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10 things to think about when you run a meeting (04 Jun 09)
Your tenants’ meeting goes off the rails and people become very difficult. How could you have stopped it from happening? And what do you do if it does?
You’re running a meeting ….and before you know it you have something that’s rapidly going out of your control:
- A crowded room, aggressive behaviour, bad language and unreasonable responses
- So many opposing views that you can’t get decisions made
- People not contributing when you are trying to get their views
- People not shutting up, heckling and constantly going off at a tangent
- People rambling and bringing up personal views
- People under the influence of drink or drugs being disruptive
- The agenda is overrun or just plain ignored
It may never happen, but what if it does? How could you have forestalled it? What should you do now?
You can reduce the likelihood of these situations occurring though, and there are ways to handle them when they occur, provided you are familiar with what the law says and you approach things sensibly.
In fact the whole area can be a bit of a minefield which is why we are running a course on the legal aspects of tenant involvement on 17 June 2009 at Euston, London.
In case you can’t make it I have asked the trainer David Alcock of Anthony Collins Solicitors to put together some key tips on meetings.
- Work out what what sort of meeting it is. Public meeting, tenants’ association meeting or a consultation meeting? This may seem obvious but the rules of how the meeting works will differ depending on what sort it is
- If it’s a residents’ group meeting, make sure you’ve seen the constitution and you know what it says about how their meetings work
- If possible, meet the Chair so that you have spoken to him or her about the meeting before it starts
- Make sure the venue is big enough and that everyone who wants or is allowed to come to the meeting can hear and be heard, and see and be seen. This is the legal test of whether a venue is adequate.
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