Reference Library: Topics

Running Effective Meetings

Recommended! Running Effective Meetings, by the Social Sciences Institute of the Natural Resource Conservation Service.  Downloadable two-page summary in Adobe Acrobat format.  This publication is one of several in the "People, Partnership, and Communities" series that focuses on agricultural audiences and includes several titles useful for group leaders, such as Focus Groups, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Running Public Meetings, Prioritizing Issues or Concerns: Using the Paired Comparison Technique, Conflict Management, and Dealing With Difficult People.  All these papers can be downloaded at:
http://www.ssi.nrcs.usda.gov/ssi/B_Stories/
A_Introduction.htm#ppcs

Effective Meeting Facilitation: The Sine Qua Non of Planning, by Miranda Duncan for the National Endowment for the Arts.  Developed specifically with planning groups in mind, this paper gives extensive coverage to various steps involved in leading and facilitating meetings, including identifying the meeting purpose, developing ground rules, consensus-building decision techniques, and managing conflict.  You can also link to a variety of forms, tools, and checklists to aid the facilitator.
http://arts.endow.gov/pub/Lessons/Lessons/
DUNCAN1.HTML

Group Facilitation Skills: A Toolbox for Effective Meetings, compiled by Diane Cantrell, Ohio State University Extension and Ohio Department of Natural Resources.  A special feature of the Ohio Watershed Academy, the Toolbox for Effective Meetings offers descriptions of a number of group communication processes useful for energizing the group, sharing ideas, brainstorming ideas, prioritizing, and making decisions.
Group Facilitation Skills (pdf)

Group Facilitation and Problem-solving, by University of Kansas as part of their "Community Toolbox" Web-site.  Provides brief introductory suggestions for conducting effective meetings; developing facilitation skills; and tips for recording a meeting.
http://ctb.ukans.edu/tools/EN/chapter_1016.htm

Guidebook: Leadership Identification and Group Dynamics, produced by National Association of Conservation Districts. (1994).  In addition to identification of key stakeholders, this brief publication describes how to be an effective facilitator and team member in small groups. 
http://www.ssi.nrcs.usda.gov/ssi/B_Stories/3_Marketing/
M006_GuidebooksLeadershipIDANDGroupDynamics.html

Strategic Planning, by River Network.  Access a variety of on-line resources from River Network and other organizations like the Internet Nonprofit Center.
http://www.rivernetwork.org/library/libod_rvsp97stra.cfm

References

Barry, B. (1986). Strategic Planning Workbook for Nonprofit Organizations. St. Paul, MN: Amherst H. Wilder Foundation.

Doyle, M. and D. Straus. (1976). How to Make Meetings Work. New York: Jove.

Kaner, S. (1996). Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-making.  Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers.

Kayser, T. A. (1990). Mining Group Gold: How to Cash in on the Collaborative Brain Power of a Group. El Segundo, CA: Serif Publishing.

River Network. (1996). Starting Up: A Handbook for New River and Watershed Organizations. River Network: Portland, OR.