The Rigours of Being a Committee Member! (it's not meant to be taken too seriously folks!)

"To get something done, a committee should consist of no more than three people, two of whom are absent"
Robert Copeland

“Meetings are indispensable when you don't want to do anything.”
John Kenneth Galbraith

"If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and will never achieve, its full potential, that word would be "meetings"".
Dave Barry

Ah that good old institution the committee...

Brings that old light bulb joke to mind.

How many committee members does it take to change a lightbulb? "This topic was resumed from last week's discussion, but is incomplete pending resolution of some action items. It will be continued next week. Meanwhile ..." 

As usual the emails fly back and forth and very little ever seems to get resolved as each member has their own idea of what is 'desirable'.
Some emails are short, brusque and to the point, others ramble and are the "interweb" equivalent of a speaker who likes to hear the sound of their own voice!

I aim to be the first and usually end up being the latter!

I promised myself once I would never volunteer for anything ever again, I thought academia would be different but somehow it's the same as any committee, lots of talk and very little action. That's not a criticism of those involved as everyone wants to achieve the best possible outcome, but somehow the way it works it always ends up in a lot of to'ing and fro'ing ... ah I sometimes wish for the quiet life!