What follows is from the Cornell AgriTech Belonging Bulletin. Many thanks to our colleagues Anna Katharine Mansfield and Amara Dunn-Silver, Cornell AgriTech A.C.E. Council co-chairs, who are taking a strong lead with AgriTech’s efforts to grow resiliency and adaptability. If there’s a topic you’d like them to explore, contact Anna Katharine or Amara, or you can submit a suggestion anonymously. For more information on SIPS access & community empowerment efforts, visit the SIPS A.C.E. webpage. You’ll also find previous editions of this bulletin on a wide range of helpful topics.
Have you ever walked into a meeting comfortable that you knew what to expect, then realized that your assumptions were incorrect? Or worried that you *didn’t* know how to behave in a specific situation?
Whether we acknowledge it or not, we all have behavior expectations for the events we attend. Our lab meetings, coffee breaks, faculty meetings, department seminars, and extension events all have “norms” – rules or guidelines that we expect each other to adhere to. If you have recently joined Cornell AgriTech, you’re more likely to notice unspoken norms that individuals who’ve been here awhile accept without thinking about it. Too often, we do not clearly communicate meeting norms with everyone, leaving each of us – and especially new people – to try to figure things out on the fly.
If you’ve attended meetings where a list of norms, agreements, or expectations were shared, you may have been asked to explicitly agree to adhere to expectations addressing:
- If and how information shared during the meeting is shared with others (e.g., lessons leave, stories stay)
- How to respond to discomfort (e.g., challenge ideas, not people)
- How participants listen to each other (e.g., listen to understand)
- Opportunities for everyone to share (e.g., take space, make space)
Meeting norms can also include expectations around:
- Who is expected to attend the meeting
- How we dress
- What types of questions are asked and who asks them
- Arrival time (e.g., early, exactly on time, or flexible)
- How attendees treat each other
Some professional societies now ask participants to read and agree to a “code of conduct” when they register to attend a meeting. This is another example of setting clear meeting norms.
Clearly describing meeting norms can have multiple benefits, including:
Helping everyone feel welcome. Meeting norms can be part of the hidden curriculum of graduate school or academia. When we clearly communicate expectations for our meetings, no participant is disadvantaged because they are new to our community. In extension settings, we hope to have new people at our events, because that means we’re growing our audience. Helping them feel like they belong improves chances that they’ll return. Communicating expectations is also key to creating inclusive meeting spaces, which leads to more successful and productive meetings.
Reducing the risk of undesirable behavior. Communicating meeting norms won’t guarantee that everyone will adhere to them, but it increases the odds by reducing confusion. You have probably attended a webinar where you were asked to submit questions only through the Zoom’s Q&A feature, and not through the chat. Probably some people forgot and asked questions in the chat, but many attendees followed the instructions.
Establishing a framework for responding to unwelcome behavior. It can feel uncomfortable to ask a colleague or an audience member to modify their behavior. Being able to point to explicit meeting norms – “We agreed at the beginning of this meeting to not interrupt each other” – can take some of that awkwardness away. You are not passing judgement on the person; just reminding them of your mutual agreements. Be mindful that meeting participants may have different amounts of power. If you hold more power in a particular setting – e.g., a tenured professor in a faculty meeting – step up and take responsibility for calling in a colleague. If you are planning an extension event, you might want to discuss ahead of time how unwelcome behavior is handled, and by whom.
What could sharing meeting norms look like at Cornell AgriTech?
Write and share a lab manual. A lab manual or handbook describes expectations for a lab group, including behavior in meetings and day-to-day lab interactions.
Tell new employees in your unit about unit coffee breaks, seminars or other regular gatherings. When are they held? Who usually attends? Is it OK to come late if you’re in the middle of an experiment? How should this meeting be prioritized relative to other work tasks? Coffee break norms are very strong at AgriTech, and new community members likely need guidance.
Add a slide to your presentation. This has become increasingly common, and example lists of meeting expectations are easy to find. You might ask attendees if they would like to add anything to your list. Provide an opportunity for everyone to ask clarifying questions about the norms. This can create buy-in from participants.
Include meeting norms in extension and outreach presentations. This might feel odd at first, but you may already include a slide where you summarize the topics you will cover (a “roadmap slide”). You are already telling participants what they should expect to learn. Other expectations could be shared on the same slide. Are you open to taking questions during your talk (instead of only at the end)? How should audience members let you know they have a question?
Identify hidden expectations or assumptions you have for the meetings or events you host. Whether these meetings are for members of your lab, colleagues, or extension audiences, you probably have some assumptions or hopes for how everyone will behave. Spend some time making a list of these expectations, then think about how you might communicate them clearly. If you’re having trouble coming up with a list, this article has some helpful prompts.
At AgriTech we grow things – including attendee comfort at meetings and events.
Anna Katharine Mansfield and Amara Dunn-Silver
AgriTech A.C.E. Council co-chairs