Meeting Tips

To do:

• Incorporate example meeting minutes snippets

About a week before the meeting

Facilitator:

• Make sure you will be able to attend. If not, find someone to facilitate for you.
• Call for agenda items

Scribe:

• Make sure you will be able to attend. If not, find someone to scribe for you.

The day before the meeting

Facilitator:

• Create the agenda. (You are looking for agenda items. Organize them into a final agenda, grouping related items together and plugging into the general template):
  • Review the previous meeting's notes
  • Review which meetings happened that are likely to report
  • Review the agenda
  • Review other relevant things, like the RT queue, email posts, and the wiki
• Line up presenters for anything on the agenda that seems like a major topic. These people should be prepared to introduce the topic and answer questions about it.

Before the meeting

Facilitator:

• Incorporate any last minute items onto the agenda.
• Print out copies of the agenda. Usually three copies:
  • one for the scribe,
  • one for yourself,
  • one to share with the group.

Scribe:

• Get a laptop or a paper and pen/pencil for taking notes
• Get a copy of the agenda from the facilitator

The Meeting

Once you know the tips, you may want to use the empty Meeting Template page as a start.

Call the meeting to order

Facilitator:

• Make sure there's a scribe taking attendance and ready to take notes
• Is everyone OK with the agenda? Any items missing?

Scribe:

• Record the name of the meeting and the date
• List everyone in attendance (for some meetings also list if they were late). Ask for people's names if you don't know them.

Check in

Facilitator:

• Ask how everyone's doing.

Scribe:

• This usually requires no notes be taken.

Committments from Previous Meeting

Facilitator:

• Go through each item and ask for a brief report.
  • If committments pertain to regular agenda items, ask that discussion be put off until that item

Scribe:

• Record the status of each item
  • Did it change owners?
  • Is it finished?
  • Is it a carryover? (If so, re-enter in the Future Committments section.)

Reports from Other Meeting

Facilitator:

• Go through each report and ask for a brief report.
  • If committments pertain to regular agenda items, ask that discussion be put off until that item
  • If issues come up that aren't on the agenda, add a new item to New Business section

Scribe:

• Record links to online minutes
• Record questions and answers

Old Business

Facilitator:

• Ask the presenter to present the topic
• Ask for questions to clarify the issue
• Is there any discussion?
• Are we ready for a formal proposal?
• If not
  • Does there need to be any action?
  • Does a smaller group need to hammer out a proposal?
  • Can it be done on and email list and/or wiki?
• If we are ready for a proposal try to guide discussion towards making one.
• For each proposal:
  • Does everyone understand it?
  • What concerns do people have? How can it be changed to deal with those concerns
  • If there appears to be agreement, make sure the proposal is in writing by askign the scribe to read it back
  • Ask for any remaining concerns
  • If there are none, state that we've reached a decision and have the scribe record it.
  • If there are concerns:
    • Can it be hammered out in a smaller group and decided at next meeting?
    • Are there alternate proposals to consider?

Scribe:

• Record item names
  • Key points from discussion
  • Proposals (at least loose wording)
  • Decisions -- Mark them clearly as decisions. Make sure the wording is accurate.

New Business

Facilitator:

• Same points at Old Business

Scribe:

• Same points at Old Business

Future Committments

Scribe:

• Record the item, its owner, and a time frame

Next Meeting

Scribe:

• Record next scribe
• Record next facilitator
• Record any reporters (i.e. to Council Meeting or Staff Meeting)
• Record next time and place of meeting
• Record any unfinished business for the next facilitator to include in the meeting