In this video, we will talk about strategies for norm setting on committees. In particular, we recommend four strategies. Number one, pay attention to communication channels. Establish how you will communicate and how often. Remember back it our case of the university in the Northeast of the United States? On this committee, communication took place in person at monthly meetings with occasional follow up by email. This was a comfortable and fitting way for communication to occur because the nature of the charge was amorphous and non-time bound research from Berkeley's HR network emphasizes that effective communication doesn't mean that you have to constantly communicate with your team. Rather, it means that when you are together, you are open to suggestions, ask questions, and prevent miscommunication. Number two, encourage information sharing. On the case committee, individuals had very different backgrounds and areas of expertise. Some were faculty in specific disciplines, others were specialized staff, and yet another group were undergraduate students. It is It's important to establish how community member share information with one another. And what contextual information is needed in order to establish mutual understanding among people like this, who have very different backgrounds. The case study committee has a norm to always take and share minutes. This practice helps to retain institutional knowledge. Also the presence of an administrative person on the committee as or is on the case committee allows for other relevant administrators to be brought in to inform the committees work where appropriate. Number 3, establish subcommittees. On the case committee there are 15 members. Because of the challenge of getting people together, it might be necessary to establish subcommittees not only for logistical reasons, but also to align members around one of the short-term committee goals. This allows committee members to maximize their limited time and focus in an area to make a high impact. Each sub-committee can and should establish their own goals, roles, and norms that align with the task at hand. In this case study sub-committees were established when specific expertise was needed, or when a committee member was personally interested in the work. Subcommittees can therefore leverage the strengths and personal goals of committee numbers. Number four have respectful disagreements. In course three we'll talk about strategies for having productive conflict. The important point here is that when you engage in conflict your team needs to be aware of the danger of minimizing contributions from minorities, women, and other marginalized groups on committees, it may be the case that people don't know each other very well. And so on the other hand, people may be very polite and friendly in these occasional meetings. While this friendliness establishes a positive atmosphere, it might also make it difficult to have productive disagreements. You can work toward having productive disagreements on your team by encouraging members to remain open to one another's viewpoints. In one example from the case study committee. The committee was charged to examine on campus smoking policy. Students led the charge to try to ban smoking in all areas of campus. The staff on the committee disagreed with this overarching goal, and raised the alternative viewpoint about how policies might affect quality of work-life for those staff who smoke. Another best practice use on this case study committee is that members will say, in my experience, before giving an opinion. This practice assures that when members give an opinion that they are not universally assigning this opinion to the entire committee or ascribing their opinion to the communities being effected by their work. In these last two videos we discussed goals, roles and norms for committees. There's not one process or structure that works best for maximizing performance on committees. The frameworks we provided should provide you with a strong foundation for establishing your own process. In the next video I will do a course recap and send you on your way, stay tuned.
