Comments for Plan to Win

Comment on Plan to Thrive! by Helen

Helen — Wed, 01 May 2013 01:01:08 +0000

Right back at you Holly, this is a wonderful initiative and I look forward to have more conversations with activists about how we can look after ourselves and each-other. Thanks to Tim as well, the website looks great!

Comment on The Heart of the Kimberley by Nicola Paris

Nicola Paris — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 01:23:23 +0000

How remarkable – we just finished the event and got word of the possibility the campaign had been won. It was confirmed this morning that Woodside are pulling out of the project. More info here: http://bit.ly/1572jpe

Comment on The Heart of the Kimberley by Kerry Firkin

Kerry Firkin — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 01:48:14 +0000

This is a great piece Nicola spoken from the heart
We all should continue to fight to make sure this gas plant does not go ahead There is so much corruption going on with this it is not funny

Comment on The Heart of the Kimberley by colin penter

colin penter — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 04:56:46 +0000

Great piece Nicola on a vitally important and inspiring campaign. The Kimberley campaign is a further reminder that WA civil society and citizen led groups have been, and still are, a powerful force shaping not just WA society, but the wider Australian society. Across a whole range of policy domains in this state- environmental, mining, politics, Aboriginal affairs, social justice, human rights, sexual and reproductive health to name just a few, it has been the actions of WA citizens and civil society groups that have been at the forefront of driving large scale social, economic, environmental and political change.

Comment on US Election Take-Aways by Robert

Robert — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 00:02:07 +0000

Last week’s event was great- thanks for putting it on! I’ll be back. Cheers, Rob

Comment on US Election Take-Aways by Bro

Bro — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 00:08:26 +0000

Good metaphor – plenty to sustain (and occasionally threaten) life but if you do not have a smorgasbord that you can approach judiciously the portion szie will always be way too big. The choice for obervation and selection is over-the-top in opportunity

Comment on Better Activist Meetings by Holly Hammond

Holly Hammond — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 22:52:57 +0000

I hear you!

In terms of managing time – as a facilitator I tend to take the stated end time for the meeting as the actual end time and work to that, but in some activist circles folks are a bit more fluid and up for going 30 minutes to an hour longer. That’s not necessarily great for people who can’t stay the extra time, people with parenting commitments etc, nor potentially the group’s energy and quality of discussion or decision-making.

A few things I do around time:
* Check at the beginning of the meeting what time the meeting will be ending, and what time people need to leave by. If it’s clear that lots of people need to leave by a certain time that needs to be factored in.
* Do some reality-checking about how much can be covered in the time available – do we think we can get through all this? How long do you need on this agenda item? etc.
* I let them know that if that is what they’ve agreed I will be firm with them and move them on where necessary to keep them to time – and get their agreement to that.
* Where discussion goes long – sometimes I will let that happen for a while if it looks like the group is just about to get there. I might remind them about time but say ‘it looks like we’re close to resolving this’ or ‘this issue seems to be important to tackle now’ and propose an amount of time to spend on it.
* If discussion is going long and it doesn’t seem productive or is stopping progress through an agreed agenda I will assert the need to move on and check if there is a next step or a way for the discussion to continue at another time if necessary.
* If people want to keep going I will let them know that they are making a choice between this agenda item or others, or going late. I’ll check with the group if that is the choice they want to make. This gives others in the group who have others interests or needs the chance to speak up.

This makes me think about facilitation and authority. Keeping a group on track tends to involve projecting some authority – but it’s authority that comes from the group’s agreements. That makes the meeting purpose and agenda clarification important; it’s the ‘contracting’ with the group early in the meeting which allows a facilitator to get tough later in the meeting, if needed.

Comment on Better Activist Meetings by Kristy

Kristy — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 06:53:18 +0000

A great summary holly, I’m working on point 4 at the moment. We always have agendas visible, but in some groups it’s a struggle getting others to be responsible for meetings going well and to time..

Comment on Better Activist Meetings by James

James — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 06:13:18 +0000

Love this!! Particularly love the evaluations and “vibes watchers”. So crucial to keeping your organisation together while you are doing things!!

Comment on Better Activist Meetings by Holly Hammond

Holly Hammond — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 04:23:05 +0000

Thanks for the comments Alison and Joel!

This article is about the nuts and bolts of a meeting and less about the important role a facilitator can play holding the space. Check out Joel’s great reflections on facilitation and emotional intelligence and my (kinda epic) article from the early days of Occupy Melbourne for insights in that area.

http://www.scitnecessitas.com/reflections/facilitation-emotional-intelligence/
http://plantowin.net.au/2011/10/occupy-facilitation/