T.R | Title | User | Personal Name | Date | Lines |
---|
937.1 | | SUBURB::ODONNELLJ | Julie O'Donnell | Wed Jun 15 1994 19:54 | 11 |
| It depends on the Chair, I suppose. I hate committee meetings too. They
so often meander along and get caught up with totally irrelevant
issues. If you've got a strong Chairperson, then gossiping and
irrelevancy are kept to a minimum and I for one feel as though we're
actually achieving something!
The ones I REALLY hate are the annual ones where the the finances and
reports are gone into. Why DO they insist on reading the Finance
report at full length? Guaranteed to go straight over most people's
heads and dull their intellects for the duration of the meeting (perhaps
that's why they do it :-))
|
937.2 | | BUDDRY::J_CHRISTIE | Heat-seeking pacifist | Wed Jun 15 1994 22:03 | 10 |
| The Chair is important. However, I've found that committee members
can be influential in keeping matters on track even when the Chair
is less than skillful.
Part of the meeting time should be given to community-building, I think.
There's something very cold about attending strictly to business.
Shalom,
Richard
|
937.3 | My view on committees. | VNABRW::BUTTON | Another day older and deeper in debt | Thu Jun 16 1994 04:59 | 5 |
| A saying which reflects my experience with committees:
A camel is a horse which was designed by a committee.
Greetings, Derek.
|
937.4 | at work or at church | TFH::KIRK | a simple song | Thu Jun 16 1994 09:32 | 7 |
| Another tidbit of committee lore...
"Any meeting that lasts longer than half an hour is a waste of time."
.-)
Jim
|
937.5 | random thoughts | SOLVIT::HAECK | Debby Haeck | Thu Jun 16 1994 10:49 | 15 |
| At a seminar a month or so back (How To Be An Inviting Church), one of
the suggestions was to end every meeting with a post-mortem. Was the
meeting useful? Did it get side tracked? How could that have been
avoided?
At our small parish (average weekly attendance is 20-30) we have
"mushroom" committees. These spring up when needed and are harvested
when their job is done.
When I was on vestry in '83-'87, the meetings would last for 3 or 4
hours. This time, '91-present, we had a Senior Warden who was adamant
that meetings end at 9:30. (They started at 7:30.) He would get up
and walk out at 9:30. Since we wanted him to be there for any voting,
we learned to have all business discussed and tabled, moved on or
otherwise acted on before 9:30.
|
937.6 | | CSC32::J_CHRISTIE | Heat-seeking pacifist | Fri Jun 17 1994 18:52 | 5 |
| A sign posted in the office at my church:
"No one of us is as smart as all of us."
|
937.7 | | SUBURB::ODONNELLJ | Julie O'Donnell | Fri Jun 24 1994 06:07 | 16 |
| > Part of the meeting time should be given to community-building, I think.
> There's something very cold about attending strictly to business.
I agree.
I just re-read my reply, and I think it sounded a bit draconian!
I don't sit there with a whip in hand "You must attend to the point in
question", honestly!
What I really meant was those meetings where nothing seems to get done
and we just seem to spend hours gossiping about trivial things. Where I
live, we seem to discuss each other's and everyone else's lifestories at
the least encouragement. This is nice over the garden fence or in the shop
(store) or at the bus-stop, but it gets a bit frustrating in a meeting
discussing no. 23's new net curtains or Mrs. Brown's youngest's latest
boyfriend or whatever.
|
937.8 | | CSC32::J_CHRISTIE | Heat-seeking pacifist | Sun Jun 26 1994 21:30 | 4 |
| .7 Indeed, I agree with you.
Richard
|
937.9 | | AIMHI::JMARTIN | | Mon Jun 27 1994 17:52 | 11 |
| I get a real kick out of these meetings where the mode of transacting
the business has been carried since the days of Thomas
Jefferson...Business meeting protocol if you will!!
We have a resolution set forth on the plan to....do we have a motion.
All for, show by uplifted hands...opposed the same...the motion is
carried...
NOBODY TALKS LIKE THAT ANYMORE!!!!
-Jack
|