Tips for an effective meeting

Tips for an Effective Meeting

PLAN

	Establish times and dates for regular, convenient meetings.
	Identify means of communication and a "lead" contact for the group.
	Agree on an agenda that includes the meeting's objectives, its starting and ending times, items to be discussed and time for each item

PREPARE

	Prepare appropriate materials (visual aids, handouts).
	Prior to the meeting, disseminate materials and information for participant review, as needed.

MEET

	Develop a friendly culture: Encourage humor. Provide food and drink, or meet in a restaurant. Allow for social time.
	Begin with a round of introductions, if necessary.
	Choose a facilitator, a recorder, and a timekeeper, as necessary.
	Establish discussion and decision guidelines. These may include: - recognizing the legitimacy of others' concerns; - accepting responsibility for coming to a meeting prepared for discussion; - listening carefully and sharing discussion time with others; - encouraging everyone to participate; - discussing with intent to identify areas of agreement, clarify differences, and search for common understanding; and - establishing a speaker's time limit.
	Review the agreements and action items of the previous meeting.
	Ask for amendments or additions to the agenda, then begin working through the agenda.
	Display everyone's contribution.
	Record and report meeting results, actions required, who will carry them out, and how much will be accomplished before the next meeting.
	Set a time, place and an agenda for the next meeting

Making Decisions

There are many ways to make decisions, but a stakeholder group and its facilitator must "decide on how to decide" by establishing decisionmaking rules. Three types of group decsionmaking are straw polling, voting, and consensus.

Straw polling

Straw polling entails asking for a non-binding show of hands to see how the group feels about a particular issue. It is a quick check that can save a great deal of time.

Voting

Voting is a decision making method that seems best suited to large groups. To avoid alienating large minorities, you might decide a motion will only succeed with a two-thirds majority.

Some community groups limit the privilege of voting to people who have come to three or more consecutive meetings to prevent stacked meetings, and to encourage familiarity with the issues being decided.

Voting usually means deciding between X or Y. But not always. Some issues will admit a proportional solution, part X and part Y. In such a cases the ratio of X to Y in the solution usually reflects the ratio of people voting for each alternative.

Consensus

A consensus process aims at bringing the group to mutual agreement by addressing all concerns. It does not require unanimity. Consensus can take longer than other processes, but fosters creativity, cooperation and commitment to final decisions. Here is a sample outline:

	A presenter states the proposal. Ideally, a written draft has been distributed prior to the meeting.
	The group discusses and clarifies the proposal. No one presents concerns until clarification is complete.
	The facilitator asks for legitimate concerns. If there are none the facilitator asks the group if it has reached consensus. If there are concerns:
	The recorder lists concerns where everyone can see them. The group then tries to resolve the concerns. The presenter has first option to: Clarify the proposal. Change the proposal. Explain why it is not in conflict with the group's values. Ask those with concerns to stand aside.

By "standing aside" a person indicates a willingness to live with a proposal. By "crossing off a concern" a person indicates satisfaction with clarifications or changes. If concerns remain unresolved and concerned members are unwilling to stand aside, the facilitator asks everyone to examine these concerns in relation to the group's purpose and values. The group may need to go through a session to examine its purpose or resolve value conflicts.

The facilitator checks again to see if those with concerns are willing to stand aside or cross off their concerns. If not, the facilitator keeps asking for suggestions to resolve the concerns, until everyone finds the proposal acceptable or stands aside. Often the solution is a "third way", something between either/or, black and white.

If time runs out and concerns persist the facilitator may:
Conduct a straw poll.
Ask those with concerns if they will stand aside.
Ask the presenter to withdraw the proposal.
Contract with the group for more time.
Send the proposal to a sub-group.
Conduct a vote, requiring a 75% to 90% majority.

At the end, the facilitator states the outcome clearly. For consensus to work properly everyone must understand the meaning of "legitimate concerns". They are possible consequences of the proposal that might adversely affect the organization or the common good, or that are in conflict with the purpose or values of the group. Consensus will not work properly if concerns come from ego or vested interests, or derive from unstated tensions around authority, rights, personality conflicts, competition or lack of trust. Trust is a prerequisite for consensus.

If your group adopts consensus as a decision making method you do not have to use consensus of the whole group to decide everything. You can (and should) empower individuals, committees, or task forces to make certain decisions.