Participating Agreements
What is Participating Agreements about ?
Participating agreements are a set of directions for how each participant aims to behave in a workshop, course, meeting etc. They are co-created by everyone in the room to reflect the kind of culture that participants seek in order for the group culture to feel safe, respectful and encouraging for all involved. The details will vary from group to group although there are key similarities that any group of people desire.
Participating agreements can be used in any context where a group of people will be working together. A weekend workshop, for example, may want to draft shared agreements that include respectful communication, confidentiality, articulating boundaries, speaking one at a time etc. A community group meeting may wish to include agreements about equality, listening to all ideas, allowing the facilitator to close discussions for timekeeping etc. There are no rules about what to include - it will be a group code of conduct that all participants agree to. A facilitator or any group member can refer back to the agreements if difficulties or challenging communication arises.
Audience
Is participant experience relevant for Participating Agreements ?
Requirements
Not specifically
Run Through
Check in beforehand so that all voices in the room have spoken - you are more likely to get wider participation if the initial ice has broken
Use a flipchart to write all the suggestions up - big enough for everyone to read, and stick it somewhere visible afterwards
Encourage quieter voices
Clarify that all participants agree before moving on to the next agenda item - either go around the room, making eye contact with each participant while asking if anyone does not agree, or you can ask participants to physically sign the sheet in agreement
It can be a helpful start to provide the group with suggested agreements from your experience as facilitator - most groups find it easier to get going if there is already a template to build on. Discussion can then focus on any controversial topics and it speeds up the overall process
Use an old agreement without asking if anything new needs to be added
Presume that there’s enough like-mindedness in the room that there will be no difficulties, disagreements or disrespectful communication - we can all have our less than perfect moments!
Think that something has been agreed just because somebody mentioned it, look for wider buy-in
Online
This exercise can be done online or blended using any collaborative platform that participants can view simultaneously.
Material for
project
ERASMUS +
Co-funded by the Erasmus+ Program of the European Union. Find more information about the program and its goals here: https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/.
Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
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