Nature of Committee

There is a wide variation in the authority assigned to committees and nature of committees also varies. The following discussion will make it clear.

1. Wide use of Committees : Committees are a fact of modern organizational life. They are used in almost all types of organization’s government, nongovernment, autonomous, and so forth. They are operating in education institutions, industrial organization’s and in purely commercial enterprises. In a university or in a bank, for ex ample, there may be dozens of standing and /or special committees either to share in on or advise the administration on policy . A board of directors of a company is also a committee, as are its various constituent groups such as the executive committee, the finance committee, the bonus committee, the pension committee, the audit committee, the salary and the grievance committee, the planning r standing and special committees.

2. Variety of functions and formalities of committees : A committee may be with or without managerial functions. Some committees may make decisions while others may receive information only. Some of them may have line authority (as the board of directors or the syndicate) while others only staff authority (as the bonus committee or the pension committee).

Committees may. also be informal or formal. A committee, formed without specific delegation of authority usually by a top level executive desiring group thinking on a particular problem, may be termed an informal committee. On the other hand if a committee is organized as part of the organization structure, with specifically delegated duties and authority, it is a formal committee.

Committees may also be temporary or relatively permanent. When a committee is formed for a specific purpose and is disbanded immediately upon the completion of its task; such as an enquiry committee, it may be called temporary. But when some committees are assigned tasks to continue for a longer period, such as finance committee, they are relatively permanent.

3. Different roles of committee members : Members play certain roles in committees. Some try to encourage others to contribute. others follow. Some give information, others seek information. Some take an aggressive role, while others try to co-ordinate the group's efforts or negotiate a

compromise in the event of disagreements.