The First Meeting
Deciding The Details
The first session of a Critique Forum can be a good time to agree on details such as:
- What would the ideal number of members be and who would want to join – do you want to create a type of membership scheme?
- What will the purpose of the meeting be – what should it enable people to do?
- Will the subject or focus of the meetings be different each time or the same?
- How often and/or how many meetings will you schedule?
- How much time is needed and how much time do people want to invest in this?
Ground Rules
Establishing some ground rules could be useful as well:
- Define people’s roles and responsibilities
- Talk about commitment – encourage regular attendance to create trust and shared knowledge
- Ask for the contribution of constructive questions
- Cover how each meeting will be structured (e.g. Each person has ‘air-space’ (a slot of time) during which to talk and for people to ask questions/give feedback.)
- It’s probably obvious but worthwhile to cover the kinds of behaviours that are expected – i.e. objective criticism, no interrupting or arguing, no subjective judgments, no directing or advice (e.g. ‘….if I were you, I would….?’)
