Organize the Community for Action

Core group norms

Part of the process of developing the core group includes establishing norms for working together. Below are some questions your team and the group members may want to discuss.

• Do they want to elect official leaders of the group?
• How will they assign roles and responsibilities?
• How will they communicate with each other? How often will they meet?
• What role do core group members want to play in relation to your program team? Groups with strong leaders may opt to have their leaders work with your team to develop their facilitation and leadership skills; other groups may initially rely on your team to facilitate the process.
• What norms do participants want to set for the group (e.g., confidentiality, be on time, listen to others, ask questions when you don’t understand something,)?
• How do members of the core group want to document the process and outcomes of their meetings and activities?

An old group or a new group?
Strategies for identifying and recruiting core group members
The role of leaders and external facilitators in group development
Documenting core group and other meetings
Assessing and monitoring core group capacity