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 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).
(PDF)
Consensus
Basics article offers an overview of the secular consensus
method,
including some information on facilitation, delegation to committees
and managers, agenda planning, and taking minutes.
Consensus
Queries proffers a set of questions to engage with. If your
group can dance with all of them to its satisfaction, chances are high
that your consensus process will succeed.
Flow
Chart of the steps in the consensus process.
Types of Consensus (Tree's "Quick & Dirty" Guide to the
Biodiversity of Consensus Decision-Making Processes) (PDF)
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.
(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)
Land Ownership
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
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
Values
Visioning
Visioning
(PDF) is a 1-page handout covering some basics about what a vision
statement is and why have one.
Voting