Phone Link Up - Meetings&Chats

Two ways to do it:

1. Get in contact with the National Convenor to set up a phone link-up for people to call into

2. For a meeting <5, if everyone has Skype, this is free and easy to use (see below).

How to Facilitate a Phone Link Up

1. At beginning of meeting agree upon the agenda, with any additions. When you circulate the initial agenda ask people to add proposals or agenda items by emailing you for distribution
2. Ask someone to facilitate before the meeting starts.   Their role in the PLU is to announce the agenda items, or ask other specific participants to do so and briefly outline (or have someone else outline) the issue and> decision required.
3. The facilitator will call for questions on the issue or decision required. Call out your name if you have a question or want to ask for more information. The facilitator will take a list, and we'll go through the speaking list
4. If needed at the end of the speaking list, the facilitator will call for another speaking list. Or the facilitator will ask if everyone is okay to turn off the speaking list for general discussion, and reverting to self-facilitation.
5. Circulate the agenda and proposals before the meeting and when doing ring arounds encourage people to read them, this saves time and gets people up to speed before the PLU.
6. Try and put the majority of agenda items in specific proposal form, this way they can easily be discussed and if not contentious a quick decision can be made.  This format aims to eliminate much of the time spent circling the issue with no specific focus.
7. When seeking input on a decision ask each state what they think or if they have any comments

 
 Tips for Participants

1.  Where possible, try to speak to proposals, rather than discuss broadly around an issue or event.
2.  Get any agenda items, necessary information, or proposals to the meeting organiser before the meeting, so everyone can have read them beforehand, and know what's going on.- Try not to repeat what other people have said already.
3.  Say your name before you speak: "Hi, it's Holly. I think…."
4.  Try to self-facilitate! Follow the speaking list, respect the facilitator, don't speak too much or dominate discussion, & try to be aware of others (even though it's hard on the phone!)

Skype:   

For people who can use Skype there are a few accounts at this stage only  2 have credit - if anyone can put credit on the others let the Finance Officer know and they can reimburse you.  Or you can just set up your own personal Skype account and use that.

Accounts: asen.brisbane asenmelbourne asenadelaide asennewcastle asensydney and   asenperth

all the passwords are 'green'

and just to be clear the brisbane account is the only one with a dot between asen and the city.

Phone link-ups with ASENstars from across Australia are amazing – and often confusing. Sometimes you don't know when to speak, sometimes you speak at the same time as someone else, sometimes there are awkward silences, and sometimes you don't even know who is speaking (since they might be thousands of kilometres away).