Working in a role where for ten plus years I oversaw almost 200 Committees and personally managed a couple more, I was able to get a good understanding of what does and doesn’t make a committee work.
Clubs don’t need hundreds of ingredients to be successful, but rather it can be narrowed down to five key factors that all successful clubs have including: -
· Good Governance;
· A Sound Financial Model;
· Excellent Leadership;
· Good People, Culture and Practices; and
· An Innovative Mindset.
Unfortunately, it was all too familiar having the old and stagnant committees which was not only dealing inadequately with today’s issues – their performance (or lack of) was scaring good people away from having any involvement, robbing the club of a bright future.
Choosing the right committee people should focus on persons who: -
· Having the Time to Contribute;
· Having the Skills to Contribute;
· Team Players;
· Fill a vacancy or missing skill set (i.e. finance); and
· Bringing diversity and multiple viewpoints for consideration.
Once the committee is established, sharpening your focus as a collective is critical and initially should focus on:-
· Leadership / Strategic Direction;
· Reporting / Transparency;
· Creating a Culture to Flourish;
· Operational (dependant on the organisations staffing); and
· Appointing Committee Portfolios.
Some Portfolios relevant to most grass roots clubs would include: -
· On field;
· Finance;
· Commercial Operations /Fundraising / Sponsorship;
· Events;
· Community; and everyone’s favourite
· Health & Safety / Risk Management.