Oral Communication

Establising Ground Rules

It is recommended that early on group members negotiate and agree rules by which they will work. Although the group in the video clip did not explicitly list their ground rules they did agree on some rules; that they would meet once a week, that they would take it in turns to record ideas, that they might not always all attend, so would need to make decisions in each other’s absence.

This list of prompt questions might be useful in deciding on your group’s ground rules:

• How often will the group meet?

• Will you appoint a leader?

• How will you ensure that everyone has opportunity to contribute to the discussion?

• How will you make decisions?

o Will you vote with a show of hands or anonymously?
o Will you always make decisions in the same way?
o Do you all need to be present to make a decision?

• How will you keep a record of decisions made?

• How will you share information outside the meetings, including to people who could not attend?