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Most important discussions, plans and decisions made by community groups take place at meetings. The ability to chair a meeting well usually makes the difference between meetings that move the group forward toward its goals and meetings that discourage people and get bogged down in details.

Anyone in the group can chair a meeting. A good chair understands the goals of the meeting and the organization. A good chair keeps the group on the agenda prepared for the meeting, and makes sure everyone is involved in discussion and decision-making. This means being willing and able to get domineering people to limit what they say and drawing out shy people by asking for their opinions.

Start your meetings promptly. A large meeting may start a few minutes late if it's taking time for people to find seats and settle down, but a smaller meeting, particularly a regular monthly meeting, should start at the agreed upon time regardless of how many people are late. Waiting for late people penalizes the people who come on time, and getting in the habit of starting late means people will get in the habit of arriving late.

Welcome everyone to the meeting. Say how glad you are they could make it, rather than complain about how many people haven't shown up yet.

Ask people to introduce themselves if everyone doesn't already know one another.

Review the whole agenda for the meeting before starting discussion on the first item. This helps people get a sense of the different items that need to be discussed and where something they are most interested in falls in the order of the meeting. Fewer people will bring up topics out of order if they know what order the topics come up on the agenda. Ask people if there are any items missing from the agenda, add those to the bottom of the list, and leave some time at the end of the agenda for them.

Explain the rules of the meeting. Some groups work by consensus, other by majority vote. Some make motions, others just discuss a topic for a while and then reach a decision. State clearly at the beginning of the meeting any specific rules you expect people to follow.

Make sure discussion ends. Most groups will discuss things longer than they need to reach a decision unless the chair or someone else in the group summarizes what people have been saying and asks if there is general agreement. For example, a chair might say, "I think I hear most people saying they think we should talk to the mayor about this issue, and Bob saying he thinks we should talk to our town council members first. Do you want to talk to the mayor, the council people, or both? Let's make this decision in the next five minutes, since we have some other items left to discuss as well."

Stick to the agenda. People may bring up other topics in the middle of a discussion. It's up to the chair to say, "That's a good point, but let's stay focused on the issue at hand."

Avoid getting bogged down in lengthy discussion of small details. "It seems none of us knows who the new reporter at the newspaper is. Tom, will you get that information before we do the mailing this Tuesday?" or "I know the menu for the picnic is important, but could Susan, Edgar and Alfreda agree to meet later and bring a menu proposal to the next meeting so we can move on to our next item?"

Make sure the meeting results in some public action. It's fine to discuss how unjust or bad a situation is, but it's the role of the chair to lead people into action. For example, "We clearly agree that the school suspension policy is unjust, and we'll never run out of specific stories about how bad it is. So, what can we actually do together to correct the situation?"

Get commitments. "Okay, so we think we should all write letters to the editor about this. How many of us can write and mail a letter by the end of the week?" Write people's names down on an easel pad at the front of the room, or ask the note-taker for the meeting to do it. This reinforces that people are making a public commitment to one another to do what they said they would do.

Encourage participation and protect people's rights. This is a key role of the chair. For example, "We've heard mostly from people in the front of the room tonight. Does anyone in the back want to say something?" Or, "Tom, I heard you say Vivian says she hates the school principal, but I didn't hear her say that. Vivian, would you like to speak?"

Be flexible when necessary. "Larry just brought up an important new piece of information. Let's take a ten-minute break to talk about it informally." Use the time to consult with other leaders of the group and make a plan for reshaping the agenda based on the new information.

Summarize the meeting and follow-up. "In summary, we've agreed to meet with the mayor on Wednesday at 6:00 pm at his office. Everyone here has made a commitment to be there. Brenda will write the press release, Kerry will drop it off at the newspaper and radio station, and Lisa and Roberto will call our members who aren't here tonight to ask them to come on Wednesday."

Thank people before the meeting adjourns. Thank everyone for working together. Thank anyone who prepared something for the meeting by name. Thank everyone who made a specific commitment by name.

End the meeting on time, or a little early if you can. If some people want to stay longer to work out details, let the group know they are doing this, and let everyone else go home. If your group's meetings habitually run over-time, people will leave before the meeting is over.

Finally, follow-up. Make sure the note-taker gets the minutes out. Check to see if people follow-up on key commitments. Make sure the next meeting isn't a rehash of the last meeting by asking individuals to prepare items that will be needed to move the group's work forward.

By Organizing for Social Change, published by the Midwest Academy.