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Home > Meeting Roles
Meetings: Roles and Responsibilities
A successful meeting requires more than inviting the right people and sending the agenda in advance. Preparation is only the beginning - knowing your role and responsibilities and those of the other attendees are just as important.
A well run meeting has a facilitator, a leader, attendees and a recorder and each of these roles has specific responsibilities which need to be met to ensure a successful meeting.
Role of the Leader
The leader calls the meeting and needs to:
- Set the agenda
- Identify the participants
- Manage the preparations
The leader will share information and express opinions throughout the meeting.
Role of the Facilitator
This participant conducts the meeting and is neutral, they don’t contribute to the meeting itself but are obliged to:
- Keep the group focused on the agenda items
- Encourage everyone to contribute to the meeting and draw in participants where possible
- Diffuse tensions and mediate if necessary ? Offer alternative approaches
Role of the Recorder
The recorder is a neutral participant and is required to:
- Take notes
- Record the minutes
- Write ideas/observations/criticisms etc on the flip chart or white board
- Record accurately the business of the meeting
Like the facilitator, the recorder is neutral and does not evaluate or contribute ideas.
Attendees
Every attendee is expected to participate fully throughout the meeting and is obliged to:
- Contribute ideas
- Express opinions
- Respect the other attendees views
Please note that it’s possible to play multiple roles during a meeting but you can only be in one role at a time. If you switch roles, you must announce to the group that you are doing so. Remember, in the role of recorder or facilitator you are neutral and cannot contribute ideas. It is the facilitator who manages the meeting. A skilled facilitator is essential to a successful meeting. Part 3 of this series will focus on the tools and techniques of the skilled facilitator.
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