Group agreements are a useful tool for getting your event (meeting, class, workshop, etc.) off to the right start and keeping it on track. They help a group to come to an agreement on how it will work together respectfully and effectively. This, in turn, enables people to interact more co-operatively and maintain respect for each other.

Making these decisions as a group is far more empowering than having a facilitator set out ‘rules’ for everyone to follow. Also, people are much more likely to respect and implement an agreement that they have had input into. It will make your job as a facilitator much easier. When problems or conflicts arise you will be able to refer back to this agreement (e.g. We all agreed at the beginning that it’s best if only one person speaks at a time…).

How to Create a Group Agreement

There are lots of ways to create group agreements. When deciding which to use you might consider some of the following:

• whether the group will be working together in the longer term
• how controversial the topic of the meeting or workshop is
• how much time you have
• power dynamics that may exist (exampled a mix of managers and their staff)
• what level of trust the group has in you as a facilitator

For groups that are working together over a longer period of time, it may be worth spending a little more time to develop a longer-term group agreement, such as in the process outlined below. While taking this much time over a group agreement may sometimes feel a little frustrating or overkill, you will save that time later on, and as a result, your event will run a lot more smoothly.

More Detailed Group Agreements

If creating the agreement when the group is together, allow a minimum of 30 minutes to come up with a group agreement. If doing via a group email or online forum give this process a few days to ensure everyone has participated and review the final agreement when the group is together to ensure everyone is happy with it. (Be open to tweaking it as a group.)

Ask open-ended questions such as:

• What things would make this group/workshop work well for you?
• What makes this a safe and respectful place for us to work in?
• What would make this group a good space for learning?

You can invite people to respond in several ways:

• People call out points which are written on flipchart paper or via an online forum or shared document for everyone to see.
• People write their comments on pieces of paper and group them together on the wall.
• People talk about the question in pairs or small groups and then feed this back to the whole group.

When you have drawn out people’s ideas, go through the list one by one and check for clarification using empowering questions. Discuss how this can be turned into practical ways of working.

Some examples include:

• “It’s alright to disagree” – how would this work practically? You could add “… by challenging what a person says, not attacking the person themselves.“
• Confidentiality. This is quite vague and you will need to discuss what people understand by it and what level of confidentiality they expect from the group.

Finally, you need to check for agreement on all the points from the whole group.   if someone is not happy with a specific point to explore what provokes that concern and how it could be better worded.

Short-term Group Agreements

Other ways of creating group agreements may be more appropriate for shorter meetings or workshops, or for groups that don’t tackle emotive or controversial topics. These include:

• proposing a boilerplate group agreement then seeking additions, amendments and then agreement;
• having an ideastorm around the idea of ‘respect’ (“what would make me feel respected in this workshop”) and using that as the basis for the agreement. Other words that might be useful as well as, or instead of, ‘respect’ are ‘safety’ and ‘co-operation’.

When all have agreed on the group agreement, make sure it’s on display for all to see – ideally have it written up on a whiteboard, flipchart paper or overhead projector.

Keep the agreement for use in future meetings or workshops with the same group, but check in each time to make sure that everyone is still happy with it. They may, for example, wish to add something to the agreement.

Don’t forget that newcomers or latecomers haven’t agreed to anything, so take the time to explain it to them and ask for their endorsement of the agreement (you can always do this in a break). If they want to amend it, have a discussion with the full group until everyone agrees.

Sample Group Agreement

1. Make sure everyone is able to contribute
   • more talkative people: show a little restraint
   • quieter people: your contributions are very welcome
2. Only one person speaks at a time
   • put up your hand if you want to speak and wait for your turn.
3. Respect each others’ opinions even / especially if you don’t agree with them
4. Participate!
5. Confidentiality – some things shouldn’t be repeated outside of this meeting.
6. Be conscious of time – help stick to it, or negotiate for more
7. Mobile phones off to minimize disruptions
8. Regular breaks