2.2 Guidelines for Working Committee Chairpersons

Chairpersons of Standards Working Committees should wherever possible:

  • be impartial and essentially unbiased concerning issues being discussed.

    NOTE: It is recognised that the Chairperson is likely to have valuable input to WC discussions and wish to be able to voice their nominating organisation’s point of view so while it is ideal for the Chairperson to remain impartial and unbiased the Chairperson may participate in discussion however should avoid dominating Working Committee discussions and views.

  • encourage active participation by each and every Working Committee member.
  • ensure in-committee discussion remains relevant and pertinent to the scope of work and subject matter of the Working Committee.
  • ensure all members have the opportunity to express their views/opinions.
  • while encouraging discussion on relevant topics and ensuring all views have the opportunity for expression, assist the Project Manager to ensure wherever possible Working Committee milestones are adhered to ensure all consensus of opinions, committee resolutions/decisions are clearly understood and that what is actually recorded is agreed upon.
  • strive for consensus at all times however, where diverging views cannot be reconciled or any Working Committee member maintains a dissenting view or objection to a decision agreed by a majority of the Working Committee members, assist the Project Manager to ensure the issue and differing points of view are well documented.

    NOTE: This is really the role of the PM; however the Chair should check it has been recorded.

In addition, in relation to the scope of work, a Chairperson should:

  • while not influencing discussion, facilitate, mediate and guide Working Committee discussion to ensure it addresses all pertinent and related issues but at the same time remains on-topic and on-track in terms of milestones.
  • ensure Working Committee members are familiar with the Terms of Reference and deliverables.
  • ensure members understand the purpose of the output document(s) of the Working Committee and if they are likely to be mandated by legislation, how they will be mandated and the ramifications of that on the output document(s).
  • confirm that all the items of the Working Committee’s Terms of Reference have been addressed.