There are two main goals for the first peer network meeting:
1. People find the meeting helpful – they get information and support about something important to them
2. People want to come to a second meeting
It is important to make the best possible impression:
1. Make the meeting about something people are restless about: it takes a lot for people to get up and come to a new meeting, so choose a topic that people care about. Examples include finding an inclusive school, finding paid employment, how best to use the NDIS, how best to influence the local council about accessibility, finding suitable housing, etc. The topic should be as specific as possible, and the invitation flyer/poster/advert should highlight this
2. Provide good, relevant information: it is important to find out as much as possible about the chosen topic, so that helpful, relevant information can be given to people at the meeting. It might also include asking around to find out what other people know.
3. Make it easy for people to take action after the meeting: give people something that helps them take action. This might be a simple as a list of ‘first steps’ that are easy to do: for example, a list of things to ask for at their first meeting with NDIS, or a draft letter that could be sent to their local councillor.
4. Give people a reason to come to a second meeting: ensure the second topic is strongly related to the first topic, for example where to get help to know about your child’s right to go to their local mainstream school. Or it might be interest in getting more information about the first topic, include someone who might be able to come and speak at the second meeting, for example an NDIS professional or NDIS participant with experience to share. Importantly, go with the flow and energy of the people who show up at the meeting; there will be people in the room with good ideas and energy.
5. Make it easy for people to find the meeting: choose a venue that is easy to get to and is accessible.
6. Make sure people feel valued: it takes effort, and sometime courage, for a person to come to a peer meeting for the first time. Make sure every person at the meeting feels that they have been heard, appreciated, and that their experiences are validated
Where you can find more information
There are lots of online resources about running a successful meeting.
The Community Tool Box, From Kansas in the US, has a nice summary about running community meetings. http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/leadership/group-facilitation/main
The wikiHow site has a useful summary and some sample templates for writing up meeting notes, etc http://www.wikihow.com/Run-an-Effective-Meeting
The MindTools website has a downloadable meeting agenda template, which could help you think through what you want your peer meeting to achieve. https://www.mindtools.com/CommSkll/RunningMeetings.htm
American public service website GovLeaders has a useful summary of golden rules for good meetings. http://govleaders.org/meetings.htm
The Centre of Excellence Peer Support – Mental Health has great resources about Peer Support. There is a document about setting up a peer support group which you can find in the resources section. http://www.peersupportvic.org/index.php/2014-12-15-22-42-49/2014-12-16-02-22-27/Resources/
The information on this page is also available as a downloadable Quick Guide, by clicking below. There are PDF and word versions.
