Engaging Your New Committee Members

1. Engaging Your New Committee Members Bryan Balazs Committee on Committees (ConC) 2014 Leadership Institute Dallas, Texas • Part of a Committee Chair’s responsibility is to: • Welcome new members • Inform them • Support them • Engage them in discussions • Involve them in activities • Remember: these apply to continuing members, too American Chemical Society

2. ACS Committee Service: New Members Are Volunteers Welcome & Connect With new members before their first committee meeting Host a pre-meeting, either by telecon or in person at the national meeting if feasible, to inform and answer questions and to ascertain their interest in the committee Keep in mind that new members may be seasoned ACS committee veterans, or brand new to the role Introduce Each new member at the beginning of their first meeting and invite them to share a few words on their background and interests This is a good idea for continuing members as well Mentor Partner new members with continuing members Engage new members in conversation at breaks, over meals, etc. Follow up After their first committee meeting, addressing any questions or concerns Realign assignments or partners as necessary Actions before, during, and after their first meeting are critical

3. Hosting a “pre-meeting” for New Members Host a telecon, or (if feasible) have an informal meal or refreshment event at some point before the full committee meets Involve Subcommittee Chairs or other committee leadership Review the committee User Manual, including important historical points Go over the ACS & committee Strategic Plans Discuss logistics for the upcoming committee meeting Discuss the agenda book and actions expected at this meeting Discuss differences in Full Members vs. Associate Members Expectations with serving on an ACS national committee Voting vs. Non-Voting status Participation on Subcommittees, Task Forces, and as Liaisons And finally, ask if they have any questions or concerns

4. A committee User Manual is very useful for New Members A User Manual helps continuing members as well Does one exist? If yes: How up-to-date is it? Are modifications needed (updating every 3 to 5 years is a general goal)? If no: Should one be prepared? Do you want to appoint a task force for the job? Who would lead it? When would this work begin? What level of involvement would ACS staff have? What are your expectations as to the timeframe for completion? Think about how you would “socialize” the new version (probably only necessary for new manuals or updates with significant changes)

5. Outline for aCommittee User Manual Introduction to the committee’s background Original driver for committee formation, and evolution from that point Historical shifts in focus or responsibilities Realignments, new scope, new charters, etc. Current Mission and Vision statements Include linkages to ACS Strategic Plan Review of committee responsibilities Subcommittee structure Relationships to Technical Divisions and/or Local Sections Tracked metrics to allow an assessment of committee effectiveness Expectations for committee service Commitment level (meeting attendance, work between meetings) Travel $$$ (how much burden will the individual have?) Liaison relationships to other committees

6. Committee User Manual: Roles & Responsibilities How the committee fits into the ACS governance structure Voting (and differences in this between full committee versus subcommittee meetings) Member Associate Member Consultant Duties & delegations between Committee Chair and Subcommittee Chairs Role of Staff Liaison to the committee Role of ConC Liaison to the committee Glossary of ACS and committee terms and abbreviations Updates to the manual and the distribution list

7. Communicate to all well in advance of national meetings Work in advance with your Staff Liaison and ConC Liaison Your Staff Liaison will likely assist with many items below As appropriate, communicate to All Members: Welcome letter (email, letter, or telephone as appropriate) Provide early notification of: National meeting housing information Location, time, date of committee meetings (as soon as Meetings & Expositions sends notices to you and your Staff Liaison) Agenda book (recommend electronically, but have a Plan B in case this doesn’t work for some members) Accommodations for unusual travel schedules (within reason) Updated committee User Manual Plan, if possible, a pre-meeting gathering of New Members

8. A little Committee psychology is helpful… Try to understand the background of your new members Academic? Industry? Self-employed? Brand new? Seasoned veteran? Understand what brought them to this committee Beware of “group think”, and be open to new ideas Watch for new members who: Are unusually quiet? Could be just their personality, or it could be that they aren’t up to speed yet Are overly talkative? Could be just their personality, but don’t let them dominate discussions Come with their own “agenda”, or want to run things their way Take the conversations in a direction contrary to where you feel the discussions should go, or that offend others Remember: Any problems with members, new or continuing, should be raised with the ConC and Staff Liaisons as needed Remember that every individual comes with different perspectives

9. An effective committee is driven in large part by thorough prior planning and organizing by the Chair (that would be you) in conjunction with the ConC and Staff Liaisons … and remember… YOU will be the one reporting to Council and in C&EN!

10. Questions? Attention, young chemist! The mighty Papa Moai requires your assistance with a perplexing riddle. Excellent. Then see if you can unravel this enigma of Gordian complexity that baffles even one such as I. Oh, that’s an easy one. The answer is the “ACS”. “CMS” Go ahead. There is no turning back, now! What organization is the source of greatest personal fulfillment? Astounding--perfect for the Leadership Institute! Truly, you are a being to be reckoned with. Sure, I guess. I’m not bad at riddles.

11. Janet Bryant Committee on Committees (ConC) 2014 Leadership Institute Dallas, Texas LiaisonsHow to get the best out of the relationships American Chemical Society

12. What is a Liaison? • Establishes means of communication between different groups or committees. • Improves relationships through specific goals and action items. • Helps eliminate undesirable duplication of efforts. • Provides an efficient means to link efforts for more productive outcomes. American Chemical Society

13. Staff ConC Committee-to-Committee Liaisons Joint Visiting and Information Gathering Mutual Interest Area Sharing Collaborative Working Groups Short-Term Types of Liaisons American Chemical Society

14. Bridge between ACS and committee Administrator Communicator Financial Analyst Motivator Adhesive Finder of common grounds between committees Staff Liaison American Chemical Society

15. Observer Recommender Other duties Conducting 5-year Performance Reviews Recommending continuation, creation, disbanding or merging of committees Building pipelines of diverse talent pools Recruiting members for governance Training Committee Chairs ConC Liaison American Chemical Society

16. Council Committees (Elected) CPC N&E ConC Council Committees (Standing) C&B DAC CEPA LSAC MAC M&E Council Committees (Other) Analytical Reagents Nomenclature, Terminology & Symbols Project SEED Technician Affairs Ethics Board & Council Society Committees B&F SOCED Board & Council Committees Chemical Abstracts Service Chemical Safety Chemistry & Public Affairs Chemists with Disabilities Community Activities Environmental Improvement International Activities Minority Affairs Patents and Related Matters Professional Training Publications Public Relations & Communications Science Senior Chemists Younger Chemists Women Chemists ACS National Committees

17. Activity - What liaison(s) do you have? You are a new committee chair and have inherited liaisons to or from your committee. Who are these liaisons, which committees they liaise with, and what role do they play for your committee? Take a few moments and list these. American Chemical Society

18. Committee-to-Committee Liaison Role: To improve communication and relationship between committees. • Specific goals and action items needed. • Mutually agreed. • Periodically reviewed by both. Goals: • Access information, ideas, and expertise. • Increase synergistic interactions and/or collaborative activities. • Decrease overlap of effort. American Chemical Society

19. Traditional liaison where a member of one committee visits another committee’s meeting (and may or may not provide reports). The liaison interacts with the committee to collect information to be used by the liaison’s committee in committee discussions and actions. Information gathering could be provided or requested outside of committee meeting. C-to-C LiaisonJoint Visiting and Information Gathering American Chemical Society

20. Relation based on specific goals and desired outcomes. Liaisons provide pertinent information to committees tackling issues of mutual interest. Liaisons’ oral reports should be included in relevant sections of the meeting. C-to-C LiaisonSharing Areas of Interest American Chemical Society

21. Can be generated from shared common goals with other committees. Joint Sub-committees? Assign an interested representative (liaison) to the working group with clear understanding of the desired outcome. Make sure that liaison reports back to the committee. Provide talking points for each meeting to support discussion. Rotate coordination between committees. C-to-C LiaisonCollaborative Working Relationship American Chemical Society

22. May be useful for special project or anniversary celebration. Must define time of interaction and specific outcome. Is often effective in subcommittees. Make sure that final report is presented to committee. C-to-C LiaisonShort Term Assignment American Chemical Society

23. Develop approximately 5 committee goals for the year. Make the goals known to committee members, including liaisons. Use ACS staff liaison (and your knowledge and network) to identify other committees that can contribute to the goals or share areas of mutual interest. Select the type of liaison that best fits the situation. Find a suitable person within the committee to serve as the liaison. (Optional: Establish a ‘liaison coordinator’ if you have many liaisons.) Identifying the Need for Liaisons American Chemical Society

24. As new chairs of committees you have the unique opportunity to evaluate existing liaisons for your committee. Their historic purposes? Effectiveness? Can the relationships be improved? Do you need them all, every year? Do you have all the liaisons that needed? C-to-C LiaisonsReminders American Chemical Society

25. Activity – Do I need new liaisons? Work with your staff liaison. Make a list of 1-2 goals that you want to achieve as new committee chair. Discuss if other committees can help you with these goals. Discuss if the appointment of liaisons with other committees would be useful to facilitate the accomplishment of the goals. American Chemical Society

26. Liaison Duties (your liaisons to other committees) • Specific details of the liaison arrangement need to be made with the other Chair. • Liaisons must know why they are liaisons and what their assignment entails. • Liaisons should present a useful report and assessment to the parent committee. American Chemical Society

27. Liaison Duties (liaisons from other committees) • Specific details of the liaison arrangement need to be made with the other Chair. • Liaisons must know to what extent they are expected to participate in your committee. • Liaisons from other committees may report to your committee in a variety of ways. • Liaison reports should be integrated into the agenda, not an after-thought. American Chemical Society

28. Define expectations/outcomes for each liaison assignment. Communicate with liaisons before each meeting to articulate meeting objectives and issues. Include liaisons in relevant discussions between meetings. Encourage and incorporate written liaison reports in the agenda book. Include oral liaison reports only when these address issues being considered. Schedule these with related action items or reports. Do not cluster liaison reports out of context at the end of the meeting. Review existing liaison assignments on an annual basis. Get the Best of the Relationship American Chemical Society

29. Committee Reports and Reporting Requirements New Committee Chair Training January 2014 American Chemical Society

30. Committees Reports and Reporting Requirements Committees are grouped into three broad categories when it comes to reporting: • Committees reporting to the Board of Directors. • Committees reporting to the Council. • Committees reporting to both the Board of Directors and the Council. American Chemical Society

31. Committees Reporting to the Board (Standing) • Audits • Board of Trustees, Group Insurance Plans for ACS Members (BOT) • Corporation Associates (CA) • Executive Compensation (CEC) • Governing Board for Publishing (GBP) • Governing Board for ACS Green Chemistry Institute® (GCI) • Grants and Awards (G&A) American Chemical Society

32. Committees Reporting to the Board (Standing) • Pensions and Investments (P&I) • Petroleum Research Fund Advisory Board (PRF) • to G&A • Planning • Professional & Member Relations (P&MR) • Public Affairs & Public Relations (PA&PR) • PA&PR Subcommittee on National Historic Chemical Landmarks (NHCL) American Chemical Society

33. Committees Reporting to the Council (Elected) • Committees on Committees (ConC) • Council Policy (CPC) • Nominations and Elections (N&E) American Chemical Society

34. Committees Reporting to the Council (Standing) • Constitution & Bylaws (C&B) • Divisional Activities (DAC) • Economic and Professional Affairs (CEPA) • Local Section Activities (LSAC) • Membership Affairs (MAC) • Meetings and Expositions (M&E) American Chemical Society

35. Committees Reporting to the Council (Other) • Analytical Reagents (CAR) • Ethics (ETHICS) • Nomenclature, Terminology and Symbols (NTS) • Project SEED (SEED) • Technician Affairs (CTA) American Chemical Society

36. Committees Reporting to the Board and Council (Society) • Budget & Finance (B&F) • Education (SOCED) American Chemical Society

37. Committees Reporting to the Board and Council (Joint Board-Council) • Chemical Abstracts Service (CCAS) • Chemical Safety (CCS) • Chemistry and Public Affairs (CCPA) • Chemists with Disabilities (CWD) • Community Activities (CCA) • Environmental Improvement (CEI) • International Activities (IAC) • Minority Affairs (CMA) American Chemical Society

38. Committees Reporting to the Board and Council(Joint Board-Council) • Patents and Related Matters (CP&RM) • Professional Training (CPT) • Publications (PUBS) • Public Relations and Communications (CPRC) • Science (COMSCI) • Senior Chemists (SCC) • Women Chemists (WCC) • Younger Chemists (YCC) American Chemical Society

39. Drafting Committee Reports Five Types of Committee Reporting Documents: • Committee Written Report for Council Agenda • Committee Oral Report to Council • Committee Written Report to the Board of Directors • Committee Minutes • C&EN Short Report American Chemical Society

40. Preparing Committee Reports – Written & Oral to the Council Key Documents: • CPC Policy on Reports to Council • Guidelines for Visual Presentations to Council • Committee Reports and Reporting Checklist American Chemical Society

41. Committee Report – Council Meetings How often do committees report to the Council? Per ACS Bylaws: • Elected,Standing, and Society committees report orally and in writing at each meeting of the Council. • Other and Joint Board Council committees are expected to report at least once a year. • “Oral reports are presented at meetings of Council by… committees who have submitted written reports that are included in the Council agenda.” CPC Policy on Reports to ACS Council American Chemical Society

42. Preparing Written Committee Reports for the Council Written reports: • are part of the “printed” or “official” records of the Council meetings as described in the bylaws • describe major initiatives and/or accomplishments since the last report and their impact on the Society • are no more than two single-spaced pages, with topic headings where appropriate • direct Councilors to sources of additional information such as websites, when appropriate American Chemical Society

43. Preparing Oral Committee Reports for Council Meetings Oral reports: • Highlight major accomplishments that have occurred since the last written report was prepared. They may describe future activities when those activities could significantly impact the membership and /or Society operations. American Chemical Society

44. Preparing Oral Committee Reports for Council Meetings Oral reports: • Must be less than three minutes in duration and less than 450 words in length unless specifically approved by CPC. • Should not convey information that is available elsewhere or chronicle committee activities. Personal references and tributes to individuals are not appropriate. American Chemical Society

45. Preparing Oral Committee Reports for Council Meetings Oral reports: • Are presented at meetings of the Council by committees which have submitted written reports that are included in the Council agenda. Additional oral reports may be authorized by CPC when appropriate for Council action. American Chemical Society

46. Preparing Oral Committee Reports for Council Meetings Oral reports: • Should include visual aids that summarize the major points of the report and reduce presentation time. • Are provided to the Secretary of CPC with any visual aids in electronic format no later than the afternoon before CPC meetings. American Chemical Society

47. Guidelines for Visual Presentations to Council • Visuals are required to be in the form of PowerPoint presentations using the ACS template in horizontal landscape. • Titles should be large (36-40 point); the body copy should be 24 point or greater. If you cannot read your presentation on a laptop screen from 10 feet away, it will not be legible to the audience. • Use key words to help audience focus; avoid complete sentences. • See “Guidelines for Visual Presentations to Council” for additional information. American Chemical Society

48. Committee Reports After the Council Meeting: • Committee reports are posted on acs.org/council • Shortened versions of the reports are printed in C&EN as information for the Society membership. American Chemical Society

49. Committee Reporting – Board of Directors How often do committees report to the Board of Directors? • Society Committees and some Standing Committees (G&A, P&MR, PA&PR) report at each meeting in writing, and orally when there is a request for Board action. • Other Standing Committees and Joint Board-Council Committees report in writing at least once per year, and orally when there is a request for Board action. American Chemical Society

50. Committee Minutes • Permanent record of what occurred at the meeting • Potential legal significance • In some states, they are required for boards and some committees • Per ACS bylaws the Standing Committees (MAC, M&E, C&B, LSAC, DAC, CEPA) must elect a secretary American Chemical Society