Ten Pieces of Advice for Committee Chairs (not tables)

I have chaired several committees and been a member of several committees. In my experience, there are some BIG no no's for CHAIRS to be aware of. My two cents:

1. make introductions or let your team introduce themselves
2. spend some time on your agenda; time estimates are helpful to keep you on track; also indicate which members will be required to speak to certain items so that they can prepare ahead
3. do not MICROMANAGE your team; assume your members are competent
4. give team members the freedom to soar; they all have a vested interest
5. try to have representatives from all generations and encourage input from all; this helps members of the same generation feel supported and improves the quality of input
6. please say "NO" if you can't commit; it's much easier to deal with an up front "no" than a "yes" followed by excuses just because you didn't have the guts to say "no" (applies to chairs and members)
7. please be respectful of your team's time and ensure your meetings begin and end on time
8. have meetings only when they are needed; otherwise communicate by email
9. practice GRATITUDE - thank the people that made it happen; I've found that we often put all of our energy into planning, organizing and running an event and when it's all over and we're able to breathe again, we forget to say thanks
10. CELEBRATE your team - bowling, macarons, a card, a beer - it's all good!