The Value of Community Agreements

At meetings, how can you foster collaboration and prevent problems? Especially when discussing difficult topics at meetings and events, consider creating ground rules — community agreements.

The National Equity Project defines a community agreement as “a consensus on what every person in our group needs from each other and commits to each other in order to feel safe, supported, open, productive and trusting … so that we can do our best work, achieve our common vision, and serve our [students/families/constituents] well.”

Community agreements help foster respectful and supportive meetings. They set expectations and create safe spaces for discussing difficult subjects. Community agreements can be particularly useful at meetings about topics that can cause major disagreements.

People may not realize that they need a community agreement, assuming everyone knows general behavioral norms — “We’re all adults here” — but people may not always share the same understanding of what’s appropriate. Community agreements give them common ground to help engage with each other.

Often, community agreements are developed at the start of a meeting or a series of meetings. They can be reviewed and revised at the beginning of future meetings of the same groups of people.

Groups should collaborate when creating their community agreements, as people are more likely to go along if they help develop them. It may also be useful to consider incorporating language from existing model community agreements.

Community agreements could include:

• Make “I” statements — For example, participants would say “I think that you said” instead of “you said.”
• “Take Space, Make Space” — Be aware of how much you are participating. If you are an extrovert, try not to participate too much, and let others talk. If you are an introvert and/or shy, feel free to speak up more.
• “One mic” — Only one person can speak at a time. Meeting facilitators can implement this rule using a “speaking object”: Only the person holding the object can talk.
• Active listening — Listen to others. Do not spend the time they are speaking preparing your reply; attend to what they’re saying. Support this by allowing time after someone speaks for others to formulate their response.
• Keep things confidential — People can share what they learned, but not “who said what” or personal details.
• Be respectful — Treat people the way you would like to be treated.
• Honor silence — Be okay with silence, and do not feel that you must talk. Sometimes, people can reflect and think during pauses.
• Ask questions — Questions should be permitted.
• Don’t expect perfection — Mistakes happen and people should be given grace. Equally important, individuals should acknowledge harm they cause.
• Anticipate non-closure — Be okay with the possibility that everything will not be solved in one or even several meetings.
• Recognize others’ expertise — People have a different insights and are experts in a variety of areas.
• Take care of yourself and others — Make sure you and others are okay.

It is not enough just to have community agreements — they must be implemented. If they are broken, the facilitator can refer to and review the agreement. During a break, the facilitator can talk with the people who were involved with the violation.

Make sure that everyone is safe by creating and implementing community agreements. Ground rules are not for just children.

Miriam Edelman, MPA, MSSW, is a Washington, D.C.-based policy professional. Her experience includes policy work for Congress. Miriam’s undergraduate degree is from Barnard College, Columbia University, with majors in political science and urban studies. She has a master’s in public administration from Cornell University, where she was inducted into the national honorary society for public administration. She has a master’s of science in social work (focusing on policy) from Columbia University. She is a commissioner of the DC Commission on Persons with Disabilities. Miriam aims to continue her career in public service. She is especially interested in democracy, civic education, District of Columbia autonomy, diversity, health policy, women’s issues, and disabilities.

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