Meeting Roles
One of the most critical positions to fill for smooth, productive meetings is the facilitator.

The facilitator of a meeting is responsible for making sure the meeting runs smoothly, the agenda is followed, and discussions proceed constructively. In some large meetings, people raise their hands to be called on by the facilitator to speak. The facilitator can also sense what the consensus is and formulate people’s opinions into concrete proposals to be voted on. Here’s a sample dialogue that might occur between a facilitator and a group member at a meeting:

Facilitator: OK, the next thing on the agenda is the Toxins project. Liz?
Liz: Well, we discovered that the school has been dumping dioxins in the lake and... .
Amit: Gee this reminds me of a story I read when I was a kid.
Facilitator: Please, don’t interrupt.
Liz: Well we decided we’d like to re-route the drainage pipes into the President’s house.
Facilitator: [Miya raises her hand] Discussion? Yes? [points to Miya]
Miya: Isn’t that a bit harsh? Maybe we should try the publicity route first.
Andy: Publicity? They didn’t care about publicity when they massacred the class of ’98!
Chris: Yeah, but they’ll get pretty embarrassed if this comes out. The Provost did say he’s pro-environment the other day.
Facilitator: OK, it seems like we have two proposals: to re-route the pipes now, or to get a lot of publicity first and see what that does. Hands? [All but two people vote for doing publicity first.] Well, you two can re-route the pipes if you want, but don’t say we did it.

The facilitator has the responsibility of making sure the group dynamics are good. The facilitator must balance the conversation so that some people aren’t dominating other people. The facilitator must also make sure that everyone gets to speak and that everyone listens to each other. Speaking and listening are like two great tastes that best go together! You can’t have one without the other.