Learning path · I'm planning a meeting everyone can take part in

Accessible and culturally responsive meeting

You are running a meeting and want everyone to be able to take part, contribute, and know what was decided.

By the end, you will have a reusable meeting plan: purpose and materials sent ahead, accommodation offered without disclosure, several ways to contribute, attention to positional power, a plan for repair if harm occurs, decisions with owners, and accessible follow-up.

Accessibility, language, and inclusive meetings

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Your path

Six steps to work through in order

Plan for participationUse Ask to work through the purpose, the participation formats, and the access arrangements for this meeting.Ask a question
Consider community contextIf relevantIf the meeting includes community partners, read the relevant brief for access, timing, and what not to assume.Explore Minnesota Communities
Choose practical resourcesUse the accessible meeting guidance and the access checks.Accessible and culturally responsive meetings · Access checks before a meeting or outreach
Draft your meeting planComplete the plan. Leave out names. Use the downloaded checklist to write your answers in a tool you normally use. This page does not save them.
Review your workConfirm materials go out ahead, accommodation is offered to everyone, there are several ways to contribute, decisions will have owners, and follow-up is accessible.
Take it further if you want toMost meetings need no consultation. If a team pattern keeps recurring, the team climate path may help. DSD staff can request a consultation.Strengthen team climate (Practice path)

Make the work meaningful

What a useful result looks like

Still needs work:

Captions turned on with nothing else changed
A round-robin that forces everyone to speak
Notes sent only to the people who were in the room

Ready to use:

Materials ahead, several ways to contribute, and decisions with owners
Repair is the responsibility of the person with more power
Follow-up is accessible and asks how it worked

Privacy: Do not include names. This page does not save your answers or progress. Notes saved through an earlier version may still be in this browser's site data; this page does not show or delete them.

Published checklist

Accessible meeting plan

Browse and download only. This published checklist is not a form. Staff notes are not saved here.

Browse and download only. This checklist is published from the knowledge base. Staff notes are not filled in or saved on this page.

Meeting name, purpose, and who attendsIn the published checklist
The meeting, not individual names.
What goes out ahead and whenIn the published checklist
Purpose, agenda, materials, format, and the accommodation sentence.
Ways people can contributeIn the published checklist
Speaking, writing ahead, writing during, following up after, and how written input gets the same weight.
Access arrangementsIn the published checklist
Captions, interpretation, room or platform access, pace, materials in accessible formats.
How you will handle positional power and repairIn the published checklist
Who opens, who speaks last, how you will notice who is not speaking, and what you will do if harm occurs.
Who helped plan and who will co-facilitateIn the published checklist
What you chose not to assumeIn the published checklist
About cameras, eye contact, speed, or silence as signs of engagement.
Who owns each decision and follow-upIn the published checklist
Follow-up dateIn the published checklist
When accessible notes go out and when you ask how the meeting worked.

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These optional practice paths are for reading and downloading. This page does not save your answers or progress. Notes saved through an earlier version may still be in this browser's site data; someone using this computer could see them. This page does not show or delete those older notes. Nothing you read or download here is sent to your supervisor or used to evaluate you.

Participation and course completion in this program do not count toward DHS-required training credits unless management, a director, or DHS leadership expressly approves an exception.

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Accessible and culturally responsive meeting

You are running a meeting and want everyone to be able to take part, contribute, and know what was decided.

Six steps to work through in order

Plan for participationUse Ask to work through the purpose, the participation formats, and the access arrangements for this meeting.Ask a question

Consider community contextIf relevantIf the meeting includes community partners, read the relevant brief for access, timing, and what not to assume.Explore Minnesota Communities

Choose practical resourcesUse the accessible meeting guidance and the access checks.Accessible and culturally responsive meetings · Access checks before a meeting or outreach

Draft your meeting planComplete the plan. Leave out names. Use the downloaded checklist to write your answers in a tool you normally use. This page does not save them.

Review your workConfirm materials go out ahead, accommodation is offered to everyone, there are several ways to contribute, decisions will have owners, and follow-up is accessible.

Take it further if you want toMost meetings need no consultation. If a team pattern keeps recurring, the team climate path may help. DSD staff can request a consultation.Strengthen team climate (Practice path)

What a useful result looks like

Still needs work:

Captions turned on with nothing else changed

A round-robin that forces everyone to speak

Notes sent only to the people who were in the room