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Running
Effective Meetings > Meeting Roles
Purpose:
Ensure team members understand and fulfill their roles during a meeting
When to Use: Before, during, and after every meeting
Whom to Involve: All team members
Tool: Roles Checklists
All Team Members
Before meetings:
- Reread the minutes of the previous meeting as a check on whether you have completed all task assignments.
- Make necessary arrangements to avoid being called out of the meeting.
- Plan appropriately in order to be at the meeting on time.
- Be prepared with any materials or data needed to furnish the team to help them deal with agenda items.
- Study the agenda ahead of time and prepare to discuss the agenda items intelligently.
- If you must be absent, inform and prepare the team.
During meetings:
- State opinions and concerns honestly and clearly -- do not withhold them.
- Stay on the agenda item being discussed and help others stay on it.
- Ask for clarification when you do not understand what someone is saying.
- Participate actively.
- Volunteer for action items.
- Encourage the participation and involvement of every team member.
After meetings:
- Keep respective stakeholder groups updated on the team's progress.
- Follow through with assignments or action items.
- Support the decisions of the team.
The team chair has the additional duty of helping the team reach effective group decisions, ensuring that team discussions stay focused and the team stays on track.
Team Chair
Before meetings:
- Ensure each team meeting has an agenda and distribute it to all team members.
During meetings:
- Keep the discussion focused on the topic and on accomplishing objectives.
- Encourage balanced participation.
- Maintain an appropriate pace.
- Make sure follow-up activities are planned.
- Post and review the meeting agenda.
- Use consensus to make all major decisions.
- Be sure accurate meeting minutes are being taken.
After meetings:
- Ensure that minutes are distributed to members and others as appropriate.
- Follow up with team members between meetings to provide support with completing assignments.
Teams should assign the additional roles of timekeeper, recorder, and observer in order to help the team work more efficiently together during meetings on a rotating basis.
Timekeeper
During meetings:
- Remind the team and facilitator to keep process moving.
- Remind the team of time remaining for each agenda item.
Recorder
During meetings:
- Write important information on a flip chart to keep facts, issues, and ideas visible.
- Keep notes on key data, decisions, and actions and distribute minutes from meetings in a timely fashion afterwards.
Observer
During meetings:
- Watch how team members work together and interact.
- Record observations of behaviors, not personal judgments.
- Report back to the team at the end of the meeting on what was done well and pose questions about what needs improvement.
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