Leading Meetings

This topic provides students and community leaders with a step-by-step framework for facilitating productive meetings. Participants will learn how to manage different personalities, keep the conversation focused on the project goals, and ensure that every minute spent in the room (or on the call) adds value to the initiative.

Core Objectives:

• Meeting Preparation:
  • Define the Objective: Is this for brainstorming, decision-making, or just a status update?
  • The Invitation: Sending out the agenda and any “pre-read” materials at least 24 hours in advance.
• Facilitation Skills:
  • Managing Dominant Voices: Techniques for ensuring that quieter team members have a chance to contribute.
  • The “Parking Lot”: Using a whiteboard or shared doc to capture great ideas that aren’t relevant to the current agenda, to be discussed later.
• Decision-Making Models: Learning how to move a group toward a choice (e.g., Unanimity, Majority, or “Fist-to-Five” for consensus).
• The Meeting Minutes: Capturing the “Who, What, and When.” A professional record of what was decided so there is no confusion later.
• The “Action Item” Log: Distilling the meeting into a clear list of next steps that are added to the Project Schedule.

Key Outcome: By the end of this topic, participants will be able to lead a professional project meeting from start to finish. They will gain the confidence to facilitate complex community discussions, ensuring that every participant feels heard and that the project continues to move forward with clear, documented direction.