As Moderators connect with their members through the 1:1 prep calls and begin to harvest discussion topics, there will be a mix of things coming through – some topics will be broad and relevant to several members while other topics will be more narrow and potentially very specific to only one member. For large Councils, you may also have too many topics to cover within the meetings.
One of the key values our Moderator provides, and where the creativity of the job comes in, is architecting the agenda for the 2 days of in-person meetings. Over the years, we’ve experimented with different approaches and have come up with a simple set of guidelines and resources for Moderators to use when doing this work.
We recommend that Moderators use a Google spreadsheet (current template available on Mod Info Site homepage) to capture all of the potential topics to cover – ideally there will be a clean sheet/slate for each in person meeting. As Moderators gather topics, we recommend that you:
- Define themes that topics roll up into – to reflect the broader challenges these leaders face
- Identify at least one or two ‘chunky’ or broader topics or categories to start each day (not lean coffee)
- If there are too many topics or you’re not sure of priority, use “lean coffee” to enable your members to prioritize the order topics will be discussed either before or during the meeting
- Leverage a mix of facilitation approaches across they day (i.e. discussion, drawing, roundtable)
- Ensure your members are out of their chairs every 90 minutes (via breaks, movement activities, excursions)
Once you’ve thought through the different approaches for the meeting, use the agenda template to map it out so your members know what to expect.