Surviving the Party Planning Committee (And Bertha Bulldozer)

My wife Gina served a 2-year sentence as President of our son's elementary school PTA (and some of you know exactly what I mean.)

During that time, I became aware of the "90/10 Rule," which states that - in any organization or committee - 10% of the people do 90% of all the work.

Event-planning committees almost always see a similar ratio of actual workers to members. And, over the years, I've also identified a few specific personality types you are likely to encounter.

First is Bertha Bulldozer. To Bertha, there are two kinds of ideas: her brilliant ones, and everyone else's stupid ones.

Marvin Motormouth has strong opinions on every subject - lots and lots of opinions.

Agreeable Agnes validates everything you say, as well as everything everyone else says.

Silent Sam adds nothing at all to the proceedings. He is so inconspicuous that you may forget he is even there (and he would be okay with that.)

Finally, Useless Sue is the committee member who promises the world, then delivers nothing (but always has really creative excuses why she failed to come through for you.) Complicating matters further, some of the personality types listed above combine into cliques - voting blocs that pursue a personal agenda, rather than what is simplest, least expensive, or best for the group.

When I recognize these personality types, how do I - as a committee member - deal with them? This way: as soon as a task that I'm personally qualified for is mentioned, I immediately volunteer to be in charge of it. By doing so, (1.) actual progress is being made toward our goal, and (2.) I can often avoid much of the time-wasting and pointless blather that follows. As soon as I complete Task 1, I then assist whoever is working on another facet of the event that is compatible with my skills. When Task 2 is done, I - and hopefully, we - move on to a third job.

The fact is - no matter how large the committee - all real work is done by the 10% (which will, no doubt, include you.) It may seem like a thankless job. At times, you'll want to quit. But I hope you will take heart in simply knowing that many of those who attend your event, and ALL of the professional vendors who work with you, will know who really made it come together.

And you can tell Bertha I said so.