General Assembly

In a perspective of direct democracy, the general assembly is the supreme body and its decisions often take precedence over those of all the others.

A general meeting requires

• roles
• order of the day
• a code of procedures

Agenda

The agenda includes...

• the roles to be fulfilled
• the points submitted to the meeting
• a reminder of the procedures (access point)

Code of procedures

To work well, a general assembly includes a code of procedures, that is to say ways of doing things that serve the purpose of the assembly, which is often to act as a space for direct democracy.

You can choose to use an existing code or create your own code. An example is modified consensus decision making (suggestions for large and small groups)

Roles

Facilitator	Essential	Will follow through on the agenda, help the group achieve the goal of each agenda item, and support members in taking turns. It is recommended that facilitation be a rotating task among people training and supporting each other to avoid dependency on one person always being the designated facilitator.
Taking notes of speaking turns	Role sometimes assumed by the facilitator.	Person who takes note of the speaking turns in order to support the person who leads in their task.
Consensus facilitation	Applicable when you want to make certain decisions by consensus (modified or not)	A person who does not participate in the debates leading to decision-making in order to present common intentions for which consensus will be tested. Must be someone who is trusted by those present to be an active listener who can be unbiased (sometimes an outside person is best suited to fill this role). Drafts and presents the common intentions following discussions following a question for which a decision is necessary. Will forward the agenda to the group. Can intervene without the need for speaking turns. It is recommended that facilitation be a rotating task among people who train and support each other to avoid dependency on one person always being the designated facilitator.
Time manager or time checker	Role sometimes assumed by the person who facilitates.	Respects the duration of each discussion point (if a duration is planned for each point), the duration of the speaking turns as well as the plenary sessions.  Before starting a plenary (broad discussion), it is recommended to establish a duration. This can be changed along the way.
Responsible for taking notes	Essential	Note the outline of what is said and what is adopted by consensus.
Responsible for task note taking	Role sometimes assumed by the person taking notes.	Write down the tasks that need to be taken on so that the proposals can be carried out. Tasks can also be taken after a proposal or at the end of the meeting. Having someone in this role helps ease the burden on the person responsible for taking notes.
Space watcher	Essential	Keeping the space healthy for people and addressing the power dynamics that arise. See our wiki page:  How can we incorporate space watchers and holders into our groups without veering into policing?