The current meeting schedule (see Increasing our meeting frequency) doesn’t work very well for me. Here’s how I worded it in the thread above (post no 14):
As this is making things difficult to me in making the agendas for the plenary meetings, in my capacity of group coordinator I am taking the liberty to make a proposal for a different schedule for 2025.
My proposal
We meet every month on the same dates: the 5th, the 15th and the 25th.
The time remains unchanged: weekdays 19:30 - 22:00, weekends 10:30 - 13:00.
All meetings would be open to all Reeflings by default (as it used to be the case). When there is a need for a Full Members only meeting (because of a sensitive topic or because we want less people around the table), then we openly communicate this to the Associate Members.
The proposal should have the following advantages:
Regularity: enough time between meetings
Variety: the meetings will take place on different days of the week, so nobody needs to compromise on weekly activities, plus we also get a mix of week and weekend days
Predictability: easy to plan for everybody, us Reeflings, Teams who need to prepare a proposal, architects, …
Duration & review
My proposal would be to plan the dates until the end of June as we are used to, but to do a mid-term review, to see whether we can decrease the meeting frequency once the avant-projet stage is finished.
All feedback welcome in the thread below. In function of the outcome I will then bring the topic to a plenary for a final consent round.
The agenda for the next plenary meeting is super full, so to the extent possible I would like to make the decision on the meeting schedule as much as possible online.
If you have any questions, comments, suggestions or and/or concerns, can you please mention them in the post below? This will hopefully help us to spend as little time as possible on this during the meeting. Thanks in advance!
Are we sure that we need three plenaries per month in the period between the signing and the permit being approved? I was under the impression that there wasn’t so many decisions to take during this period, and that recruiting and onboarding would be the priority. Which would involve presentations, Q&A sessions, buddy meetings, site visits, etc.If you add a couple of team meetings, a social event, an architects meeting and a training into the mix, it’s a lot each month.
To be clear, this isn’t an objection. If for the project to move forward we need three plenaries a month, then that’s just how it is. And having them on the same dates also makes sense. But it might be counterproductive if people start to feel overloaded and stop showing up, or if we end up regularly cancelling because we don’t have enough agenda points…
My expectation is that until we have the final version of the plans, we will need three meetings per month. At a moment when a desire has been expressed to hear all voices, I think it’s all the more important to foresee a sufficient amount of meetings. Should it happen that we don’t need a meeting, we’ll cancel it, like we used to do.
Once we have sent the file for the building permit, it’s indeed possible that we will need less meetings. This should probably coincide with the mid-term review, but even if it doesn’t, we can always adjust the plan.
Agree: seems like a lot (considering we’re also aiming at more social/connection moments), same days is a great idea, not going to object if everyone else thinks it’s a good schedule.
Also agree, it feels like a lot of meetings but I guess the proof of the pudding is in the eating. We could try it out the first three months of 2025 and then evaluate?
I have added dates for the Full Members dinners in Q1-2. They are every 6-7 weeks, always fall on a different day of the week, and take place in a week where there isn’t a plenary:
Thursday 30 January
Tuesday 18 March
Wednesday 30 April
Sunday 15 June
@MariaAM, just checking: would it make a difference for your anti-vampire schedule if the meeting on Sunday 15 June were a brunch, or do you prefer to leave things as they are?
I prefer things the way they are, three is a very good time to me I.e. after the second nap. But if you prefer to turn it into a brunch we’ll find the way to adapt.
I imagined when settling on that date that it could easily be turned into a brunch if that meant more people could be involved. I’ve heard a few people mention as well that a late Sunday night meeting is not always the best way to start their week the next day.
Also, we don’t necessarily have to have a meal followed by a meeting. The meeting could be before brunch, lunch or dinner.
@MariaAM - let’s chat next time we have the chance about this. Anyone else is also welcome to reach out to me about weekend meetings. As always, not everyone’s preference will line up, but we will do our best to have maximum attendance and minimum stress…
The easiest way to convene as many people as possible (IMHO) is to schedule the meeting at the exact time. If I schedule it as a dinner, I will book something else in the morning. So if it’s not to much trouble I would prefer this to be sorted out in advance.
It’s official! On 15 June we will have a Full Members brunch (as opposed to dinner). Doors to open at 11am, and we should be all wrapped up by 3pm, at the latest…
