Checklists for Your Town Hall

I have an iPad. And one of the great applications is Check List. I can’t emphasize enough how important a check list is when facilitating a large participatory meeting. Just before the meeting I have to go over every detail with my team to make sure there will be “no visible loss of magic.” No hiccups, no software glitches, no microphone feedback, are allowed. To accomplish this, I have a check list, and my team members have their check lists. The iPad is not necessary, but since the same things are on my checklists, this makes it easy to bring up and old one and customize it for this particular meeting. How many checks you ask. For me, about 70 and counting. My team has their own, we have redundancy. Redundancy in the service of excellence is a good thing. The devil is in the details.

I check things like power to the computers, clicker settings, powerpoint connections, seating arrangements, temperature in the room, use of lights, window shades, podium microphones, hand held microphones, internet connection, speaker microphones, ink in the markers, flip chart paper, agenda details, flow of the day, time of breaks, and so forth. If you’d like one of my meeting checklists, ask in the comments section below. I will be happy to send you one. Working without a check list is asking for trouble and guaranteeing you will be embarrassed.

Creating the checklist is as important as checking the items off. You will need to develop your own. The best way to do this is to do a complete walk through of your meeting the day before, ideally with your team and your presenters. After you identify everything you can think of, remember that you probably forgot a few crucial items. Go over the entire process again. Your client is paying for a seamless integration of our participatory process with their critical content. Serve them well!