The Issue Guide and the Issue Forum: Political Inventions

Posted on January 14, 2016 by Keiva Hummel

This three-page article, The Issue Guide and the Issue Forum: Political Inventions, by Brad Rourke was published in Kettering Foundation‘s annual newsletter, “Connections 2015 – Our History: Journeys in KF Research” in the fall of 2015. In the article, Rourke discusses the relationship between Kettering’s research and the National Issues Forums; how the Foundation’s research lead to the creation of NIFI’s issue guides, which were put into practice within the forums. What emerged was a better understanding of how individuals wrestled with their most wicked problems on the community level, and the realization that public deliberation is necessary for true democracy. Below is an excerpt from the article and you can download the full Connections newsletter for free on Kettering’s site here.

From the article…

The way issues typically get presented on a policy level are manifestly different from how citizens see those same issues. Citizens name issues differently, and these re-namings give rise to different options for action—re-framings. For example, citizens may not think about an “achievement gap” that professional educators must address, but may instead worry about why different kids seem to get different results for reasons that don’t seem fair. The latter formulation of the problem is one in which citizens may see themselves having a role. The options for addressing the problem will be different and are likely to contain much more that can be done on the level of community as opposed to institutionally. And so a barber may think to provide haircuts free of charge to children, if they will read aloud while he cuts. A community-level institution thus can be seen as one of the many actors that can productively be involved in the shared enterprise of educating local young people.

Kettering research increasingly shows that citizens see issues in terms of things that are deeply valuable to them and that wicked problems involve tensions The Issue Guide and the Issue Forum: Political Inventions between these things. Evolution has wired humans to seek security, for instance, and has also wired them to seek freedom to act. The more of one that we pursue, the less we have of the other. An effective issue framework will make these tensions clear.

This way of framing issues is sometimes (often) at odds with the way these same issues are framed in policy discourse. It is disruptive. This can pose difficulties when it comes time to demonstrate the value of public deliberation to policymakers. Kettering is experimenting with various ways of doing this as a part of its A Public Voice initiatives, an experiment to see how we might productively involve policymakers in developing issue frameworks that are rooted in public research and conducive to public deliberation.

Another, newer experiment with issue guides is just beginning. NIF issue guides are national in scope and, even though they are intended for use in communities, there can be problems getting community-based traction to hold forums. The facts on the ground or the potential actors may be slightly different. Or there may be other differences between how an issue looks locally and how it might look on a more national basis. We are beginning to experiment with changes in how we present issue guides to make them more easily “customizable” to local communities while at the same time maintaining the aspects that make them useful as self-starters

About Kettering Foundation and Connections
The Kettering Foundation is a nonprofit operating foundation rooted in the American tradition of cooperative research. Kettering’s primary research question is, what does it take to make democracy work as it should? Kettering’s research is distinctive because it is conducted from the perspective of citizens and focuses on what people can do collectively to address problems affecting their lives, their communities, and their nation.

Each issue of this annual newsletter focuses on a particular area of Kettering’s research. The 2015 issue, edited by Kettering program officer Melinda Gilmore and director of communications David Holwerk, focuses on our yearlong review of Kettering’s research over time.

Follow on Twitter: @KetteringFdn.

Resource Link: www.kettering.org/sites/default/files/periodical-article/Rourke_2015.pdf

The Issue Guide and the Issue Forum: Political Inventions (Connections 2015)

Posted on January 14, 2016 by Keiva Hummel

From the article…

Follow on Twitter: @KetteringFdn.

Resource Link: www.kettering.org/sites/default/files/periodical-article/Rourke_2015.pdf

How Kettering Discovered Democracy (Connections 2015)

Posted on January 11, 2016 by Keiva Hummel

The four-page article, How Kettering Discovered Democracy by David Mathews, was published late Fall of 2015 in Kettering Foundation‘s annual newsletter, “Connections 2015 – Our History: Journeys in KF Research”. The article gives highlights of what Kettering has learned since the first issue of Connections in 1987 and how KF continues to evolve research practices to improve democracy.

In the article, Mathews shares how Kettering research pulled together many different concepts and ultimately, became unified by the concept of democracy. The alliance between Kettering and National Issues Forums created the opportunity to put KF’s research into practice and in turn, how NIF forums sharpened KF’s research to focus on a citizen-centered view of democracy. Below is an excerpt from the article. Connections 2015 is available for free PDF download on Kettering’s site here.

From the article…

Seeing democracy as a system in which the people collectively generate the power to shape their future has given the foundation a unifying concept for all of its research. We began to look at everything from the perspective of citizens and the work they need to do in order for democracy to realize its full potential. What we learned by using this perspective has become a distinctive characteristic of the foundation’s research. The litmus tests for Kettering have been (1) whether the research would respond to citizens who feel pushed to the political sidelines and aren’t sure how to make a difference, (2) whether it would be useful to communities that can’t solve their most wicked problems without the work only citizens could do, and (3) whether it would help institutions that are losing the confidence of citizens even as they struggle to reengage them.

This citizen-centered view of democracy pointed the way to a host of new studies and significantly shaped the way the foundation goes about its research, particularly the way the foundation relates to the networks that have developed around major areas of research. In fact, the foundation’s understanding of democracy helped Kettering recognize the value of networks.

…

For Kettering, the opportunities for collaboration are in networks of organizations that are interested in learning better ways to do their work. We all should learn from others, but no one can learn for someone else. In these networks, no one is dependent on others for answers; the relationships are based on a shared struggle to know more in order to be able to do more. As such, no one is at the center of these networks, like a hub of a wheel with all of the spokes attached. Communications flow in such a way that anybody can reach anybody else as directly as possible; that is, without having to go through someone else.

Follow on Twitter: @KetteringFdn.

Resource Link: www.kettering.org/sites/default/files/periodical-article/Mathews_2015.pdf

Protecting Communities Serving the Public

Posted on December 14, 2015 by Keiva Hummel

The 42-page discussion guide, Protecting Communities Serving the Public (2000), from Everyday Democracy, is designed into five session to help build trust and respect between residents and police officers to co-create a safer communities together.

The guide reviews what the community-wide study circle program is, and each of the five sessions:

Session 1- Starting out study circle: sharing our experiences
Session 2- What’s the nature of the problem?
Session 3- What do we expect from each other?
Session 4- How can we make progress?
Session 5- Committing to change: What needs to happen in our community?

Read the intro below and download the full guide here.

From the intro…

In most communities, residents and police departments have good relationships. Yet many communities are looking for ways to improve those relationships. This may be particularly true where cultural tensions, policing practices, and a lot of media attention lead to distrust, anger, and fear. Everyone is affected.

* Citizens think the police are prejudiced and have unfair policies.
* Police feel blame for all kinds of social problems. They feel they don’t get credit for doing their jobs.
* Local elected leaders feel pressure to reduce crime.

Many things cause problems between residents and police:

* race, culture, and class background
* community history and politics
* laws and policies from outside the community
* the culture of the police department itself

People from different backgrounds or experience often view issues in different ways. For example, some people blame police for profiling when they arrest people of color. Other praise police for arresting the people who commit crimes, no matter what their color. Finding common ground for solutions is hard. Most of the time, people who see things differently don’t take the time to talk to each other, much less work together. To make matters worse, problems between police and citizens often get talked about only after a crisis. Then, people are very upset and it’s even harder to address the problems.

Read the full guide on Everyday Democracy’s site here.

About Everyday Democracy
Everyday Democracy (formerly called the Study Circles Resource Center) is a project of The Paul J. Aicher Foundation, a private operating foundation dedicated to strengthening deliberative democracy and improving the quality of public life in the United States. Since our founding in 1989, we’ve worked with hundreds of communities across the United States on issues such as: racial equity, poverty reduction and economic development, education reform, early childhood development and building strong neighborhoods. We work with national, regional and state organizations in order to leverage our resources and to expand the reach and impact of civic engagement processes and tools.

We have learned that some of the key components to ensuring racially-equitable systemic change include building relationships, establishing a diverse coalition, having trained peer facilitators during dialogues, building on assets, and linking actions to individual, community, and policy change. We provide online tools and in-person trainings on organizing, racial equity, facilitation, communications, and action planning. We act as a catalyst and coach for communities, knowing that the people of each community are best suited to carry out and sustain the work that will make a difference. The communities we serve are the focal point of our work. Our ultimate aim is to help create communities that value everyone’s voice and work for everyone, and to help create a strong national democracy that upholds these principles.

Follow on Twitter: @EvDem

Resource Link: http://everyday-democracy.org/resources/protecting-communities-serving-public

Democratic Rules of Order: Easy-to-use rules for meetings of any size

Posted on December 4, 2015 by NCDD Community

The 72-page book, Democratic Rules of Order: Easy-to-use rules for meetings of any size (2010), by Fred Francis and Peg Francis, gives straight-forward rules of order for running meetings.

Democratic Rules of Order demonstrate that efficient, democratic decision-making is a simple and natural process. Meetings that are governed by straightforward rules enable the Chair and the participants to focus on issues without being preoccupied with the rules. Within the simple meeting structure prescribed, members reach agreements more quickly and easily and ultimately, make better decisions.

This book can be adopted as the official rules of order for almost any organization. It is a reliable, universal standard. Through nine editions, it has been thoroughly revised to be sure that each point is crystal clear and that not a single necessary rule is missing. The rules of all editions are so similar, however, that earlier editions can be used along with the latest edition

This easy-to-read book uses plain language, no complicated hierarchy of rules to memorize and gives Chairs confidence in helping members deliberate harmoniously and agree to decisions. It can be adopted as the official rules of order for meetings of any size. The rules are based on the natural laws of democracy – the right of the individual to be fully heard and the right of the group to make decisions for themselves – and based on common practice of making motions, voting, etc.

Its purpose is to allow groups to make decisions together smoothly, fairly and inclusively without struggling with rules. When everyone knows the rules, the decisions are more truly democratic. The rules allow informality but automatically require more formality when needed. The book has been rigorously tested and now appreciated by thousands of organizations such as condo associations, unions, clubs, churches, professional associations, etc. The rules are 27 pages, followed by Questions and Answers and a sample meeting. A flow chart of decision-making and a summary of rules and index are included. Purchase the book or PDF here.

Follow on Twitter: @DemocraticRules

Resource Link: www.democraticrules.com/

This resource was submitted by Joyce McMenamon, from Democratic Rules of Order, via the Add-a-Resource form.

Effective Public Engagement through Strategic Communication (ILG)

Posted on November 16, 2015 by Keiva Hummel

The five-page tip sheet from Institute of Local Government, Effective Public Engagement through Strategic Communication (2015), is a tool to provide guidelines for effectively engaging the public. View the guide below and download the PDF here.

From ILG…

Strategic communication is an essential tool for effective public engagement. This tip sheet offers advice on communication strategies before, during and after the agency’s public engagement effort.

I. Before the Agency Begins a Public Engagement Effort:
Understand the Audiences

In order to effectively communicate about a public process or program, the starting point is to understand who the agency seeks to engage.

Identify key audiences and stakeholders. What are their interests? How do they connect to the project or policy?
Identify the community values, commonly held principles or valued qualities, such as personal safety, freedom or fairness. Understanding this can help you craft your message.
Ask stakeholders about their preferences regarding communication. What communications channels work best for them? Getting this perspective during planning both enhances understanding of these key audiences and creates a valuable communication channel for further engagement.
Understand connections and relationships among audiences and individuals. Who are their trusted advisors? How willing are these influencers to act? Understanding these dynamics can help the agency broaden the impact of its engagement effort.

With the above information in mind, the agency can identify and prioritize communication channels that align with the needs, opportunities and resources of both the project or policy and the audiences that the agency seeks to engage.

Consider Both the Message and the Messenger

In developing a message for a policy or project, succinctly and clearly articulate the message.

What is at stake for the community.
Why the audience should care. Explain how the decision could affect what different people value.
The action the agency wants the agency the audience to take. For example, is the goal to help inform people, help them analyze and weigh in on different solutions to a problem, or take a specific step
What will happen if audience members do take action. Consider the choice of messenger and how it will affect the way in which people will receive the agency’s message.
Identify and support community champions who can speak with authenticity and power to the issue or need being addressed.
Consider developing an outreach working group to help extend the agency’s ability to reach into different audiences in the community.
Empower community members as storytellers. Personal perspective on a proposed policy or project can be compelling to broader audiences and the media. Tie the agency’s communication plan to the policy or project consideration process.
What are the policy or project decision-making milestones?
How will the agency communicate progress towards key decision-making milestones?
How will the agency communicate how public input influenced the final outcomes of the decision making process? Tie the agency’s communication plan to the policy or project consideration process?
What are the policy or project decision-making milestones?
How will the agency communicate progress towards key decision-making milestones?
How will the agency communicate how public input influenced the final outcomes of the decision making process?

Create a Media Plan that Integrates Both Traditional (Print, Radio and Television) and Online Outlets

Develop key story themes and messengers.
- Find the right community partners and champions to help spread the agency’s information and messages. – Develop a sequence of messages that tie to key milestones in the policy or project.
- Scale the level of media activity to fit the time frames and capacities of the media outlets and contacts in the area.
Create a list of media, reporters, key bloggers and online journalists who reach priority audiences.
- Identify both larger and smaller community-based publications and outlets, including radio. Be sure to include the newsletters, blogs and events of key community partners.
- Consider the different types of reporters and outlets who might cover various angles of the story (health, real estate, living, local agency beat, ethnic media, etc.).
Create a planning calendar for the decision-making process on the policy or project.
- Include key milestones, events, news happenings and announcements that can engage the public.
- Plug into other activities related to the policy or project topic locally, nationally and even internationally.
- Brainstorm different ways to slice the story to ensure ongoing coverage.
- List the different news opportunities (for example, at launch, when funding is secured, when a proposal is made, when success is achieved). Find the other relevant angles (for example, health, sustainability, education). Identify submission opportunities for opinion pieces and who are the right spokespeople and storytellers.
Monitor the media for opportunities to respond to other related stories with information about your policy or project.

II. During the Public Engagement Process:
Create opportunities for Sustaining Communication

Public engagement efforts are most successful when spokespeople consider context, content and commitment in relation to the audiences they seek to reach.

Create opportunities for engagement through channels and events both within and outside of the public agency.
Offer multiple opportunities for the public to communicate back to the agency (surveys, online forums and meetings) to reflect that different groups will have different preferences in terms of communications channels.
Show progress, new information or actions as proactively and quickly as possible.
Follow up on commitments made (for example, to get answers to questions) and (when possible) immediately ask for feedback about the agency’s communications and engagement efforts.
Recognize and thank partners and collaborating stakeholders for their efforts during the engagement process.

Expand Opportunities for Sustained Interaction with the Media to Maximize Strategic Communication and Public Engagement

Train spokespeople on the needs and tendencies of media representatives.
Develop relationships with key reporters and outlets:
- Be respectful of deadlines
- Provide them with only story ideas their audiences will care about.
- Understand which outlets do and do not have reporters who routinely cover your topic, and adjust the background material you provide accordingly.
- Don’t ask to review a quote or the story
- Ask for corrections only if there are grave factual errors
- Give them information they ask for even if it is not relevant to the policy or project.
Pitch news stories and submit opinion pieces consistent with the agency’s planning calendar. Consider an editorial board meeting with the local daily newspaper at the beginning of the effort. Another possibility is an “educational” news briefing with background information for outlets that do not have a reporter on that beat (such as ethnic media, recently downsized local papers, radio, etc.)
Communicate progress points and/or key lessons along the way to support champions and demonstrate that the community conversation is influencing the decision-making process.
Invite media to all community meetings and make spokespeople available for interviews.
Be prepared to take advantage of opportunities to react to news events. Have drafts of op-eds and letters to the editor that the right community member or other stakeholder can review, sign and submit quickly.
Share media coverage with priority audiences (for example, provide printouts at community meetings, post on the agency’s website and share through other online tools).

III. After the Public Engagement Process:
Measure and Evaluate the Engagement

At the conclusion of an engagement process, use quantitative and qualitative metrics to evaluate, adjust and improve your strategy. Lessons learned from both successful and unsuccessful strategies can help to refine the agency’s understanding of the values, interests and concerns of audiences and stakeholders. This will benefit future engagement efforts.

Gather qualitative data through surveys, interviews, focus groups or informal channels.
Use process measures to assess what you did including:
- Materials distributed,
- Outreach conducted,
- Media engaged, and
- Staff, friends, partners and others reached
Use outcome measures to assess what happened:
- Did you achieve the goals?
- How many new people did you reach?
- Did you receive positive media coverage?
- Who used the key messages?
- Did you earn endorsements?
- ho got involved and what did they do?
Ask for feedback and advice from stakeholders.

Create Opportunities for Ongoing Communication and Concentrate on Maintaining the Relationships with Stakeholders

As with any relationship, maintaining communication after an engagement effort has been completed will ensure that audiences and stakeholders stay informed-making them more likely to participate in future efforts.

Share findings and lessons learned from debriefing and performance assessments.
Circle back to stakeholders with information that shows how their efforts made a difference. Thank them for their involvement.
Use existing venues (governing body meetings, public events) and resources (website, e-mail newsletters) to celebrate new approaches, new relationships or specific successful outcomes that highlight partners or collaborating stakeholders.
Create an ongoing network for information sharing with stakeholders and community groups.
Look for ways to support or connect with stakeholders during the periods between major engagement efforts.

To learn more about measuring public engagement success, visit the Institute for Local Government’s public engagement resources at (www.cailg.org/public-engagement).

About the Institute for Local Government
The Institute for Local Government is the nonprofit research education affiliate of the League of California Cities and the California State Association of Counties. Its mission is to promote good government at the local level with practical, impartial and easy-to-use resources for California communities. The Institute’s goal is to be the leading provider of information that enables local officials and their communities to make good decisions. Founded in 1955, the Institute has been serving local officials’ information needs for 55-plus years. Some of the highlights of that history are detailed in the story below. While respecting and honoring its past, the Institute is also intently focused on the present and future. In these difficult economic times, the need for the Institute’s materials for local officials is even greater. Follow on Twitter: @InstLocGov.

Resource Link: www.ca-ilg.org/EffectivePE-Strategic-Communication

Tomorrow’s Change Makers: Reclaiming the Power of Citizenship for a New Generation

Posted on November 9, 2015 by NCDD Community

The 288-page book, Tomorrow’s Change Makers: Reclaiming the Power of Citizenship for a New Generation, published September 2015, discusses youth civic engagement in the US and how youth can be more civically engaged.

About the book…

Youth volunteerism and civic engagement has changed in America. While the numbers of young people who volunteer have risen substantially, recent studies show that very few find meaning and purpose through serving their communities. For many, volunteerism has become just another school requirement that bolsters a good college resume.

Dr. Marilyn Price-Mitchell suggests that in order for democracy to flourish, we must reverse these trends. Through real stories from civically-engaged youth, Tomorrow’s Change Makers illustrates the types of relationships and experiences that propel today’s young people to work toward the betterment of society. These narratives, combined with research in child and adolescent development, show why meaningful service should be at the heart of educating and raising American children. Introducing The Compass Advantage framework for understanding and applying core principles of positive youth development, Price-Mitchell demonstrates how families, schools, and communities not only play vital roles in raising tomorrow’s citizens, but also foster the conditions that help youth chart their own self-fulfilling pathways through life.

Each and every day, families, schools, and communities play important roles in raising compassionate young citizens. But how does this happen? How do we support young people to become their best selves in a global society?

Tomorrow’s Change Makers links the latest research on civic engagement with positive youth development, and provides practical, research-based advice on how to:

• Help young people transform volunteering, service learning, and civic engagement experiences beyond a requirement for college resumes to value-defining opportunities for personal growth and citizenship development.

• Utilize effective mentoring, coaching, and parenting practices that help young people believe in themselves and their abilities to improve the world.

• Cultivate eight core abilities that support youth development and engaged citizenship, helping children chart meaningful pathways through life and fulfilling roles in democracy and civil society.

• Encourage challenging and meaningful volunteering and service learning opportunities for every child, based on their unique strengths and interests.

For everyone who cares about the future of democracy and the wellbeing of generations to come, this book shows how families, schools, and communities play critical roles in raising and mentoring tomorrow’s citizens. Through powerful voices of passion-filled American youth, you learn about the relationships, experiences, and challenges that shaped their young lives of service, civic engagement, and commitment to causes bigger than themselves.

“Marilyn’s research study, based on interviews with highly engaged youth, is a scholarly, insightful, and impressive contribution to the field of civic engagement.” – Peter Levine, PhD, Associate Dean for Research, Tufts University Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service

More about Marilyn Price-Mitchell, PhD
She is a developmental psychologist and fellow at the Institute for Social Innovation at Fielding Graduate University where she studies how young people become caring family members, innovative workers, ethical leaders, and engaged citizens in an increasingly complex society. To learn more: www.mpricemitchell.com or read her blog: www.rootsofaction.com.

Follow on Twitter: @DrPriceMitchell

Resource Link: www.amazon.com/Tomorrows-Change-Makers-Reclaiming-Citizenship/dp/0996585109/

Global Outreach in Local Communities…Bringing Worlds Together One Tip at a Time

Posted on November 3, 2015 by NCDD Community

The online guide, Global Outreach in Local Communities…Bringing Worlds Together One Tip at a Time (2015), is a collaborative effort from across sectors that began out of the Diversity Outreach Workshops in Multnomah County, Oregon. Read the preface below and access the guide online here.

More about the guide…

The volunteer Multnomah County Citizen Involvement Committee (CIC) with staff support from the Office of Citizen Involvement (OCI) began the Diversity Outreach Workshops in 2008. The CIC’s mission is to increase engagement and input by the public into county policy decision-making. The workshops seek to improve the strategies and tools that county staff and volunteers use to conduct outreach to diverse communities by inviting those doing the work to share their best practices and lessons learned. This, in turn, enhances public engagement and input while broadening the community perspectives guiding policy decisions.

Over the years, the workshops have grown to include attendees from several government entities, non-profit organizations, and the public at large. During the workshops, as many as three organizations that have worked extensively with a variety of diverse communities present their “nuts and bolts” outreach tips and insights. They typically cover:

• How they evaluate and improve the effectiveness of the organization.
• How they discover and adopt new strategies for earning greater public trust.
• What has and hasn’t worked when conducting outreach.

Beginning in 2010, we began summarizing the tips offered by the presenters during the workshops and sending them to attendees. Since then, 23 government and non-profit organizations have presented. In an effort to make the tips even more accessible, we have assembled this compilation guide.

Please note that this guide is not meant to be an exhaustive list of everything that can be done to improve outreach to diverse communities. Rather, it is an anthology of the key tips that presenters chose to emphasize. Most presenters focused on tips that apply to conducting outreach across the board as well as building partnerships. Some presenters offered tips that apply to specific organizations or focus on specific populations. Additionally, this is an evolving document that will be updated as future workshops take place. Please contact us if your organization is interested in presenting (citizen.involvement[at]multco[dot]us).

We are excited to provide this treasury of tips from our many outstanding presenters, and encourage you to go forth and utilize them to better involve diverse communities in your work!

You can learn more about our programs and initiatives, including the Diversity Outreach Workshops, as well as the Office of Citizen Involvement, which supports our work. Additionally, you can find out about our events and activities by following us on Facebook and Twitter.

Follow on Twitter: @MultcoCitizens

Resource Link: https://multco.us/oci/global-outreach-local-comunities

This resource was submitted by Gary Marschke, Executive Director at Multnomah County Office of Citizen Involvement via the Add-a-Resource form.

7 Tips For Facilitating Discussions On Community-Police Relations

Posted on October 29, 2015 by Keiva Hummel

The article from Everyday Democracy, 7 Tips For Facilitating Discussions On Community-Police Relations, offers seven guidelines for creating a more comfortable space when facilitating dialogue between the community and police. Below are the seven tips and on Everyday Democracy’s site, you can find the full tip guidelines with examples. Check out it on their site here.

From Everyday Democracy…

Having conversations about community-police relations can sometimes be uncomfortable. To help dialogue participants feel at ease, facilitators should come prepared to explain certain points at the beginning of the discussion and examine their own biases as well.

Here are seven tips to help facilitators of conversations about community-police relations to help you have a successful, trust-building dialogue:

Address the issue of race/racism at the beginning
Explain racial overtones in the discussion guide
Acknowledge the differences in authority/generation gap among dialogue participants
Provide an informational sheet for dialogue participants
Explain why officer are in uniform- or allow officers themselves to explain
Stress confidentiality
Be aware of bias

These are just the basic guidelines, the more robust version can be found on Everyday Democracy’s site. Highly recommended to check it out here.

Follow on Twitter: @EvDem

Resource Link: http://everyday-democracy.org/tips/7-tips-facilitating-discussions-community-police-relations?

Leading Great Meetings: How to Structure Yours For Success

Posted on October 26, 2015 by NCDD Community

The 230-page book, Leading Great Meetings: How to Structure Yours for Success, by Dr. Richard Lent was published June 2015. This book discusses how providing structure to meetings can help to create more productive meetings and offers 32 tools to conduct better meetings.

More about the book…

Recent advances in helping groups talk together to provide new ways to run effective meetings naturally…a structural approach. All meetings come with structures that affect how we behave in them. Structure includes how leaders frame a task, include different views, support dialogue, manage time, and reach decisions. In most meetings, this structure goes unconsidered and unseen, but it still has a powerful impact.

Leading Great Meetings: How to Structure Yours for Success, is designed to help leaders use structure to create more productive meetings. It provides 12 choices and 32 tools to plan and conduct a wide range of meetings from team meetings to board meetings. You can select from the choices and tools, the ones relevant to your situation. There also are stories, examples, even “blueprints,” so you can see how a structural approach works in action.

To see structure at work, consider the number of participants in a recent meeting. If there were more than 7 or 8 participants, then the chances are very good that some participants did not stay engaged. This is the effect of the structures in place when larger groups try to hold one conversation. Fortunately, there are simple processes (“tools”) that you can use to keep all engaged. This book shows you how. Other structures include how the task is framed, who attends, hierarchy, room arrangements, approach to discussions and decisions and many more.

Using the right meeting structure enables people to talk together more effectively without having to remember how to behave. Most recommendations for better meetings emphasize adopting rules or changing behavior. But when discussions get heated, people ignore the rules and good behavior is hard to maintain. Structure can create a naturally productive meeting. For more information go to http://amzn.to/1dZL67Q or visit www.meetingforresults.com.

About Dr. Richard Lent
Dr. Richard Lent has spent the last 20 years designing, facilitating and coaching leaders on more effective meetings. He facilitates meetings around the world in business, non-profit organizations and communities. Some of the organizations with which he has worked include the World Food Programme, UNICEF, Logitech, the WK Kellogg Foundation, Johnson & Johnson, and the International Red Cross. He received his Ph.D. from Syracuse University in Instructional Design, Development and Evaluation. He can be contacted at rick[at]meetingforresults.com.

Resource Link: www.meetingforresults.com

Civic Studies

An intellectual community of researchers and practitioners dedicated to building the emerging field of civic studies

Category Archives: public engagement

The Issue Guide and the Issue Forum: Political Inventions

The Issue Guide and the Issue Forum: Political Inventions (Connections 2015)

How Kettering Discovered Democracy (Connections 2015)

Democratic Rules of Order: Easy-to-use rules for meetings of any size

Effective Public Engagement through Strategic Communication (ILG)

Tomorrow’s Change Makers: Reclaiming the Power of Citizenship for a New Generation

Global Outreach in Local Communities…Bringing Worlds Together One Tip at a Time

Leading Great Meetings: How to Structure Yours For Success