Meetings

“Hey, my name is Ted and I teach facilitation. Good meetings are core and center because skilled facilitators can help the group be equals and move forward. Being heard and understood matters and creates a healthy and safe team culture.”

Facilitation sheet!

A sheet for facilitators – everything on one page!
Want to translate it? Contact [email protected] for an editable version.

Open in full resolution (color)

Open in full resolution (black/grey)

See a real meeting

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Opening round

ca. 5 min

Check-in round. Everyone shares how they are entering the meeting

(A good chance for people to get to know you better!)

ADMIN

ca. 1 min

Making sure the circle is ready for the meeting:

Attendance (Who is here/absent? Roles filled?)
Duration (How long is this meeting?)
Minutes (Last meeting’s minutes ok?)
Info (any announcements outside of the circle’s domain?)
Next meeting (When are we meeting next? Or, who schedules?)

Consent to the agenda

ca. 1 min

Understand the agenda proposal
(Asking for reactions/additions if desired)
Consent/integrate objections to the agenda proposal

Agenda items

All agenda items, falling into one of the below categories

Reports →
e.g. reports from sub-circle or parent circle, reports on metrics
Explorations →
e.g giving feedback, brainstorming, generating proposals
Decisions ↓
e.g. policy decisions, selections processes, possibly significant operational decisions, policy reviews

(examples)

Update backlog

ca. 2 min

What needs to be added to the backlog for future meetings?

Check-out

ca. 5 min

Meeting evaluation, e.g. with regard to

content of the meeting
interpersonal dynamics
process

Meeting Posters

These posters are useful for meeting rooms to remember the basic patterns of Sociocratic meetings.
The transparency of a visible poster creates shared understanding and accountability to an agreed-upon format.

Magic phrases: clarity, more ideas, forward motion, encourage rounds

If you’d like to print them all at once, use this pdf: high resolution posters.
Oh, and you can say thank you with a little donation.

Do you want to translate them? Send an email to [email protected] and receive a no-text image to add your translations.

Facilitation classes online!

Online facilitation classes on a regular basis.

You can also book a facilitation class exclusively for your organization (online or in person).

Find a facilitation class

For people with experience, or for those who would like to observe sociocracy in practice. Join us to play with facilitation scenarios. Find an upcoming session!

Find a playground practice session

Integrating objections

1. Understand

2. Explore

3. Synthesize

Ask the objector to state the objection
Allow for clarifying questions

Reaction round(s):
How do you relate to the objection?
Do you have ideas for amendments?

Possible strategies:

modify the proposal
shorten the term
measure the concern (more info)

Synthesize amendments into the proposal
and go back to consent round

Fictional examples
(full process)

Featured Resources on Meeting Facilitation

Sociocracy in large groups?

Sociocracy was developed with small groups in mind. When and how can we apply it to large groups?

Sociocracy and virtual meetings – engaging, clear and fair

I’m in virtual meetings every day. Here is what I love about them!

How we decide matters

The way we come to a decision has a lot of influence on how people behave, how many voices can be heard, how they feel about the group they are a part of and what quality decision is going to be made. This video highlights the pros and cons of autocratic decision-making, voting, consensus and puts consent on the map as a better alternative.

Getting to consent

A presentation about what consent decision making is, how to get there and what to do if there is no consent.

A facilitator’s guide to keeping meetings on track

Stop overthinking. Start doing. Improve from there.

The sociocratic meeting format

The myth of natural flow

Why we can’t pretend “just talking” will not be oppressive. Let’s talk about structures that truly liberate us.

Keeping meetings short

Long meetings are a pain. Let’s make them shorter. Here are the tools that sociocracy has to offer.

Sociocracy Handbook: Many Voices One Song

The practical sociocracy handbook written by the co-founders of Sociocracy For All. 300 pages full of real-life support!

Making of the agenda: past, present and future of the circle

Preparing the agenda with all aspects of the circle. Diagram from the handbook Many Voices One Song.

Diagram: Understand – explore – decide

Understand, explore, decide: different forms of agenda items.

Diagram: different kinds of rounds

Different kinds of rounds.

Meeting sheet from Many Voices One Song

Meeting sheet from the handbook Many Voices One Song.

How to make a an agenda and a minutes sheet

Screencast on our agenda and meeting minutes format and how to use it.

Consent process: decision-making in sociocracy

An explainer video on the consent process in sociocracy.

How to make a proposal in sociocracy

Picture forming and proposal shaping in an example

The liberating effect of “good enough”

“Good enough” sounds like a low-level decision-making method. And yet, for some people, that’s not how they experience it. “Only” aiming for good enough can be a matter of respect and