Roles

Each assembly needs:

Main Facilitator (Ideally two with a gender balance)

• Sometimes called Lead Facilitator.
• They are responsible for the overall running of assembly, timekeeping, and the delivery of all relevant information.
• They facilitate the discussion using hand signals, ensure no one dominates, keep an eye on the time, maintain radical inclusivity and active listening, and adhere to the ‘Inclusivity Statement’.

Assembly Notetaker
They are responsible for recording the results of the feedback/integration phase of the assembly and for feeding the assembly results into wherever they are destined to go. They might, for example, need to send them to the local Council to demand action, or feed them into an online organising platform. The destination of what is generated in assembly needs to be clearly defined before the start.

Each breakout group needs:

Facilitator
They facilitate the discussion using hand signals, ensure no one dominates, keep an eye on the time, maintain radical inclusivity and active listening and adhere to the ‘Inclusivity Statement’.

Notetaker
They summarise the most popular points, ideally as bullet points, aiming to boil them down to 2-5 key points or ideas from the discussion. They look for wavy hands to record agreement.

Online Roles

Ideally for an online Community Assembly, some of the facilitation team would focus on the technical side. Technical Facilitator(s) are responsible for managing breakout rooms, muting people, monitoring chat questions, etc. They may also manage tools, such as Slido, or other digital support platforms. While it isn't essential, this role helps the group facilitator focus on discussion and deliberation.