NICTAA

National ICT Alliance of Afghanistan

Membership to the committees is encouraged, and is granted after all applications for membership at specific committees are received, reviewed and selections are made. To volunteer for a committee, complete the volunteer form.

For more information, please contact committees [at] nictaa.af.

1. Working with Your Committee
2. Working with Your Board Liaison
3. Annual Meeting
4. Calendar for Committee Chair
5. NICTAA Resources for Committee Chairs

In addition to specific roles required by the activities of individual committees, chairs of NICTAA committees are expected to guide their committees and work with staff to develop necessary work plans and meeting agendas.

1. WORKING WITH YOUR COMMITTEE
   
   1. Making things happen
      The chair is responsible for guiding the Committee. If you don’t act, neither does the committee!
   2. Planning the committee’s year
      • Talk to the outgoing chair about the year’s major events and ongoing work/issues.
      • Consult with your Board Liaison as you plan your work for the year.
      • If you have a co-chair or vice-chair, work closely with her/him in planning the committee’s work.
      • Review the committee’s charge.
      • Discuss with your members how your Committee’s work can support the major tenets of the Alliance’s Strategic Goals: Leadership, Education, Policy, Advocacy, and Industries.

      Some committees have clear tasks, such as working on bylaws and proposing amendments. Others have charges which are more general, such as assisting educational institutions in adopting technologies or encouraging students to enter the field of ICT.

      For those that have more nebulous charges, you’ll need to work with your committee to identify more specific goals and strategies to meet them. Remember that your Board Liaison is there to help you strategize and plan for the year.

      Plan an agenda for your meeting and distribute it and a copy of the committee’s charge to your committee prior to the meeting, along with a list of the committee members’ names and contact information. This will allow your members time to prepare for the meeting.

   3. Involve your members!
      • Your role as the chair is to organize and delegate the work and ensure that it gets done - not to do it all!
      • Include all members in discussions about the year’s activities. Ask your committee members to confirm attendance to you.
      • Speak with them prior to the meeting to discuss possible assignments or interests
      • Divide tasks and ask for volunteers
      • Be sure everyone has an assignment

      • Committee members often complain that they were willing to work but were never asked to do anything
      • As soon as possible after each meeting, follow-up with your members and,

      • Summarize the decisions that were made
      • List assignments and due dates!

      • Communicate regularly with your members throughout the year to check on their progress. Use the committee’s discussion list and encourage the members to post to the list
      • Set "target dates" to help get things done on time
      • Consider using a monthly update email or a web page status report to keep track of activities
      • Hold "meetings" by email, conference call, web etc. if they will facilitate the committee’s work. If you would like to schedule a conference call, contact Name, Position, Email, Telephone
      • Don’t make decisions without your members! Send them draft reports for comment and solicit their opinions on major issues. Occasionally the chair may have to respond to something quickly and there is no time for comment – in that case inform your committee as soon as possible and explain the reasons for your actions.

   4. Setting Goals and Making Recommendations:

      • Set goals and objectives for the committee with consultation and approval of the President and the Board of Directors
      • Inform the committee on decisions of the Board of Directors that affect the committee's work
      • Where appropriate, guide the committee in proposing new objectives, activities and service that will further the mission and goals of the Alliance
      • Where appropriate, make policy recommendations to the President for transmission to the Board of Directors

   5. Structuring the Meeting
      With the help of the Board Liaison (and your executive assistant), provide an agenda sheet with a schedule for the meeting, location, a list of committee members, and the agenda.

      Sequence agenda items thoughtfully. Start the meeting with topics that will unify the committee, and with topics that will require mental energy, creativity, and clear thinking. Do not put difficult topics back-to-back. Make the first few topics after lunch quick-action items. Build in breaks at logical places (at least every two hours). End with topics that should unify the committee.

      Provide at least minimal written background information for each agenda item.

      Indicate whether the item is for discussion only or if action is expected.
      Identify the person who is presenting each item.

   6. Facilitating the Meeting
      Your role as a chair is to facilitate your committee meetings in a way that is productive and ensures all members participate in discussions.

      Guide, mediate, probe, and stimulate discussion. Monitor talkative members and draw out silent ones.

      Encourage a clash of ideas, but not of personalities. If emotions run high over a difficult issue, return the floor to a neutral person, seek a purely factual answer, or take a break.

      Keep discussions on track; periodically re-state the issue and the goal of the discussion.

      In moving toward a decision, call on the least senior or vocal members first to express their views. Discussions tend to close down after senior members express strong views.

      Seek consensus; unanimity is not required.

      Announce the results of actions taken and explain the follow-up required and by whom.

      Close the meeting by noting achievements.

      Following adjournment, meet briefly with your Board Liaison to agree on follow-up actions and focus of responsibility.

   7. Budget
      Routine Expenses: The Alliance might have a pool of funds available for routine committee expenses such as conference calls, postage, and photocopying. If the committee needs such funds, the chair should contact Farshid Ghyasi, Treasurer, fghyasi [at] nictaa.af and committees [at] nictaa.af. If a committee has a specific need for face-to-face meetings outside the regular monthly meetings, this funding must be approved in advance.

      Action Plans: All Committee chairs are expected to submit an Action Plan outlining the activities for the year, including any financial implications. The Action Plan should identify, when appropriate, the particular goal from the NICTAA Strategic Goals that is being addressed by the activity. Consult with your Board Liaison as you develop your Action Plan.

      Funding for special projects which require more substantial expenditure of funds should be requested on the budget form. The responsible officer will notify chairs when budget requests are due, usually in January. This process provides funds for the following committee year. This usually means that the person who requests the funds will no longer be chair when the funding is received. It is therefore very important for the outgoing chair to communicate with the committee’s Board Liaison in developing the budget request, and to notify the incoming chair about any special projects for which funding has been requested.

      Emerging Opportunities: If you become aware of a funding need that cannot wait until the next budget cycle, contact the President to see if it would be appropriate for funding from the "President’s Discretionary Fund" or the Board of Directors’ "Emerging Opportunities" fund.

      Policy: Alliance funds shall not be used for food and beverages for committees at the Annual Meeting.

      Expenses and Reimbursements

      Records and reports: The chair shall maintain records of all committee expenses.

      Reimbursement policy: Only postage, photocopying charges, long distance telephone calls and expenses approved in the committee's budget for special projects or for travel, lodging and food for committee meetings will be reimbursed without pre-approval from the First Vice President. Expenses for committee meetings that are not approved in the committee's budget must be pre-approved by the First Vice President and Treasurer. Wages for secretarial services will not be reimbursed.

      Reimbursement procedures: Reimbursement requests should be submitted on the reimbursement form. Committee members should file reimbursement requests with the chair. The chair should promptly forward reimbursement requests with the Treasurer. If reimbursement requests exceed the committee's budget, the chair should file a fully documented report showing that allowable expenses and reimbursement requests have exceeded the committee's budget. Reimbursements exceeding the approved budget must be approved by the Firt Vice President and Treasurer. [NICTAA financial policy to be developed]

   8. Committee News
      TechAfghanistan: The Alliance’s newsletter will have a regular column for committee news. It is one of the most important responsibilities of the chair to keep the general membership informed of the committee's activities. The newsletter is an excellent forum for transmitting such information, asking for member comments and opinions, and the like, either through the committee column or through a separate story when appropriate. The chair is responsible for working with the editor and meeting the newsletter guidelines and deadlines. Not all TechAfghanistan submissions have to be written by the chair. Some committees divide this responsibility among various committee members.
   9. Reports

      Meeting reports should be prepared as soon as possible (and within three days) after the meeting. They may be shared with the committee with a request that members contact the chair or committee liaison if errors are noted.

      Include brief summary of discussions. Do not attribute comments to members except possibly where formal motions are introduced.

      Provide information on the time and venue of the next meeting.

      Annual report: An annual report is required from each chairperson. The Board of Directors will notify the chair of the report due date, which is typically at the beginning of April. Reports are published in NICTAA Journal and must conform to stylistic requirements. Reports are limited to about 400-700 words.

      Given word limit requirements of the report, it may be difficult to cover everything that occurred during the past year, but authors may wish to consider including information about one or more of the following, as appropriate:

      • Major new initiatives in support of the Strategic Goals, whether or not completed;
      • Completion of major initiatives begun in earlier months;
      • Outstanding educational programs offered by the committee;
      • Sponsorship or support of important legislative efforts;
      • Awards presented to members;
      • Unresolved issues confronting the committee that will carry over to next year; and
      • Members who served the committee during the year as well as those chosen to serve in the coming year

      In addition to the formal report, the chair should prepare for the May incoming President (being elected every other year) an account of the members of the committee and their performance to the committee. This evaluation will aid the incoming President in appointments for the coming year.

      Special reports and requests for Board of Directors action: The chair should file any special reports requested by the Board of Directors or the President, or that are appropriate as a result of the committee's assignments or routine work. The chair should also prepare and file any requests for Board of Directors action that are required to implement or authorize the work of the committee. All such reports and Board of Directors agenda items should first be sent to the committee’s Board Liaison.

      Distribution of reports: Reports are generally filed with the Board of Directors in accordance with the instructions of the President or the Alliance Secretary. Committee members and the Board Liaison should receive copies of draft and final reports, including financial reports. Draft reports must be shared with those affected, with requests for comments before submitting to the President or Board of Directors. The final report of a committee may be amended by the Board of Directors prior to publication, with changes indicated.

   10. Archives
       The chair is responsible for transferring appropriate committee files and documents to the Alliance's archives. The archives can also be a valuable source of information for the chair and the committee. [NICTAA Archive Policy to be developed]
2. Working with Your Board Liaison
   Each committee is assigned a member of the Board of Directors as liaison, Board Liason. Your liaison should attend your meeting, or be in touch with you if she/he has a conflict.

   What your liaison can do for you - Serve as your NICTAA "ombudsman."

   Your Board Liaison can:

   • Answer questions/advise you on how to get things done, such as when reports are due, how funding works, or who to contact at Board of Directors or Executive Staff
   • Help you clarify your committee charge and the year’s activities as they relate to the NICTAA Strategic Goals
   • Answer questions/advise you on NICTAA policy
   • Let you know about resources available to help your committee do its work (information, human, monetary)
   • Coordinate your work with that of other Committees to help you avoid duplicating efforts or working at cross-purposes, understand how your Committee’s work fits into NICTAA’s overall activities, or how your Committee’s work supports NICTAA’s Strategic Directions
   • Help you bring issues to the Board of Directors by determining what issues need to go to the Board of Directors; assisting you in writing the Board of Directors agenda item and motion; presenting your item at the Board of Directors meeting; and reporting the results back to you
   • Review and comment on reports or other projects and help you prepare them.

   Communicating with your Liaison - Keep your liaison in the loop!

   You can keep your Board Liaison informed by:

   • Including your liaison in all discussions, electronic or otherwise
   • Including your liaison in meetings (in person and conference call)
   • Sending copies of correspondence and reports

   Your Board Liaison is there to help you and to serve as your link between your Committee and the Board of Directors.

3. ANNUAL MEETING
   
   1. Planning for the Annual Meeting

      Committee meetings: Committee chairs will be notified of the time periods in which committee meetings should be scheduled and the date meeting time requests are due. The current chairs should schedule two meetings, one for the current committee, and one for the succeeding committee, or a combined meeting for both. If the incoming chair isn’t currently on the Committee, remember to include the incoming chair in all correspondence/emails/conference calls. Transfer files to the new chair in a timely manner, after determining which materials are appropriate for the NICTAA Archives.

      Educational programs: Ideas for educational programs and discussion groups may be generated by any individual or group, including committees, within the Alliance. The final content of the program and the scheduling of the program are the responsibility of the NICTAA Annual Meeting Program Chair. Alliance committees are expected to work with the program chair in preparing for the annual meeting.

      All committee activities during the annual meeting of the Alliance which may have an impact on the convention program are to be cleared with the NICTAA Annual Meeting Program Committee Chair.

   2. Conduct of committee meetings
      NICTAA uses a Code of Parliamentary Procedure, which gives the chair great power and latitude. It is not necessary to be formal in the application of rules and procedure in a committee meeting provided discussion is amicable and the group has a common, understood goal. When the discussion is not amicable, and the goal is not generally understood, it may be necessary to use parliamentary motions as the means to focus discussion on the appropriate agenda item.

      Throughout the discussion, be sure that everyone has an opportunity to speak. Check in on members who have been quiet in the event that they feel intimidated by the more aggressive speakers.

      Ask one of your Committee members to take minutes so that you will have an accurate record of your discussions. Don’t try to do this exclusively yourself as it is very difficult to both conduct the meeting and take complete notes.

      All NICTAA committee meetings must be open to all members who wish to attend, except those meetings where confidential deliberation must be maintained, such as discussions on nominations, scholarships, and awards.

   3. Chair attendance at other meetings
      Committee Chairs meeting. In addition to the committee’s meetings, incoming committee chairs are expected to attend a meeting with the First Vice President which typically takes place on Monday afternoon of the Annual General Assembly Meeting. Contact the First Vice President in advance if you are unable to attend.

      Board of Directors: The committee chair shall attend the Board of Directors meeting when requested to do so by the liaison or the President, or when necessary to present an agenda item. If the chair is unable to attend the meeting, s/he shall designate a committee member who can speak for the committee as committee representative.

4. CALENDAR FOR COMMITTEE CHAIRS
   This calendar is intended to serve as a reminder of activities required by specific dates. The chair is responsible for seeing that the committee meets all deadlines. While the NICTAA Board of Directors and/or your Board Liaison will provide a "tickler" service reminding the chair of important dates, the chair must remain aware of major dates which will have an impact on the work of the committee.

   Some of the important dates are:

   March

   Week 1: New committees and/or committee members are appointed, and committees meet with First Vice President and/or President
   Week 2: Committees kick-start their operation
   Week 3 & 4: Committees work and submit their action plans to the President

   April

   Week 2: President (or another officer as appointed by President) and the Board of Directors Review the Action Plans and returns it with their comments and amendments (if any)
   Week 2: Committees kick-start their operation
   Week 3 & 4: Committees work and submit their action plans to the President

   If you are interested in volunteering and being part of an NICTAA Committee, please fill out the NICTAA Committee Member Form and send it along with your CV and a cover letter describing your skills and interests to: committees@nictaa.af