Read any of the major business publications or websites and you’re bound to find articles on the importance of delegating. It’s one of the most fundamental skills for a successful business owner to have. A  simple Internet search finds scores of tips for CEOs and smaller entrepreneurs  alike on how to delegate more effectively. Running an association isn’t quite like running a Fortune 500 company, but the concept of delegating tasks  works just as well with a board of directors for a homeowners association as it  does for a titan of industry or finance.  

 A Committed Effort

 Boards of directors are small teams of volunteers with a lot of work to do. They  often need help and that’s where delegating to a committee comes in. A committee is a group of volunteers  that focus on a particular issue at hand. They are run as a mini-board, where a  chair is elected, topics are discussed and minutes are reported. They take  those minutes to the board. How many committees an association has and their  responsibilities will vary from property to property, as will the committee  size. Most commonly, the larger the association, the more the amount of  committees the board will create. Ultimately, it’s the board’s responsibility to create the number and type of committees and help to define  their purpose.  

 According to T.J. Magoulas, the chief executive officer of All Area Realty  Services, Inc., a property management and brokerage firm, which serves multiple  New York City boroughs, committee chairs are usually appointed by the president  of the association. “The committee is usually appointed by the board. Sometimes during an election  the board mentions that they want to form a committee and ask for volunteer.  Usually the committee brings their findings or results of their investigation  to the board and the board discusses this with the property manager and they  make a decision. Sometimes they take their recommendation and sometimes they  don’t.”  

 In many cases, committees will have a board member in tow to act as a liaison  between the two entities.  

 Strong, well-organized committees are a boon to a busy board and manager and  offer residents an opportunity to get involved in their community. Aside from  the usual suspects—budget, landscape and maintenance committees—committees can also include a communications committee that shares news and  events with residents, nominating committee that interviews prospective  residents and a neighborhood watch committee that makes sure the property stays  safe and protected. The popularity of green initiatives committees are on the  rise, and work to make their buildings more environmentally friendly.  

 Committees not only work to uphold community standards, they also strive to set  them through forming problem-solving ad hoc committees, which are created to  solve community-specific problems and disband when said issue is resolved.  According to experts, most ad hoc committees are formed to resolve issues with  community amenities or rules and regulations.  

 “When there's a special project that's going on in the building, sometimes what  you find is people who have professional expertise in that area may say, ' I  don't want to serve on the board, I don't want to be on a permanent committee,  but I have knowledge in this particular area,'” Barbara Dershowitz, CAGS, vice president of AKAM Associates, Inc., a  residential management company with offices in New York City and Florida. “You see a lot of financial ad hoc committees for expenditures, engineering,  architecture. “The ad hoc committee is a great stepping stone to a position on a permanently  formed committee, which is a great stepping stone toward grooming people for  board service.”  

 We the Committee, People

 Just as critical as it is to put the right people on the board of directors, it’s just as to have the right people on the right committee, although committee  members are volunteers, not elected. So who makes for a great committee member?  While having a strong acumen and relevant experience in your committee topic is  helpful, it isn't completely necessary—you don't have to exactly possess the keen financial insight of Suze Orman to be  on the budget committee, although having professional experience in your  designated committee is a huge benefit, Greenbaum says. What you do need is  some time to commit and willingness to participate in the work that goes into  thorough committee research, along with an open mind.  

 The size of the committee is extremely important to its success. Experts agree a  committee should have an odd number of members to ensure they aren't  dead-locked when it comes to voting on issues. “I think no more than five should be on any committee,” says Steven Greenbaum, RAM, NYARM, with MGRE, a management firm with offices in  New York and Long Island. “Sometimes three is good. But anything beyond five gets to be hard. Look,  nowadays, everybody's very busy. So, just to get a committee together to have a  meeting is difficult. So, when you're trying to deal with more than five  people, just to get a meeting together sometimes can be difficult.”  

 Just like conflicts that can occur among board members and in board meetings,  committees can find themselves in the midst of a conflict too. Committees can  be counterproductive when they do not stick to the task on hand and aren't  communicative with the board, Greenbaum warns. “If they have a personal agenda, that's the worst that they could have. If  somebody got on a committee to change the color of the lobby, because they hate  that, instead of fixing the elevator that's crashing, that could be crucially  horrible,” Greenbaum says. “They are counterproductive if all they see are the points of their committee,  and not the day-to-day running of the building. And unfortunately, usually it's  the decorating committee—they don't care if the building is falling apart. The most important thing to do  is redo that lobby. They become counterproductive when they cannot understand  the priorities of the building as a whole. When they think that their committee  becomes the most important thing or the only important thing in the building.”  

 Setting Boundaries

 If the board does not set boundaries for committees, a power struggle can ensue,  in which there is a risk of them becoming more problematic than beneficial,  Dershowitz warns.  

 “With regard to committees feeling like they have more power than the board wants  them to have or than they actually have, it needs to be established what the  reporting hierarchy is,” Dershowitz says. “A committee that is sanctioned and created by the board needs to be advised that  their responsibility is to do research and make recommendations for the board's  consideration. They are not at liberty to make decisions unilaterally without  the board.”  

 Committee members should stay in contact with each other and board members, as  well as meet regularly, experts agree. However, frequency of meetings differs,  according to committee subject, scope and goals.  

 “Social issues and welcoming committees are something that is done as needed,” Magoulas says. “The landscaping committee should meet before April, when spring is coming. They  should get together, decide what they have to buy, when they are going to do  some seeding and pruning, things like that. During the winter, the landscaping  committee probably won’t be needed that much. The budget committee will probably have to meet  extensively before the end of the year, so they have to make sure the budget is  implemented for the following year. The budget committee works from September,  October and on.”  

 Along with providing added assistance to boards, committees are also beneficial  to residents in that they promote a collaborative environment, further  strengthening community bonds. Experts also agree committees are a great  stepping stone for those who would like to increase their influence and power  in their association and gain a position on the board one day.  

 “I always tell boards and shareholders that boards are not an island on their own  and they should always welcome volunteers who have things to contribute to the  benefit of the building or a homeowner association—they should always look to recruit volunteers,” Greenbaum says. “I always say that you're going to find your next board president, your next  leader, or your next board member from somebody who sits on a committee because  you'll know what it is to work with them and you'll know if they're a positive  influence, if they have their own agenda, if they're counterproductive, or if  they are productive. So, it's always a good way to find new board members in  this little apathetic world we live in.”    

 Lisa Iannucci is a freelance writer and a frequent contributor to The  Cooperator. Editorial Assistant Enjolie Esteve contributed to this article.