Relational meetings are a common practice to help increase depth of relationship between people in an organization.

What is a relational meeting?

  • They usually happen with two people, which is why they are sometimes also called one-on-one meetings, though they sometimes happen in a small group.
  • The two people schedule a time to meet for about 30 minutes to an hour. It’s best to meet in person, but these meetings can also be done by Zoom.
  • While the person who requested the meeting usually takes the lead during the meeting, the meeting is not an interview, but a time of mutual sharing. During the meeting, they share their stories with one another. They might talk about what’s most important to them in their own lives, what challenges they might be facing, and what hopes they might have. They might talk about what issues in the larger world are might important to them. They might talk about what they value about their participation at UUFR and their hopes for UUFR. They might also talk about what experience of service and leadership they have in their lives and what service or leadership roles, if any, they might like to play at UUFR in the future.

What’s the purpose of relational meetings?

  • First and foremost, relational meetings are simply a chance to help people get to know each other better – – to help strengthen the relational culture within UUFR, the degree to which people at UUFR know and are known by many others. Organizations, including religious communities, with strong relational cultures, tend to be stronger organizations.
  • Second, relational meetings help UUFR leaders help make better decisions about the future of UUFR, both about how we can better serve our own members about what issues we might address in our wider community.
  • Third, while relational meetings are not primarily for volunteer leadership recruitment, they also help UUFR leaders get to know how others in the congregation might like to be more involved in UUFR in ways that fit with their own interests and values.

If you are interested in participating in a relational meeting, email onewake@uufr.org .

To read a testimonial from a UUFR One Wake Organizing Team member about relational meetings, click here.

To read more about how to do do a relational meeting, click here.

To watch a training video about how to do a relational meeting, click here.

If you have been trained in doing relational meetings and would like the name and contact info of somebody who would like to do a relational meeting, email onewake@uufr.org .

If you have recently completed a relational meeting and need to fill out the Relational Meeting Form, click here.

For more information about relational meetings, email onewake@uufr.org .