Club meetings help create community among members and maintain momentum toward goals. Your club historian/secretary can take attendance and forward the attendee list to studentlife@ntc.edu.
Consider the following tips. Many were adapted from Steven Rogelberg’s “The Surprising Science of Meetings” via UNC Charlotte:
- Organize the agenda as a set of questions to create focus. Send it out prior to the meeting with a reminder of the date/time and how to join in.
- Meeting leaders should serve as active facilitators by calling on people individually, recognizing member contributions, and creating active involvement with polls and questions.
- Whenever possible, if meeting virtually use video and encourage all attendees to have their video on. It creates “presence.”
- Especially with new members in attendance or as people are just getting to know one another, have participants identify themselves when speaking as another way of creating presence.
- Set guides around what makes a good meeting. Following are a few examples. Use them to brainstorm what ideas feel right for your club. (Keep contributions to 60 seconds so everyone has a chance to speak. Each member should contribute during polls. Each participant should have their camera turned on during virtual meetings. Cell phones should be silenced and kept in pockets during the meeting.)
- Allow time within discussion for members to ask questions. If meeting virtually, offer a chat box or instant messenger opportunity to allow members to add comments, request for repeated information, etc. Have one of your officers be in charge of following along on the comments and responding and/or sharing with the group at large during a natural pause point.
- End meetings with a few minutes to spare to clarify takeaways. Be sure to identify the directly responsible person for any action items and remind of deadlines.
- Check in with post-meeting surveys periodically to see how they’re going and what areas need improvement.