Observation
We recommend that you observe several meetings while paying attention to the process prior to facilitating your own. The resources below are to guide you in your observation of meetings and to help you plan a meeting you will be facilitating.
The following questions are meant to guide your observation:
Was the purpose of the meeting clear to everybody in attendance? How was this accomplished?
Was there an agenda, was it followed, and in what ways did this facilitate or impede the process?
In what ways did the facilitator encourage participation and discussion?
During decision making, did the group arrive at consensus? What difficulties occurred during the process?
Did the meeting accomplish the tasks as set out in the agenda? Why, or why not?
Based on your observation, how could the meeting process have been improved by the facilitator?
Were all members of the meeting equal participants?
Were decisions made by consensus, by majority rule, or by "fiat"?