Leading Committees, Task Forces, or Project Teams

Name	When to use	Purpose	Examples	Advantages
Standing Committee	To address a recurring need within an organization	Give advice, make decisions or recommendations	Curriculum committee, admissions committee	Organizational memory, development of expertise
Ad Hoc Committee	To address short-term, non-recurring tasks or needs	Make a recommendation or accomplish an objective	Plan and host a conference, Decide who receives a special award	Flexible use, short-term commitment
Task Force	To address a major, complex issue or project	Make complex and consequential recommendations	Redesign the curriculum	Temporary but of major importance
Project Team	To accomplish a major, focused task (not just recommendation)	Assure that adequate talent and time are devoted to task	Funded research project	Focuses talent and energy on important deliverable

 

Name	Drawbacks	Formal or Informal	Tips	Other
Standing Committee	Can lead to entrenched power; people can burn out	Uses procedures often specified in by-laws	Set up rotating terms, succession plan for leadership	Needs chair who understands role in system
Ad Hoc Committee	Can lose its way if charge is not clear and deadlines not set	Has no set procedures	Establish understandings of role and function early	Leader needs good facilitation skills because no procedures are in place
Task Force	Can get bogged down; overload, poor commitment possible; can go astray.	Procedures determined by task; may be formal or informal in tone	Define the charge at the beginning; keep in contact with sponsor group via interim reports	Need to keep in mind final decision-makers and their requirements
Project Team	Can suffer from lack of necessary time commitment from participating units and members	Depends on task or context; good to have well developed methods, adapted to the task at hand	Provide focused leadership; use project tools; team members may need training up front	Leader needs visible support of higher authority to assure member contribution at times; members need to have a fixed portion of their time committed to the project and budgeted

 

Leading an ongoing faculty committee differs from leading a meeting that is called for a specific time-limited activity. A committee is almost always established by, and is accountable to, a larger group (e.g., the department, the school, or the faculty at large). Committees may be set up to make recommendations, carry out tasks for the larger group, or monitor events for that group. Committees may persist for years; others are ad hoc, and may have a life span of only a few weeks or months.

Standing committees typically have chairs and assigned or elected members and keep minutes. Some may follow a very formal procedure, such as that prescribed in Robert’s Rules of Order; but most just hold informal meetings. A meeting of a committee always occurs within the particular context of that committee’s history, task, and traditions.

A faculty task force is typically called together to make a recommendation on a major aspect of University life. For example, the Provost recently authorized a Task Force on Future Appointment, Tenure, and Promotion Policies and Practices. This group began work in 2008, and completed its charge and filed a final report in 2009. A task force usually comprises members representing the units of the University that need to be involved in the task. A task force usually delivers a report and recommendations to the individual (e.g., dean or provost) or group (e.g., the Faculty Council) that appointed it and then disbands. The report may then be acted upon by the appointing authority, or its recommendations debated and then adopted or rejected by a deliberative body such as the Trustees or the Faculty Council. Leading a task force entails much more focus and intensity than leading a series of ad hoc meetings or chairing a standing committee.

While a task force is usually convened to make a recommendation, a project team is usually established to get something done, such as implement a major revision of the unit’s website, carry out a research project, or create plans for a new building. A project team is not an advisory group; it is an implementing group. Members are drawn from various units and are assigned to work on the team. If the project is funded by a grant, members may have specific amounts of their time assigned to the project according to the grant. If the project is not grant-funded, then the time commitment of each member is (or might be) negotiated with the member’s home department or school. When a faculty member leads a project team, he or she takes on the responsibility for coordinating group effort to achieve the stated goals. While leading meetings will be an essential component of what the project team leader does, it is only one among many types of coordination tools he or she will employ to get the job done.