Being A Meeting Leader

09/24/2003

"Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose." - Helen Keller

BEING A MEETING LEADER

The September 2003 issue of "Work & Family Life" contained this advice from Gordon Mack on how to facilitate a meeting:

* Offer encouragement. Recognize group members' contributions. Validate their opinions, ideas and feelings.

* Be a mediator. Resolve disagreements among group members by offering compromises, legitimizing the existence of different opinions or suggesting a creative solution that integrates mutual concerns.

* Act as a gatekeeper. Help keep communication open by inviting quieter members to speak or proposing procedures to give everyone equal time.

* Comment on the process. Point out when the group develops an especially effective way to dealing with a task. Summarize what was accomplished. Let people know when you agree with the group's decision.

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For more ideas on managing meetings, go to the Exchange Article Archives at www.ChildCareExchange.com and type in the keyword meetings.

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