Facilitation at meetings can be awesome! The following is a list of general points that have lead to successful facilitation at yunity meetings in the past. The points here are practice-oriented whilst philosophy, theory and rationale are not to be ignored. An evolving toolkit for people who want to do it and learn by experience. This article is best read in conjuction with Meetings Meeting culture

In General

Starting

1. Ask the group for permission. Something like, "I'd be happy to facilitate this meeting - does that suit everyone?"
   1. People are very likely to have no resistance and probably enthusiasm!
   2. If not, can issue be resolved?
   3. Never force yourself as a facilitator: this is no longer facilitation, but domination.
2. Establish the intention.
   1. If intention clearly stated, read out to group.
   2. If it's not clear, who called the meeting? Ask them.
   3. If it's still not clear, ask each person for their intentions.
   4. Consider using the dragon dreaming project wheel to describe the meeting.
3. Establish the time-frame
   1. In many cases meeting time-frame is just as intention. Name a reasonably short duration that you can re-assess when the time runs out.
   2. If there is a strict time-frame (such as in predetermined cases like the Daily Scrum) clearly state this and that you might have to moderate speaking times.
4. If wishing to start a meeting with meditation, do it as an invitation. "I invite you to join in 2 minutes of silence"
   1. Silence instead of a guided meditation allows more people to participate willingly (the spiritually vegan option).
   2. A chime or bell to begin and end with is nice.
   3. If you don't have a bell, you can end it verbally with "You can begin to slowly open your eyes"

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