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one means by "treat with respect",
<br />like not interrupting or talking while
<br />another person is talking, or sharing
<br />the floor, or monitoring your own air
<br />time, or arriving on time and staying
<br />to the epd.
<br />As Plumb sees it, in the process of
<br />developing the ground rules, a group
<br />takes its first step in letting go of some
<br />of the "bad behavior' that has been
<br />getting in its way, behavior that has
<br />been making for somewhat less than
<br />effective meetings.
<br />Plumb recalls working with one
<br />town where people were yelling, rant-
<br />ing and raving at each other. "They
<br />were alt adults of good will," said
<br />Plumb, "but there was a tradition of
<br />yelling, ranting and raving. Yet, once
<br />they said out loud that they would not
<br />call each other names, that they
<br />would not ••ell at each other, there
<br />was a sense of group relief."
<br />But it's not easy to let go of habit.
<br />Traditions are stubborn, says Plumb.
<br />That's why it is important to write out
<br />the agreed upon ground rules and if
<br />necessary, especially at first, to post
<br />them in sight of everyone and refer to
<br />them at the beginning of each meet-
<br />ing and if necessary during [he meet-
<br />ing when they are being broken, says
<br />Plumb. "In this way members are able
<br />to police themselves," she says.
<br />THE VALUE
<br />Respectful behavior aside, the
<br />real value of behavioral ground rules
<br />lies in their enabling everyone to
<br />speak and be heard, says Plumb.
<br />As Plumb sees it, the setting of
<br />ground rules car go a long way to-
<br />wards building a a~sitive tradition of
<br />how to disagree. For it is not the in-
<br />tent of doing away with disagreement
<br />that ground rules are set. On the con-
<br />trary, the problem is not in the fact
<br />that we disagree, but how we disagree,
<br />says Plumb.
<br />When you agree not to interrupt;
<br />when you agree to listen for under-
<br />standing; when vnu agree to do a
<br />"true" check of what you understand
<br />the other person to have said. When
<br />you have agreed to all this, you are on
<br />the way to building a positive tradi-
<br />tion on how to disagree, says Plumb.
<br />It is Plumb's belief that when a
<br />board or council builds a positive tra-
<br />dition for doing the public's business,
<br />that the public will reflect the behav-
<br />ior at public meetings. And to nur-
<br />ture this behavior, there is nothing
<br />wrong in making the ground rules
<br />available to the public, says Plumb.
<br />The chair can read them aloud at the
<br />beginning of the meeting or hearing;
<br />or officials can, as some towns do, at-
<br />tach the rules to the written agenda;
<br />or they can simply print them on a
<br />poster hung in full view of the audi-
<br />ence, suggests Plumb.
<br />Examples of behavioral ground
<br />rules:
<br />One of the municipalities in
<br />Maine that has developed a set of be-
<br />havioral ground rules in the past few
<br />years is Windham (pop. 13, 484). The
<br />town council developed them jointly
<br />with the school committee during a
<br />series of workshops in 1991 that were
<br />designed to develop a better working
<br />relationship between the two groups.
<br />As such, the rules that follow are en-
<br />titled "Ground Rules for Joint Ses-
<br />sion":
<br />• no personal attacks
<br />• stay away from referrats to the
<br />past and old grudges
<br />• remain positive
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