carol_tree

TOPICS

While many of these pieces were originally written for people living in intentional communities, almost all of the content is applicable to other types of organizations. The following items can be printed and copied for free, so long as credit and contact information is included.

Agenda Planning

    Agenda Planning is often overlooked, yet making improvements in this area can easily make a major difference in your meetings. Learn how to create effective agendas that follow people's natural rhythms rather than swimming upstream.

    Article: Agenda Planning

    Agenda Planning Factors: Questions for screening potential items (HTML) (PDF)

    Sample Agendas: What an agenda might look like for a one-hour or two-hour meeting.

Blocking & Concerns

Cohousing Decision-Making

    Decision-Making in Cohousing Communities reports the results of an informal survey on decision-making at cohousing communities, including the use of consensus, voting fallbacks, who is eligible to participate, and some of the tools they rely on.

Committees & Delegation

    Send It to Committee: What are they, why use them, how to use them effectively, who should be on them, how to build trust between committees and the rest of the group, and more.

    Handout on Committees: Types, requirements, and effective composition. (HTML) (PDF)

Conference Planning

Conflict

    Dealing with Conflict describes specific strategies for dealing with difficulties that arise between people. Reflection, feedback, third party support, and a straightforward set of steps for approaching conflicted situations.

    Conflict Points: Minimal summary including conflict analysis, reflective listening guidelines, and one possible simple set of steps for conflict resolution. (HTML) (PDF)

    Innerwork: Working on Your Issues with Someone (Whether or Not They Come Along): 8 exercises for working out your conflicts with someone without relying on their participation.

    Queries during Conflict: Some questions for group members to consider when facing an entrenched conflict with significant charge and upset.

    Process Team Checklist: Offers advice for communities who are forming a committee to assist with conflict resolution. (PDF)

Consensus Decision-Making

    Consensus Decision-Making short chapter from The Change Handbook.

    Consensus Basics offers an overview of the secular consensus method, including some information on facilitation, delegation to committees and managers, agenda planning, and taking minutes.

    Consensus Points: Condensed version of basic info, such as how an item moves through the meeting, what helps it work well, and structures (agree/stand aside/block). (HTML) (PDF)

    Flow Chart of the steps in the consensus process.

    See also: Blocking & Concerns

Dynamic Facilitation

Email Guidelines

    Email Guidelines: Suggestions on what to use it for, what not to use it for, and some other things to keep in mind about this nearly ubiquitous communication form. (HTML) (PDF)

Equalizing Airtime

    Listeners and Talkers covers concrete ways to deal with one of the most common problems in meetings: balancing participation from more assertive vs. more shy members.

    You might also consider trying out variations listed under the Formats topic below.

Exercises

    Exercises: Instructions for 35 group games for fun, bonding, or insight.
    (HTML) version includes links to further resources.
    (PDF) also available.

Facilitation

    Facilitation Primer (PDF): This 21-page document covers topics including principles and methods of facilitation, formats, roles in meetings, and more. (142k)

    Facilitation Points: Basic principles, managing open discussions, facilitator's rap, working with blocks and concerns, roles of the facilitator, etc. (HTML) (PDF)

    Facilitator Role: List of 8 aspects of the role, and what each entails.

    Handout: Methods for Assessing Level of Agreement (PDF)

Feedback

Formats

    Formats: Short descriptions of more than two dozen formats suitable for use in meetings. Many alternatives to whole group discussion. (HTML) (PDF)

    Floofy Meetings: Alternative sessions for community-building.

Ground Rules

    Ground Rules: One basic suggested set, and some other possibilities.

    Handout: Why, how, and some ideas for ground rules (PDF)

Notetaking

    Notetaking Guidelines: What to remember to include when writing meeting proceedings for the record. (HTML) (PDF) (PDF has slightly more information.)

Opening Meetings

Planning & Preparation

Private Ownership

Process Team Checklist

    Process Team Checklist (PDF) offers advice for communities who are forming a committee to assist with conflict resolution.

Reopening Decisions

    Reopening Decisions gives 8 possibilities for what rules to have about this and a sample community for each one.

Roles in Groups

    Roles in Groups gives an overview of different types of roles group members play, and exercises for increasing role awareness and flexibility.

Songs

    Songs: Lyrics for songs that bring groups together.

Values

    Values: A list of values that underlie consensus decision-making.

Visioning

    Visioning (PDF) is a 1-page handout covering some basics about what a vision statement is and why have one.

Voting

    Handout: Guidelines for voting fallbacks to consensus. (PDF)

Tree Bressen
1990 Orchard Street
Eugene, Oregon 97403
541-343-3855
tree@ic.org