The beginning of a meeting is often unplanned and facilitated haphazardly. However, it’s important to set the tone and intention for a meeting. The beginning of a meeting can have a strong impact on the usefulness of the rest of the meeting. If you’re the facilitator, you have the power and the responsibility to make sure everyone is involved.
A great way to start a meeting is with a check in. A check in gives everyone a chance to take a breath as they transition from whatever they were doing into the meeting. Check ins don’t need to last a while—I like to dedicate about 10% of the total meeting time to a check in. So, if you’re running an hour meeting, check in should last about 5-6 minutes. And if you’re facilitating a 2 day training, your check in may last an hour. I have 2 recommendations about what to include in a check in— introductions and a random question!
- Introductions
Make sure people know each other. This one seems pretty basic, I know. But often a facilitator knows everyone in the room and does not realize that the participants don’t know each other. As the facilitator, you have to check the privilege that you have to call and host the meeting. You can do this by imagining what it’s like to be a participant in your meeting. Of course, you may not know exactly who knows who, but taking time for introductions makes sure that everyone has a chance to become acquainted.
- A random question
Invite participants to settle into the room by answering a quick question. It can be simple like, “how are you?” or “how was your weekend?” Or you can ask a silly one to loosen up the mood and bring some fun into the room. Some silly ones that I’ve used in the past include, “what’s your favorite junk food?” or “what television show are you binge watching?” Another type of question could be one that is relevant to the meeting’s purpose or your work in general. You could ask, “what have you done this week for self care?” or “what’s your favorite part of this work?” Crafting your question should be a thoughtful process as it can inform meaningful sharing among your meeting participants.
What do your check ins look like? Share with us the comments below.