National Alliance of HUD Tenants
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Steps to a better meeting

How to avoid the plague of meetings
“Before we got organized, there was a plague of (fill in the blank). Now there is a plague of meetings.”
Table of Contents:
Planning
Phyical Layout
Beginning of the meeting
Facilitation
At the end of the meeting
After the meeting

Planning

• Plan your meetings carefully. Good meetings don't just “happen”. It often takes twice (or more) as long to plan a good meeting than it takes to hold it.
• Know WHY you are holding this meeting. Don't hold a meeting because you “always” do or don't know what else to do. Your meeting should have a specific goal. One you can write down. One that is clear to all attending.
• Know who is coming. Consult with participants before hand about what should happen.
• Anticipate problems. Know what people are likely to do or say that will cause problems.
• Remind people to come, especially if you want them there. Make the invitation personal. See if there are personal needs people have that would create obstacles - transportation, child care, accessibility, etc.
• Make specific assignments for participants. This helps insure attendance and spreads the work, builds community and helps people count on each other. It builds the organization. It helps people realize it is their organization.
• Come early to set up the room. Make sure there are signs pointing the way if needed. Assume people will get lost in new places.
• Have an agenda, with items and times slotsat the top of the agenda. This way everyone knows the goals of the meeting. Check them off as you reach them. Have the most important items up first. Leave time for “New Business”. It also helps to have the agenda written on a large flip chart on a wall (if the meeting is small enough). This way people can see the agenda as they go along.

Physical Layout

• People should be able to see each other. Tables for participants provide a more professional setting, especially for a planning meeting where people may want to write or look at papers. Sitting in a circle provides a sense of equality
• Adequate lighting and air allow people to think
• Set out fewer chairs than you expect people. Empty seats demoralize.
• Set clear “boundaries” for the meeting. Close doors. Make your space clear
• Make the meeting as comfortable as possible. Pleasant surroundings help, free from distractions. Avoid having people wandering in or out, phones ringing, etc.

Beginning of the Meeting

• Start on time. This makes people who come late miss something and creates an atmosphere that you take your time and other participants time seriously.
• Have participants introduce themselves if they don't know each other. If they already know each other, some short “up” introductory statement to build team work and unity. (“Briefly, what is something good that happened to you lately?”)
• Make it clear who is chairing the meeting and the process you are using to make decisions.
• Review the agenda. Make goals of the meeting clear.
• Make ending time for the meeting clear. Ask if anyone has to leave before that time. This avoids someone leaving and the others not knowing why. (Was she mad? Did I say something wrong? Was he bored?)

Facilitation

• One person should chair at a time.
• Someone else can keep track of time limits for each item. Telling the chair when time for that item is up. The chair, then, decides how to proceed, with the advice of the group.
• Chair should try to get participation from as many as appropriate. S/he should invite quiet people to speak up and noisy people to allow others a turn to speak.
• If time limit is reached for a certain item, the chair should ask the group if they want to spend five (or 10, or some appropriate number) more minutes on that item.
• Chair should re-state any decisions to make sure they are clear and written down in minutes.
• Chair should introduce each item on agenda and clarify the goal for that item. (Do we have to make a decision on this right now? Is this for information only? Is this a report and a few minutes of questions?)
• Chair should summarize discussion and decisions as the meeting goes along. If people seem to agree on a decision, the chair should say so and test this by asking if the group agrees with his/her summary. (“It seems to me that everyone agrees we should sell the truck. Is that what you are hearing? Do we need any more discussion on this or can we say it's the sense of the group?”)
• Chair should keep the discussion focused on the topic at hand. The chair should encourage participants to avoid repetitive comments. (“I think that comment has been made a few times. Does anyone have anything new to add?”)

At the end of the meeting

• Review what was decided and/or accomplished
• Set time and place for next meeting
• Evaluate the meeting. (“What was good? What could have been changed to have made it better?” Avoid discussion of the evaluative comments. Just note them for future reference and change.)
• Close on a positive note

After the meeting

• Clean up. Leave the room as you found it.
• People should leave with clear assignments - If that is relevant. Commitments people made should be re-stated.
• END ON TIME!!!! Nothing will discourage people from coming to your next meeting than to have this one drag on past the agreed upon ending time.