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Today we had a very packed agenda at steering, and so got caught with our
most discussion-intensive item placed at the end of the meeting, which in
turn caused us to go late, lose some discussion participants, and also
inconvenience the news group.<br>
<br>
I'd like to suggest something we did in the past when we had a large
Sunday meeting with lots of big policy items on the agenda --
prioritizing agenda items by time. That is, giving each item an
amount of time in the hour. <br>
<br>
The point in doing this is to help us see concretely how much actual work
is in front of us for the meeting and use our time wisely. Had we
done that today I think we'd have easily seen the IP discussion as at
least a half-hour discussion, but as it is it ended up being allocated
only about 5 minutes within our hour. Having a discussion run the
meeting overtime only heightens any controversy that may be present and
increases the sense that resolution won't be reached. But if we had
allocated that half an hour at the beginning and sensibly allocated other
items to fit that it, we would have left ourselves more time for everyone
to participate in the discussion.<br>
<br>
Doing this also means that you'll find that some new items won't fit, and
so have to be tabled until another meeting. That's fine and allows
you to take care of the most important items now, without being sidelined
by things that aren't quite as important--they don't need to be resolved
*today*.<br>
<br>
I'd like us to start doing this next Sunday, since it looks like at least
one controversial item will persist.<br>
<br>
Below is the original suggested template I wrote back in May for
organizing steering meetings, which we currently follow in some
respects:<br>
<br>
<b>Suggested Template for IMC Steering Group Meeting Agendas<br>
</b>By Paul Riismandel, 5/27/01<br>
<br>
This is a suggested format for putting together Steering Group meeting
agendas. Agendas for this meeting should be completed before the
meeting. It is best to write them on a white board just before the
meeting so that all participants can see the agenda and follow along with
it.<br>
<br>
<b>The basic organization of the meeting should be the following:<br>
</b><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=4>I.<x-tab> </x-tab></font>Introductions<br>
This is where participants introduce themselves (if necessary), the
agenda is read and any additions to the agenda are made.<br>
<br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=4>II.<x-tab> </x-tab></font>Group
Reports<br>
This is where each working group gives a very brief activity
report. This time should not be used for lengthy discussions or
decision making, however issues that require discussion or decisions may
arise here. Only groups that have empowered spokes should report
here.<br>
<br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=4>III.<x-tab> </x-tab></font>Old
Business<br>
This is where you schedule on-going discussions, or discussions that have
been continued from previous meetings. Also, if an item was
introduced as new business in a previous meeting but not addressed, it
becomes old business for subsequent meetings. It is during
‘business’ that extended discussions and decision making should take
place.<br>
<br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=4>IV.<x-tab> </x-tab></font>New
Business<br>
This is where the discussion of new issues and items takes place.
Obviously, these are items that have not yet been addressed at the
steering group.<br>
<br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=4>V.<x-tab> </x-tab></font>Set
Next Agenda / Choose facilitator<br>
It’s important to clearly set the next agenda and have that recorded in
the notes for the meeting. This way items that weren’t addressed
fully or new items that came up are less easily forgotten. Since
facilitation is a revolving duty, a new facilitator should be chosen, if
necessary. It’s recommended that facilitator run several meetings in a
row so as to gain some practice and skill.<br>
<br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=4>VI.<x-tab> </x-tab></font>Announcements<br>
Announcements are left to last since they can easily eat up meeting time
and spark tangents. Announcements should be kept brief.<br>
<br>
<b>Time Allotments:</b> When writing an agenda, each major section should
have a suggested time length assigned to it. This length is used as
a guide for keeping the meeting flowing, avoiding getting bogged down in
unproductive discussions, ending the meeting on time, and, most
importantly, not wasting participants’ time. The Steering Group
meeting lasts one hour, so the allotments should add up to only one
hour. <br>
<br>
Time should be allotted according to the importance of an item.
Items needing more discussion and decision making time should be allotted
more time. It’s also recommended not to assign group reports more
than 15-20 minutes, since this portion of the meeting can easily take up
whatever time it’s allowed to.<br>
Please note: Meeting agendas do not need to be complex, and should be
written based upon the actual items people have asked to be
discussed. A facilitator does not need to put in a lot of work
making up things to discuss. <br>
<br>
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