Facilitating

Empower chairs and facilitators to manage conflict

• Encourage all members to learn active listening, empathy, and respectful disagreement before starting every meeting.
• Train chairs on how to handle conflicts, help the group agree, and run meetings in an accessible way.
• Give chairs tools and resources to run discussions, especially when power differences exist.
• Teach chairs when and how to step in if someone is dominating or others are being left out.
• Take short breaks if discussions get heated.
• Show chairs how to allow disagreement while still finding agreement where possible.
• Pay attention to whether people feel included, excluded, or uncomfortable. This will avoid conflicts from happening.
• Let people share concerns or complaints in writing or chat if they don’t want to speak out loud. Make sure these concerns are acknowledged.
• Keep records of how conflicts were handled and lessons learned from past meetings.
• Allow anonymous reporting when needed.
• Offer follow-up one-on-one conversations for sensitive issues.

• Develop clear conflict policies for meetings
  • Have written rules about professional conduct, respect, and how conflicts are handled.
  • Make these rules visible to all members and revisit them regularly.
• Train facilitators and chairs on conflict resolution.
• Update conflict resolution training as new techniques or challenges arise.
• Create a permanent mediator position to help with disputes during meetings.

• Lack of training and support for chairs and facilitators
• Communication styles default to Western norms
• Default meeting language is English
• Dominant “expert” culture
• No clear way to report problems or get help
• People don’t start at the same place

Help with information management

• Give a simple overview that shows all the important documents, where to find them (links or location) and a short summary of what each document is for.
• Highlight document sections that are most important for the current work.

• Offer orientation sessions or “office hours” where chairs or experienced members explain key documents and answer questions.

• Inaccessible digital documents
• Consultation fatigue in D/deaf and D/disabled communities
• People don’t start at the same place
• Too much background information for new members
• Underestimated workloads

Use inclusive approaches for decision-making

• Don’t let only the loudest or most frequent speakers decide for the whole group.
• Set clear goals for each discussion so the same people don’t always dominate.
• Step in politely if someone talks too long or takes more than their turn. You can use timers or follow up individually.
• Use tools that let people vote or give input online, not just in the meeting. Polls allow voting without pressure. Make sure any use of polls is tested for accessibility first.
• Give extra time for people to think and respond, especially in global or multilingual groups.
• If time permits, make use of silent-brainstorming. Let everyone write ideas first, then share. This avoids only loud voices being heard.
• Make use of small group discussions. Break into small groups to talk, then share ideas with the larger group.
• Allow people to rank options instead of choosing only one if you have an issue reaching consensus.
• Document decisions and reasons by sharing written records so everyone sees what was decided and why.
• Ask quieter members or those with less power if they agree or have concerns before finalizing.

• Lack of training and support for chairs and facilitators
• Dominant “expert” culture