Board Committee Charters

"What are we meeting for?"

Does your organization use committee charters? I find more often than not, organizations go without formal committee charters, leaving the committee chair piecing together what their responsibilities are based on vague committee descriptions used for recruitment, brief references tucked into bylaws, and memory of what transpired in prior years.

A one or two page charter can be incredibly helpful in aligning organizational understanding of responsibilities -- giving the committee chair a ready reference for what they need to be on top of and helping all board and staff get clear on what belongs within that committee’s purview. The key is to be brief but explicit.

Helpful components are:

• Scope

• Tasks        

• Membership

• General processes for meeting, deliberating, making recommendations.

Once drafted, I suggest committees give careful a consideration to how well their defined scope and activities match their role as board members – providing a point of reflection so that the charter does not just reflect what the committee has historically done but what indeed it should do. Some guiding questions I like to provide clients are:

Is this the right scope?

• Does it conform with our understanding of our responsibility?

• Does it align with the bylaws and what is in other policies?

• Does this scope align with our governance role and not infringe on management?

• Does this scope overlap with that of another committee?

Are these the right activities?

• Do these activities align with our scope?

• Are all of these activities essential to the scope, or should some be considered ad hoc  rather than included in the charter?

• Are there any other essential activities that should be captured within the charter?

• Do we have capacity to undertake all of these activities?

• Do these activities align with our governance role and not infringe on management?

This level of clarity and reflection can help ensure that your board spends its limited time where it best benefits the organization.