Conflicts of Interest
Every committee in the College is required to address conflicts of interest at each meeting. Typically, the most common conflict to manage is outside financial interests of volunteers, such as relationships with industry partners related to research activities or consultancy roles. However, in this committee, industry affiliations are rarely relevant to the work at hand. Instead, the Nominations & Appointments Committee primarily considers personal relationships between committee members and volunteer applicants when making assignment decisions. The potential for these relationships to influence assignment is mitigated by transparent discussions ensuring all committee members are involved in the decision-making process for each volunteer position.
Bias
The work of assigning volunteers to open positions involves evaluating all elements of an applicant- beyond just their professional background, demographics and interests. Such factors as geographic location, practice environment and prior relevant work experiences are also considered.
The committee strives to minimize bias when reviewing these very personal elements of each volunteer’s application. To promote an open and balanced discussion, an environment is provided in which committee members can share their perspectives and challenge each other’s observations. Specific forms of bias are kept in mind, including:
- Affinity bias, the inclination to prefer individuals who have similar interests, backgrounds and experiences to our own. Because of affinity bias, we tend to feel more comfortable around people who are like us;
- Implicit bias, the unconscious attitudes or internalized stereotypes that influence our perceptions, behaviors and decision making. These biases can be difficult for an individual to recognize and are often mitigated by team-based work; and
- Conformity bias, the tendency of individuals to change their beliefs, behaviors or opinions to align with those of a group. For example, imagine walking onto an elevator in which all three people inside are facing the back wall. What do you do? A classic example from the TV show Candid Camera demonstrated this: Every person who entered the elevator after the initial group aligned with those three people by facing the back wall, despite the usual conduct of facing the door. This behavior illustrated how conformity bias-driven by the desire to fit in or avoid conflict-can influence judgment and actions.
Technology
The committee’s work is supported by innovative technologies that streamline the volunteer application process. These include web-based platforms, such as Confluence and OpenWater. Confluence is commonly used by committees to create, share and organize content, such as meeting notes, project plans, documentation and other collaborative resources. It is valued for its ability to centralize information, making it easily accessible for all team members.
