Meeting Ground Rules

1. Start and end on time (latecomers will need to review the minutes or check with someone after the meeting to learn about anything missed)
2. Use the "parking lot" principle to defer important items to a future meeting
3. Everyone should participate; leave your title at the door
4. Actively listen; listen more than you talk and allow everyone equal "airtime"
5. Only use electronic gadgets for information gathering related to meeting topics
6. Stay on topic and do not participate in sidebar conversations
7. Speak for yourself; use "I" messages
8. Put your agenda items on the wiki in advance
9. Be respectful of others and seek win-win solutions
10. Focus on problem-solving rather than complaining
11. Keep an open mind
12. Ask questions
13. Different opinions are welcome; agree to disagree
14. Whenever possible record notes (in bullet format), action items, and conclusions on the wiki

-- DanAyers - 13 Mar 2009

1. What is the "parking lot principle"?
2. I am not clear what is meant by item 5
3. I suggest combining items 10 and 11 to "We will focus on problem-solving and seek win-win solutions"
4. I suggest changing item 13 to "We believe that different opinions are welcome; we agree to disagree"

-- PatrickArbogast - 13 Mar 2009
No additional comments.

-- Robert Greevy 2009-03-13
These bullets assume some basics that some of our meetings don't have. These things are so basic, that they are sometimes neglected.

1. It should be clear whose job it is to facilitate the discussion and make sure the agenda is covered.
2. It should be clear whose job it is to take minutes and update the appropriate twiki pages.
3. It should be expressly stated whether or not the meeting's content should be held in confidence. Department members should still use their judgment when confidence hasn't been expressly stated (avoid a type II error).

The terms "parking lot principle" and "win-win" are jargon that would be nice to have hyperlinked to good definitions. Since Covey's 7 Habits has done much to popularize the term win-win, I linked to an appropriate page on his site. They do have a nice write-up there. A non-commercial link would be preferable, but wikipedia's link isn't great. "parking lot principle" doesn't google well - I couldn't find anything for that one.

-- DalePlummer - 18 Mar 2009

• Avoid jargon, both in this topic and in our meetings.
• A statement of purpose for this topic would be nice. What is the goal of these rules?