Key roles in meetings
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Q: "A team of students had four members called Everybody,
Somebody, Anybody and Nobody. There was an important job to be done.
Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have
done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that because
it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it but
Nobody realised that Everybody wouldn't do it. It ended up that
Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have
done." [from Gibbs, G. (1994) Learning
in Teams: a Student Guide] |
For a meeting to be effective, certain jobs have to be done, and you
need to decide who's going to do them. For each meeting, you need people
to take the following roles:
Chairperson
- Keeps the group focused on the task
- Clarifies the aims of the meeting
- Ensures an agenda is drawn up, usually in advance
- Makes sure that the meeting follows the agenda
- Introduces each new topic
- Ensures that everyone has the opportunity to speak and be heard
- Sums up discussions and decisions.
Record-keeper
- Makes a note of who is going to do what and when
- Notes any other decisions made, including the time and place of the
next meeting
- Produces notes after the meeting for each member of the team.
Time-keeper
- Establishes how long the group wishes to spend on an item
- Tells them when time is up (or nearly up).
Task manager / Progress chaser
- Between meetings, checks that everyone is doing what was agreed
- Often reports progress at the beginning of each meeting.
Members of the group might choose these roles because they're already
experienced at them, or wish to practise new skills. Alternatively, you
could rotate the roles so that everybody gets the chance to practise.
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