Making Space at the Table: Unlocking the Potential of New Committee Members
AAE has this week launched its new In-house training: Creating Purposeful Participants - Supporting committee members to build stronger, more productive groups.
In this article John Scarrott, Trainer and Coach, and the AAE trainer for this new offering, suggests that encouraging contributions from those new to committee work is a shared responsibility. Committee members, Associations and Chairs each have a role to play. When they work in a joined-up way, they unlock the full contributions of new members, accelerate progress and secure the commitment of the next generation in the process.
John has been coaching chairs of committees as well as speakers and facilitators, and this new training has been created due to requests from the committee chairs and the CEOs of associations.
Imposter syndrome can creep in. A fear of ownership. A sense of being slightly in awe of more experienced colleagues and wanting to learn from them. All perfectly natural but together, they can stifle contribution. Add to this the ease and shorthand with which seasoned committee members communicate, and you can see the challenge for newer members trying to get involved. Left unaddressed, this doesn’t just affect individuals ,it can limit a committee’s effectiveness and threaten its long-term viability.
Here are some practical ideas for each of the parties involved:
- New Committee Members: ready yourselves to get involved
- Established and Active Committee Members: raise up and involve new members
- Associations: guide members on what you expect
- Chairs: lead and facilitate the opportunity
New Committee Members: Ready yourselves to get involved
At your first meeting:
Make sure you speak. Even once. It will build confidence for future meetings. Ask the Chair and the Association what they expect of you. And then, before your first meeting, prepare and rehearse the following:
Your one-minute introduction: who you are, why you joined, what you bring and what you hope to leave with.
And map the meeting: find out the names and faces in the group: familiarity reduces awe. Draw a simple circle, write everyone’s name (including yours) around it and visualise the group dynamic.
At subsequent meetings:
Make sure you speak.
In advance, read the minutes and note where you can add value and then rehearse your contribution. And prepare a one-minute response to the question:
“Where are you, and how are you?”
Most importantly make your responses interesting for you. Find the angle that genuinely engages you. Contribution becomes much easier when it matters personally.
Established and Active Committee Members: raise up and involve new members
Invite new or less-active members into the discussion. You can achieve this in a number of ways:
Open up your contribution to the group: “I’ve been talking for a while — who would like to comment on what they’re hearing?”
Share actions intentionally: “I’ll take the research part. Who would like to pull the findings together?”
If you know someone may have relevant expertise, invite them in thoughtfully: “Sally, I don’t want to put you on the spot, but with your expertise in X, would you have a view?”
Associations: Guide members on what you expect
For junior new joiners: Create and share your expectations and be clear about what contribution looks like. Ask them how they expect to contribute, ask them what support they think they might need and provide it.
For relatively senior new joiners: Emphasise their role as key opinion holders and encourage them to use that influence carefully. Ask them to be approachable and to actively draw junior members into the conversation.
Be deliberate about committee composition: A fresh perspective and a familiarity with current practice often bring insight that deep experience alone cannot. Aim for a thoughtful mix of junior, mid-level and senior members. If a subject area appears to require significant experience, pause and ask, “what would a medium level of experience add here?”
Introduce fixed tenure: A defined term creates healthy pressure. It encourages members to contribute early and maintain momentum, knowing their time to make an impact is finite.
Chairs: Lead and facilitate the opportunity
Periodically allow time for “off-agenda” contributions making a space where members can voice observations, ideas or concerns that may not neatly fit into a formal item.
Opportunities could include:
Structuring introductions intentionally to reset the group dynamic and level the room:
Ask new members to share why they joined and what they hope to contribute. And ask existing members to reintroduce themselves to newcomers, answering the same questions.
Encourage reflection: Occasionally ask each member to share a short update on what they are gaining from being part of the group. It reinforces value and reminds everyone why they are there.
Create smaller conversations to unlock bigger contributions: Use pairing and small groups to reduce distance between committee members. Try a buddy approach by pairing senior and junior members on tasks. Or a team-strength approach pairing junior members together to build confidence before sharing more widely.
When it comes to committees, it’s a team effort. There is an I in committee. And it stands for intent. When the intent is positive and shared, a committee becomes more than a governance structure. It becomes a place where people grow, contribute meaningfully and build the future of the profession together.
John Scarrott is a trainer and coach specialising in the areas of presentations, conference speaking, chairing and facilitation. He offers bespoke training workshops to associations that want to support members to perform well at their events.
John provides in-house training to associations. View the training here.
You can find out more about John at www.johnscarrott.com and at LinkedIn and at [email protected]
