Meetings that work Making meetings fun and functional

Today’s workshop Expect ~45 minutes Come and go as you need Covers before, during, & after meetings Experiment w/ facilitation tools Stop me whenever you need to I’ll be around afterwards for Q&A

Setting Expectations Pick a comfortable space where everyone can see and hear each other. Set clear goals for topics. Is this item a discussion? A vote? An intro? Make the creation of the agenda a part of daily life, in a visible space. Make sure the agenda is “locked” ~24 hours ahead, giving members time to prepare. Go over the process at the start of the meeting Welcome guests right up front.

make sure you... Put your name and the expected time on each agenda item. Welcome the discussion of new business... but don’t vote on it! Try different channels before the meeting: discussions, straw polls, wall votes, dinner discussions, whatever it takes.

Out of the meeting Parking Lots- Keeping a list of items to revisit later Commitments- Make sure someone will bottom-line any tasks, and agree to a deadline. Publish minutes quickly, and publish them where they get seen. Minutes are public... commentary should be private! Develop an “agenda form” that hard-wires recurring items. Keep the agenda form for next week available through the meeting. Check out using a format (ie + - ∆)

Facilitation tools The speaking stack Round Robin The Floor Time-Keeper Fist-to-Five Counting Speaking Turns For the facilitator Allows everyone to know they will have the chance to speak. Requires that the stack be tracked and announced continually. Good for when everyone has something to say at once. Simply close the stack, announce the RR, and move around the room. Whoever holds the floor should be able to speak their mind, and if you need to interrupt, ask the person holding the floor. Find a volunteer to call out “half-time”, “5-minute warning” and “time”. You can extend, but do so intentionally, not by accident. A way to quickly gauge support without voting. A fist it total opposition. A five is strong support. If you have not-so-great power dynamics, the facilitator can explicitly ask for people who have been quiet to consider speaking.

Facilitation tools Direct Response Point of Information Zombies Twinkling Tabling Counting Speaking Turns For Everyone You may need to engage the current speaker directly, and cannot wait for the Stack. Many coops have a hand gesture for this. Without the factual information you need to share the discussion will not make progress. Be careful not to abuse this. A humorous way to indicate that the speaker has wandered off topic, and is now discussing Zombies. Showing agreement by wiggling your fingers. This saves time and airspace. Sometimes we get locked into a discussion. Don’t be afraid to suggest leaving the discussion to a future meeting. It can be trickier for a non-facilitator to do this, but it might be needed if you feel someone is monopolizing the meeting.

Fun is important Members are less likely to show up for meetings without any spirit. Avoid Coercion Prepare Snacks Break up the time with quick games Allow some (respectful) jokes and asides Never personally attack someone