Suggested Sample Ground Rules for Meeting Operation

Suggested Sample Ground Rules for Meeting Operation
Each committee should develop/review a list of ground rules at the beginning of each year. The list below provides sample ground rules that various committees have used. Your committee may wish to incorporate some of these or develop new ones.

• Start / end our meetings on time
  
• Come to meetings prepared.
  
• Stay on task; no side conversations
  
• Listen to others and don’t interrupt.
  
• Follow an agenda
  
• Operate on consensus – seek general agreements all can “live with.”
  
• Make decisions based on clear information.
  
• Bring closure to decisions
  
• Identify actions that result from decisions
  
• Members support committee recommendations
  
• Agree on what information goes “out” and what stays in the group.
  
• Accept the fact that there will be differences of opinion.
  
• Show mutual respect
  
• We will honor brainstorming without being attached to our own viewpoint.
  
• We will keep our own notes of the meetings
  
• Use Meeting Summaries (Includes Agenda Items & Minutes)
  
• Check egos at the door.
  
• Attack the problem, not the person‐ "no blame game"
  
• Share time so that all can participate
  
• People will speak when recognized.
  
• Be free to speak minds without fear of reprisal.
  
• Don’t attribute ideas to individuals.
  
• Identify pending issues and agreements at end of meeting
  

•   Raise hands (when not in a brain storming session).
  
•   Stay on subject.
  

 Be concise. Do not repeat what others have said.
 Be respectful and polite.
 Raise Hands ‐ Stay in Order except for: point of clarification or point of process
 Don’t Interrupt Speaker
 Stay on Subject
 Be Concise, Don’t Repeat Others
 Be Respectful, Be Polite.
 Everyone participates
 Start and finish on time
 One conversation at a time
 Silence is agreement
 Different opinions are welcome
 Challenge ideas, not individuals
 Disagree in private; unite in public
 Do what you say you'll do
 Treat everyone with courtesy and respect
 Listen actively‐ respect others when they are talking
 Listen to others with an open mind
 One person speaks at a time‐ no cross talk
 Be aware of your own and other’s participation‐ step up and step back!
 Share your own experiences and opinions with “I” statements, rather than generalizing with “We” or “They” comments
 Respectfully challenge an idea, not a person
 Respect the groups’ time and keep comments brief and to the point