Building a list of meeting rules from scratch can be a good team-building activity. 0000007281 00000 n 0000001318 00000 n Your team may make a lower-quality decision because that persons contributions were not heard or because the person is not committed to implementing the decision. For example, some teams point out when a team member is off topic by directly saying Thats off topic or by using an agreed-upon word, such as jellyfish. But all these variations of the ground rules are based on the assumption that the person calling jellyfish is correctly stating that the other person is off topic. "Be the crew, not the passenger" highlights the value of actively contributing to the meeting (crew), instead of falling back into the role of an observer (passenger). 55. Take notes during the workshop. Here are some of our favourites: 1. 47. Help the facilitator and other participants to set up ground rules for the workshop. E.L.M.O stands for "Enough, let's move on" and can be established as a meeting rule to cut unnecessary discussions. As facilitators, one of our key roles is to guide the workshop to ensure participants walk away from the session honing in on the learning objectives. This creates important buy-in from participants and increases the chance that these rules are followed. Stay at the strategic level. Your submission has been received! Avoid judgmental reactions to other peoples ideas. Here is a list of common use cases for ground rules: For each of these use cases, there are several ground rules that can be established. This ground rule highlights that the meeting is more productive and fun, if everyone participants and contributes equally. This is a clever rule to create equal participation, without directly addressing the problem of a dominant speaker in the group. Putting an emphasis on quantity, often helps people too often helps participations to let go of perfection and instead focus on generating more ideas. Share your perspective and experience with others. Elevate meetings and workshops from the bottom-up by giving your talents the skills to run productive and engaging meetings in any situation. Dont lose your sense of humor. Abandon personal obsessions. Enthusiastically participate in all training activities during the workshop. Often people do this unconsciously because they feel that the meeting isn't relevant for them."Be present, or be elsewhere" is a good meeting guidelines to establish shared awareness and clear expectations one participants. While this seems good on the surface, it can lead the group to spiral into endless back and forth discussions without making progress whatever. Pay attention to the trainers objectives. 4. Handle conflicts during discussions in a healthy way. Arrive on time for the workshop. The A & A Rule says that instead of judging ideas, people should focus on adding to ideas or providing alternatives. It is also advisable to ask all participants to turn off their cell phones for the duration of the workshop. 0000001780 00000 n 56. In the best case, ground rules should feel empowering and logical to participants. Relate new skills and knowledge from the workshop to your workplace. Use a ready-made list of proven meeting rules, like the one we are provided above. 59. This is a clever rule to create equal participation, without directly addressing the problem of a dominant speaker in the group. During group activities, avoid defensive behaviors and statements. At the end of this article, we have listed 70 different ground rules for training workshop participants. 0000068326 00000 n Return on time after breaks. At what time should you introduce and discuss ground rules? Blue sky thinking is brainstorming without limits. It's often difficult to reach an agreement in a meeting because some people are often dogmatic about their position. Do not leave the workshop early. 0000002960 00000 n 1. "Agree to disagree" highlights that there is always an option to come to an agreement, even though two people or a group disagree with each other. All Rights Reserved. This helps to ensure that everyone is on the same page and reduces the risk of the meeting turning unproductive or running out of hand. Team ground rules should be created and agreed to by everyone in the team together, because groups more easily accept and abide by rules they've set themselves. "Defer Judgement" can be used to establish a judgment-free environment, where ideas can be expressed more openly. Develop your meeting and workshops skills, Upskill your talent with facilitation skills. Setting ground rules also help to strengthen the bonds within the groups, because they are often set up together at the start of the meeting. Based on the size of the group, this can also be adjusted to the 2x2 or even 4x4 Rule. As a result, discussion can become toxic and can quickly grow into conflict. Come to the meeting with a positive attitude. Ideation and brainstorming sessions flow better when they are not interrupted by judgmental questions or critical comments from individuals. Once stated, anyone in the meeting can say "ELMO!" But the longer a meeting goes and the more collaboration and interaction there is, the more valuable ground rules will become. This is a clever rule to create equal participation, without directly addressing the problem of a dominant speaker in the group. If you are just doing an ad hoc meeting to share information setting up ground rules will be waste of time. Attend the workshop with positive expectations. Ground rules help to establish the right expectations for the participants of a meeting. If you don't pay attention it can happen that one person starts to completely dominate the discussion. Can you help me understand the connection, or, if its not related, can we figure out if and when we should address your topic? Saying this enables you to quickly test your inference that Bobs comment isnt related. Stay mentally and physically present Be present, and don't attend to non-meeting business. at any time to indicate that it is time to move on to the next topic. 1 0 obj Innovation Detach yourself from preconceived outcomes you want to achieve. MeetingSift helps your meeting stay on topic, and focuses the discussion on issues rather than persons. Respect each others thinking and value everyones contributions. It's everyone's responsibility, to find ways that everyone can contribute their ideas and thoughts to the meeting. Ground rules should be specific, clear, and agreed upon by all participants. Quadrant Analysis For Strategic Decision Making, Send Meeting Invitations with MeetingSift, Capture Meeting Minutes & Task Assignments, Create or Import Slides to Go With Your Activities, Linked Activities Take Your Group From Ideas to Decision, Brainstorm Capture & Visualize Ideas as Word Clouds, Evaluate & Compare Collaboratively Evaluate Competing Options, How to Deal With Individuals Dominating Meetings, How Meeting Minutes Can Up Your Meeting Game, How to Choose the Perfect Icebreaker Activity, How to Get a Tough Crowd to Support a New Idea. 5. Avoid Yes, but conversations. Give all participants a voice- at the start highlight the value of a diversity of perspectives as an essential part of the process. Ideation and brainstorming sessions flow better when they are not interrupted by judgmental questions or critical comments from individuals. Share time so that all can participate. Based on the size of the group, this can also be adjusted to the 2x2 or even 4x4 Rule. "Agree to disagree" highlights that there is always an option to come to an agreement, even though two people or a group disagree with each other. Show up on time and come prepared Be prompt in arriving to the meeting and in returning from breaks. Post the ground rules in a central location so that everyone can see them. Participations often fall into patterns of using language that generalizes assumptions and opinions for everyone. Ground rules detail the code of conduct for a meeting, explaining the behavior that's expected of all meeting participants. This rule can be used to encourage participants to come up with big ideas, without considering the practical constraints of day-to-day life. 39. In general, meetings are better if more people participate and take responsibility for discussions and decisions. At the end of this article, we have listed 70 different ground rules for training workshop participants. "Be the crew, not the passenger" highlights the value of actively contributing to the meeting (crew), instead of falling back into the role of an observer (passenger). Be direct and honest. After this agreement, the group can stop arguing and move on. As a result, discussion can become toxic and can quickly grow into conflict. Arrive on time for the workshop. These blue sky ideas are often very inspirational and a great anchor point for the group to come up with similar, more feasible ideas. How? Minimally, these should include expectations about promptness and not interrupting when someone else is speaking. 0000007507 00000 n This causes friction because everyone's experience and expertise are different. As a result, abstract rules create problems if group members have different ideas about how to act respectfully. Nothing comes from doing nothing! Rules or guidelines such as only one person speaks at a time or raising a hand to speak, as well as shutting off any cellphones or distracting devices are good to establish at the onset of the workshop. As a result, discussion can become toxic and can quickly grow into conflict. Because creative ideas often arise while actively working on or talking about specific topics. Treat all ideas as valid and valuable. 2. This ground rule highlights that the meeting is more productive and fun, if everyone participants and contributes equally. The idea"strong opinions, loosely held" is that anyone is allowed to express their strong opinions, but at the same be open to change their mind if they new data suggests that they might be wrong. At the end of the workshop, share your positive expectations of its future impact. 28. Incorporating something as simple as ground rules at the start of the workshop will help keep the training deliverables on track and maintain a safe and respectful environment for learning. Listen attentively to others and dont interrupt or have side conversations. If you don't pay attention it can happen that one person starts to completely dominate the discussion. Select those that are appropriate to your group's needs. If you want your team to be effective, you need meeting ground rules and you need agreement about how to use them. After this agreement, the group can stop arguing and move on. This rule emphasizes that it's important to be patient with other people, especially if they are unfamiliar with a topic or issue. 0000008589 00000 n Decide how you will wrap up the workshop. How to leverage collective intelligence ? Keep an open mind toward other peoples suggestions. 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