The social work, profession has recently stimulation even though the program con become increasingly willing to re-evaluate tent included such diverse elements as case the conventional supervisory conference presentations, discussion of administrative and has suggested various patterns for the problems, summarization and discussion of supervisor-supervisee relationship. Possimaterial from professional journals, and bly the time has also arrived to look at addresses by guest speakers. Each succes other staff relationships. The focus here sive committee seemed to have an indi will be particularly on relationships opervidual quality and considerable original ating in that agency device, the staff comity, yet these did not find as much expres mittee, which is frequently composed of sion as one might expect. An attempt was caseworkers with a case supervisor or other made to look at the interaction taking superior as chairman. This is a tool emplace within the committee itself, and re ployed in social agencies for a variety of suited in the formulations presented here, purposes: to study recording methods, make recommendations for improved intime ELEMENT take procedures, revise mimeographed forms, and so forth. One point that emerged as discussions pro This paper proposes to examine some gressed was that the amount of time avail of the dynamics operating in such comable for committee meetings might serve mittees and their influence upon the comas a negative or positive dynamic. More mittee's work. The content is based on was accomplished in meetings when mem discussions taking place between members bers met with partially formulated ideas, of a committee set up to formulate a staff Prefabricated ideas, although economi development program. At the Baltimore cal of time, tended to be taken over whole Regional Office of the Veterans Adminis—apparently because other members of tration such a committee is chosen annuthe committee, being relatively unpre ally. The chairmanship has alternated pared, were at a disadvantage, each year between the supervisors of the A committee member who had not been two social service groups, and two addipresent during the gestation period of an tional members chosen by rotation, one idea might express only a vague reserva from the medical and one from the psychition, or none at all, about a proposal that atric group. Structurally, this would seem did not appeal to him. Being unable to to provide for the fostering of new program formulate his reservations in specific terms, ideas, yet the staff obviously felt a lack of he tended to go passively along with it. At —————— best his presence was hardly more effective MARY KENDREW, M.S.S., and EVELYN HOLSEY, , r . . , I ' . . . ' than absence might have been; at worst, M.S.W., are case supervisor and caseworker, respec. , , ' lively, at the Mental Hygiene Clinic, Veterans AdWas a subtle resistance that retarded ministration, Baltimore Regional Office, Baltimore, work of the committee. Maryland. Nathan NACKMAN, M.s.w., formerly During a discussion on the importance a caseworker at the same clinic, is director of social of ample time as an ingredient in com service, Patuxent Institution, Jessups, Maryland. mittee deliberation one member drew an