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Let's be friendsTop Tips
- Check everyone knows who you are, and understands each topic, before discussion;
- Lively, interesting and upbeat should be your watchwords!
London P&Pmembers enjoy some ice cream after a hard days work at a Regional Gathering
Make new people feel welcome
- Appoint a ‘doorkeeper’ to meet and greet people - especially new ones - as they arrive at a meeting.
- Introduce everyone at the start and consider using name badges so everyone is on an equal footing.
- Explain how your meetings work.
- Explain the group. Outline what you’ve been doing to set the context.
- Avoid in-jokes and jargon. Not everyone knows their WTOs, P&P, NGOs etc - make sure these terms are explained the first few times in every meeting.
- Make sure you explain agenda topics before launching into discussion.
- Don’t be afraid to stop and give room for questions and clarification.
- Create plenty of opportunities for new people to take on tasks. Do it as soon as possible, but don’t give them more than they feel capable of.
- If new people come back a few weeks in a row, ask them what their first impressions were…
Be inclusive
- Think about the venue. Is it welcoming or are you all huddled conspiratorially in the darkened corner of a smoky pub? Not all venues suit all people. Not everyone likes pubs; not everyone is comfortable in a ‘religious’ building like a Chaplaincy.
- Leave room for latecomers, then greet them and recap enough for them to be able to join in the discussion. Remember that there are reasonable excuses for being late for a meeting.
- Organise seating so everyone can see each other, and so that everyone feels equal (sitting in a circle is best). It makes for a friendlier meeting if you sit close together, rather than dotted around a huge room, so put out just enough chairs. You can always add more.
- Focus on the issues and the campaigns. They are the reason that people have come (unless they fancied you on a stall) and that’s what they’ll want to know about.
- The one assumption you can make is that everyone who turns up has some interest in making a better world. That gives you all a huge amount of common ground - so remember your shared vision and not the little differences in ideology or approach. Always look for the common ground.
- Don’t expect everyone to work the same way you do. You may be a direct action nut, but others might find any action in public intimidating. You should try to find actions everyone is happy with, or accept that your group can work in different ways. Welcome diversity!
Keep it upbeat
- Actively facilitate the meeting. This is a really vital skill to develop in your group, see the facilitation pages for more information.
- Plan your agenda to keep the meeting positive, for example by putting some quick, easy decisions at the top to start off with a sense of achievement.
- You might want to schedule a social time before or after the meeting, so that the meeting itself is focussed and short - some people get frustrated by constant digressions.
- Start with an icebreaker to wake everyone up!
- Keep it all participative - for example when looking for ideas, use “brainstorming”.
- Have a break in the middle of long meetings, maybe keep blood sugar levels up with a snack.
- Smile! Check your body language - keep it friendly, welcoming and relaxed.
