Facilitating an XRB business type meeting (e.g. coordinators meeting or sub-group meeting)
A week before the meeting:
Read minutes of previous meetings especially the last meeting
Make a note of action points
Create agenda for meeting, for example for the coordinators meeting:
- Allocate minute taker if this is not a fixed role
- Apologies
- Practice and check-in
- Welcome any people who are new to the meeting
- Confirming minutes of past meeting
- Sub-groups check-in
- Any other business
- Confirm next meeting date and next chair
- Check-out
Action points from the previous minutes should be included as agenda items for the current meeting. They could all go in one section: eg ‘following up action points’, or be linked to other agenda items (for example, action points about the re-gen sub-group could be linked to the re-gen sub group check-in on the agenda)
Circulate agenda on Telegram and ask for any other agenda items.
Check details of meeting including the Zoom link are on the website www.xrbuddhists.com/events
Remind people the day before the meeting on Telegram
During the meeting:
Your job is to keep the meeting and agenda items to time, and to help ensure different voices are heard in the discussion. The usual way to facilitate discussion is to ask people with comments or questions to raise their hand, and then call on each of them in turn. You can also make your own comments, but be mindful that your voice should be in balance with the other voices in the meeting.
Before the meeting check how many agenda items there are (including check-in/out etc.) and how much discussion time each might need.
During the meeting keep an eye on the clock, if you are behind time, consider how to speed things up: e.g. think about which agenda items could be postponed; or if there are higher priority items that need to be discussed first move them up the agenda.
For each agenda item:
- Report from whoever is bringing the item (sub-group coordinator, for example)
- Time for questions and comments
- Summarise and make a proposal for clear actions
- Take a sounding on the proposal (you can do this using XR ‘wiggly fingers’)
- If the proposal is agreed: check who will take the action points
- If the proposal is not agreed: either allow time for more discussion or move the item onto the agenda for the next meeting
After the meeting:
- Circulate the minutes of the meeting with clear action points
- Confirm who the facilitator for the next meeting is if that wasn’t done during the meeting and remind people of the date
Facilitating meetings is complex and different people will do it differently depending on their personal style. We don’t expect facilitators to get everything right – rather they are a great learning opportunity and we hope that these guidelines will help you to learn as you go. If you have any suggestions you’d like to add to these guidelines email web@xrbuddhists.com