceptance.
Committee group functions
In relation to a school committee meeting I attended, membership is not only being present in the committee meeting. The committee has a responsibility to appoint, review and in other cases remove a sitting principal. It is also responsible of directing activities of the school and ensure it is ran smoothly. It reviews finances and budgetary issues established by the management of the school. It also approves all expenditures outside the budget. The committee has an overall responsibility of upholding the values, founding principles and objectives of the school ( Ferkins, 2018 ). Additionally, the committee set major goals, policy frameworks and strategies. The school committee is responsible for handling grievances concerning the principal and teachers. It is their responsibility to maintain healthy relationships among all the stakeholders by ensuring effective communications.
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Attendees’ roles
The chairperson is the senior authority in the committee. They shoulder the responsibilities of chairing and guiding committee meetings, annual general meetings and executive meetings. The chairperson is always informed in all the operations of the school and acts as a facilitator ( McCarthy, 2019 ). It is the chairperson’s responsibility to report progress and present recommendations, but can also delegate these activities to any other member. The treasurer is responsible for providing advice to the committee in matters of finances ( Mishra, 2016 ). They maintain accurate records of income and expenditures incurred by the committee. They receive or monies, bank the monies, pay all the accounts and keep the organization informed of their financial position. They prepare and manage the budget. They prepare and present financial statements to all members during annual general meetings among other roles. The secretary is tasked with keeping and maintaining members register, arranging meetings and communicating notices to all members. The secretary helps the chairperson in formulating and preparing agendas. He/she is the custodian of all book, documents and records of the organization.
Observations of the interactions
The meeting begins when the chairperson calls the attention of the arrived members and initiates the activities of the day. The speeches are organized in a flawless manner. The secretary reads the minutes of the previous meeting which are verified and attested to by the chairperson seconded by a randomly chosen member of the committee. A member is accorded some time to air his/her ideas at a time in accordance to the scheduled agendas. Multiple members join in the conversation, some presenting additional information to address the agenda with others offering counteracting options. If an issue raises divided ideas, the members take a vote on the best choice for them. The chairperson continually steers the progress of the discussion. Any member of the meeting is at liberty to oppose and present a different idea on issues discussed. As advised in Stiggelbout (2015), in arriving to a decision, least vocal members of the committee are called upon to express their views as the senior leaders wide up by offering their strong views ( Agoritsas, 2015 ). In shared governance perspective, every decision of the committee is collectively agreed ( Fan, 2017 ). They present a firsthand display of shared governance.
Committees are a vital aspect in leadership of any institution. The members of the committees are empowered to formulate policies, come up with resolutions and advocate for their application. Collective shared governance ensure acceptance by a majority of the members if not all. This improves accuracy, accountability, openness and universal acceptance.
References
Agoritsas, T., Heen, A. F., Brandt, L., Alonso-Coello, P., Kristiansen, A., Akl, E. A., ... & Montori, V. M. (2015). Decision aids that really promote shared decision making: the pace quickens. Bmj , 350 , g7624.
Fan, G. H., & Zietsma, C. (2017). Constructing a shared governance logic: The role of emotions in enabling dually embedded agency. Academy of Management Journal , 60 (6), 2321 2351.
Ferkins, L., Shilbury, D., & O’Boyle, I. (2018). Leadership in governance: Exploring collective board leadership in sport governance systems. Sport Management Review , 21 (3), 221 231.
McCarthy, C. (2019). Ensure executive search committee members understand their roles, responsibilities. Student Affairs Today , 22 (3), 6-7.
Mishra, M., & Malhotra, A. K. (2016). Significance of Audit Committee Roles in India: A Study of Auditors’ Perception Using Analytic Hierarchy Process. Journal of Accounting, Business and Management (JABM) , 23 (2), 13-20.
Stiggelbout, A. M., Pieterse, A. H., & De Haes, J. C. (2015). Shared decision making: concepts, evidence, and practice. Patient education and counseling , 98 (10), 1172-1179.
