Selection committees are common in many different contexts, such as job recruitments, academic admissions and awards. Regardless of their specific objectives, effective selection committees must be able to evaluate candidates based on objective criteria while avoiding personal biases and interpersonal dynamics. The committee members themselves also have to be aware of how their personal experiences, opinions and preferences can influence the outcome. To ensure that these types of biases don’t derail the committee’s decision, they should employ a variety of strategies to evaluate candidates fairly and avoid unintentional skewing of results.
In the NCAA Tournament, for example, the Selection Committee is tasked with setting the bracket by evaluating a pool of teams in a series of rounds. Each round includes a “listing step” and a “ranking step.” In the listing step, committee members select teams to be considered for at-large bids. The teams with the most votes are then ranked, with each member’s individual rankings being combined into a composite for the final decision. In this way, the committee eliminates teams with poor records or bad matchups while ensuring that each team has a fair chance of being selected for the at-large bid.
The process of ranking the teams requires a lot of careful consideration, with each committee member carefully examining the current field and how it compares to past years’ results. The committee also must balance competing priorities such as avoiding rematches of non-conference regular-season games and respecting conference championships by placing the highest value on winning that title.
Each year, the committee assigns primary and secondary monitors for each of its conferences. Those monitors are responsible for monitoring conference statistics, injuries, suspensions and more, so the committee can make informed decisions. Committee members also participate in monthly calls with their conference’s primary and secondary monitors, sharing information regarding the best schools to be selected for at-large bids.
When conducting a search for a new role, it is critical for a selection committee to develop and agree upon a clear set of written criteria that are used to evaluate applicants. This will help to ensure consistency in the evaluation process, facilitate information transfer and create institutional memory from year to year.
During the discussion and debate stage of the process, the committee should be wary of letting its individual opinions or impressions skew the result. It is important for the committee to remain focused on assessing each candidate against the ideal profile, relying on the data and evidence obtained from interviews and references rather than what the candidate or committee member thinks they should do.
As the discussion and voting phase of the process begins, it is crucial for the committee to use random ordering when evaluating and discussing nominees. This helps to mitigate presentation bias, a tendency for committee members to give more weight to the evaluations or recommendations of people who speak earlier in the meeting. It should also use rounds of voting with brief structured exchanges in between to prevent social loafing, where a subgroup or single committee member follows the vote or rankings of others without contributing.