If you’ve found a need and want to incorporate your team’s insights or are looking to foster a greater sense of connection among your staff, forming focused committees can help with this.
Some of the possible useful committee focuses include safety, onboarding, growth, innovation, and company culture.
Southern Botanical, Inc., based in Dallas, Texas, also has task force committees that focus on a specific aspect of the business, such as irrigation, maintenance and enhancements.
“When you’re growing this fast, organically or whether you’re acquiring companies, if you don’t stay in front of everything as a whole, then things can get away from you,” Richardson says. “For irrigation in particular, there are so many fast-moving parts going on with innovation, we just try to get together collectively and put our heads together.”
Stephanie Blanco, head of integration with Mariani Premier Group, based in Lake Bluff, Illinois, says they prefer to have roundtables for problem-solving, peer groups for creating a community of subject matter experts and councils for formalizing best practices.
“Each has a specific goal and deliverables,” Blanco says. “These efforts build on the strong peer-driven culture that already exists in the landscape industry, allowing us to harness the collective experience of our teams, accelerate problem-solving, and drive alignment across our national platform.”
Some of the specialty groups MPG has established include Internal Communications and LinkedIn Advocacy Group, the Plant Buyers Peer Group, and our Best Practices Council. Blanco says they all help strengthen collaboration and drive continuous improvement throughout their organization.
“Our Plant Buyers Peer Group, for instance, was initiated by team members in highly specialized roles who wanted to build a stronger internal network,” Blanco says. “This group — which includes representatives from Garden Industries, our in-house wholesale nursery — collaborates on sourcing hard-to-find plant material, coordinating bulk purchases, and even partnering on tree-tagging trips.”
Bill Petry, landscape designer with Milosi, based in Hendersonville, Tennessee, says they formed their committees out of a desire to try new things that could be implemented in the future outside of their current processes.
Determining Committee Size and Members
Once you’ve determined the focus of your committees, then you need to select who should serve in these groups as well as the maximum number of participants.
“There’s definitely a sweet spot when it comes to size — especially if the goal is active participation from everyone,” Blanco says. “Once you get beyond 12 to 15 people, it becomes more challenging to maintain a truly interactive dynamic, so we try to balance inclusivity with effectiveness.”
Petry says they select employees who show interest and make it known they’d like to participate. He says their committee size varies based on the need and how big the initiatives are.
Richardson says they select their task force members based on their job descriptions.
“We also look for individuals who are showing drive and leadership that look like they want to be part of something bigger than just coming in and doing their job,” Richardson says. “It’s pretty easy to identify those individuals.”
Lesley Escobedo, a corporate recruiter with Southern Botanical, Inc., says for their culture committee, they have one person per branch and bigger branches may have a few more members. Southern Botanical’s committees range from six to 15 members.
Blanco says some of their committees are appointment-only. This is typically when there are capacity constraints or a need to ensure balanced representation across their companies. In most other cases, they look for volunteers, and some of their peer groups have been started by the employees themselves. She says their smaller groups have six to eight members while their larger ones have a couple dozen participants.
Another aspect to consider is whether your committee members should only serve for a limited period of time before new employees are brought on. At Southern Botanical, committee members can serve as long as they like, as long as it’s not impacting their job.
Meeting Frequency
Holding committee meetings requires time commitment, and the nature of the group’s goals will drive how frequently they need to meet.
For instance, Southern Botanical’s task forces meet weekly, while their culture committee meets every other month.
Petry says they opt to meet monthly, but it can vary based on the need and the season. Blanco says they are also mindful of their teams’ busy seasons, and they will scale back committee activity during these periods to avoid placing additional strain on them.
“Maintaining flexibility and respecting operational demands helps ensure these groups remain a support — not a burden — to the business,” Blanco says.
Blanco says typically their groups meet every one to two months.
“Some meet quarterly, while others convene around specific seasonal milestones or project deadlines to best support their goals,” Blanco says. “We aim for a rhythm that’s consistent but flexible enough to remain relevant and impactful.”
Because their company is spread across the country, most of MPG’s meetings are held virtually. Some of the peer groups meet more often because the participants are local.
Managing Conflict
When you bring together a diverse set of viewpoints, disagreements are bound to happen. What matters is how you address these conflicts.
“I think we try to all stay teachable, and then there are some of us that are more in the role of coaching,” Richardson says. “Healthy conflict is super important in a company. We don’t shy away from it.”
Blanco, Petry and Richardson say they all expect and want to hear differing opinions so all sides are covered. Blanco adds that some of their most valuable sessions are when two partner companies approach the same challenge from different angles.
“This kind of constructive tension is actually a strength, as it allows us to explore a range of ideas and outcomes,” she says.
Blanco says when disagreements come up, they focus on respectful dialogue and curiosity rather than consensus.
“The goal isn’t to force alignment but to broaden understanding and allow each company to adopt what works best for their context,” Blanco says. “That said, when a unified approach is needed, especially in cross-company initiatives, we facilitate collaborative decision-making that balances local autonomy with enterprise-wide consistency.”
Allowing Committees to Dissolve/Evolve
Not every committee will need to continue indefinitely. Choosing to dissolve or change a committee’s focus is not a failure on your part.
Blanco says some of their committees are intentionally designed to be short-term, so once an issue has been resolved, the group is sunset. Petry says they’ve dissolved a committee when it wasn’t as important during a certain year.
Other times, it may make more sense for a committee to be absorbed into another group.
“As business needs shift or new leaders emerge, some groups have been restructured, merged with others, or redefined in scope,” Blanco says. “This flexibility is a strength – it allows us to keep our collaboration efforts relevant and impactful, rather than continuing out of habit.”
Key Takeaways
- Effective committees typically include 6–15 members to maintain engagement, with participants selected based on interest, job role, or leadership potential.
- Committees should meet anywhere from weekly to quarterly, depending on their goals and seasonal workload, ensuring they remain helpful rather than burdensome.
- Not all committees need to be permanent. Letting them evolve, merge, or dissolve based on shifting business needs helps keep collaboration purposeful and efficient.
