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Conducting PPU Meetings ( Committees and Board Meets every other month. Check PPU Calendar for dates)

Facilitator, timekeeper and note-taker required each meeting.

Conducting the meeting

The role of the facilitator conducting the meeting is to (1) keep the discussion on target (task function) while at the same time (2) making sure everyone gets heard and people’s needs are met (maintenance function). Most often the facilitator takes on the task of conducting a meeting, but this role may be delegated. Starting on time is a good practice; so is ending on time. Punctuality, or lack of it, can become a tradition.    



Meeting agenda. If the agenda has not been given out in advance, it can be distributed at the start of the meeting. The  PPU is encouraged to contribute topics for discussion before the meeting starts. The  facilitator conducting the meeting can also ask for further suggested agenda additions at the commencement of the meeting. This is critical. If people know that a subject that is important to them will be raised, they are less likely to interrupt and make attempts to introduce this topic at inopportune times. This is perhaps the most important contribution of the agenda. Agreements on how the meeting time will be spent can be set up from the start.

Discussion guidelines can help keep meetings running in an orderly manner. Examples of rules you may want to use include the following:

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· Only one person speaks at a time. If the meeting gets out of order, anyone who wishes to speak must be acknowledged before doing so.

· Attempt to understand needs behind positions.

· Attempt to understand both the positive and negative aspects of suggestions. Getting to the best solution is more important than who made the suggestion.

· Comments will be asked for, at times, beginning with the least and ending with the most senior person (explain that new people often can see issues with more clarity, and also explain that when a more senior person makes a comment, that this comment may sometimes sound so final others do not feel they can contradict it).

· If someone shows a lot of emotion in a comment, this is because there is an important need or fear they have relating to this issue. This should be looked upon as an opportunity to better understand each other.

· Remind participants that this is the time to say something, if they have something to say. It will do little good for them to express their dissatisfaction with what was said or agreed upon after the meeting is over.

· Private conversations are not to be conducted during the meeting.

· People need to speak on the subject being discussed.

· Comments and discussions need to address issues, not personalities.

· The facilitator rather than take sides or show favoritism, she/he can help participants clarify their views without judging the merit of their ideas. A facilitator  who wants to be very involved in a discussion may ask someone else to conduct the PPU members need to know how much decision-making power is being delegated to them to take back to their group to help develop understanding of a problem and move towards a solution,

In the general meeting CEP group reps. can with the facilitator's guidence

· Pick one challenge at a time.

· Rather than begin with solutions, first focus on a detailed analysis of where things can or do go wrong.

· The emphasis of all discussion should be on understanding the problem, not on assigning blame.

· Once the challenge seems clear, brainstorm potential proposals and solutions (these should not be evaluated at this point)

· Encourage participants to be tentative in their comments, so creativity is not stifled.

· Discuss pros and cons of the different approaches.

· Ask for new approaches that may include the best contributions of the various suggestions.

· Seek consensus. Avoid premature use of voting to arrive at decisions. Nevertheless, voting can be used to focus on the top possible solutions.

· During the process, barometric voting can take place. This is not one to make a decision, but to see how people are feeling after new light has been shed on the challenges being discussed.

· Participants should not feel they have to yield their opinions in order to promote consensus. In effective decision making, a good team player is not the person who yields in the face of opposition, but rather, the person who is willing to make the important, yet sometimes unpopular, points.

· Sometimes the greatest danger to a premature resolution exists when a solution seems imminent.

· Rather than coming to quick solutions, ask participants to help think where the tentative solution may not work out. Make the necessary adjustments to account for potential difficulties ahead.

· Resolve issues whenever possible before moving on. If an impasse is reached:

a) Help others find out where they agree and disagree

b) Assign further study if appropriate.

c) If disagreements persist and accommodations or compromises cannot be made, then announce how and when decisions will be made.

· Ask participants: How will we really know, say a year from now, if this problem has really been solved?

· Document decisions reached and who was present. If there were disagreements, document minority opinions, if this is desired.