Meetings

General Tips for Organizing Meetings and Facilitation

• Make sure everyone knows the time and place.
• Have a collectively developed agenda.
• Try to start on time.
• Make sure someone is taking notes.
• Facilitators should do their best to get all points of view.
• Facilitators should not use their position to impose their personal ideas and opinions on the group.
• Facilitators should be attentive to people who are speaking -- look at them, lean forward, smile, nod. Make eye contact with people who may need encouragement to speak.
• Try to end on time. Nothing makes people dread and avoid meetings more than knowing they're likely to go on and on and consume far more of their time than they want to give.
• Make sure the minutes are written up and, if necessary, posted or distributed.
• Start getting ready for the next meeting!