Meetings that workMaking 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: email 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