It's time to begin your Cool Block Journey.

This meeting sets the stage for the success and enjoyment of the entire program. It helps a group of disconnected individuals begin bonding as neighbors and then meshing together into a team capable of achieving and catalyzing significant individual and collective results. 

Enjoy!

Introduction to this Meeting

Team-Building / Topic 1 Meeting

The team-building portion of this meeting starts by creating a team purpose statement to enable alignment and a shared commitment. You then lead your team in scheduling the topic meetings and deciding who will lead which topic. You wrap up your team-building process by confirming mutual accountability among team members, and then move into your first Cool Block topic - Energy Resilient Home.

In this first topic, you will learn how to make your home “undisruptible” by developing energy backup systems and contingency plans. It will help you deal with power outages by taking actions specifically tailored to your own wishes and needs. You’ll probably be amazed to discover that you can become flexible enough to handle just about any emergency that is likely to come along.

 

Pre-Meeting Preparation

Room Setup

  • Arrange the room in a U shape. This allows people to see one another and you as the facilitator increasing the quality of the sharing and community building. 
     
  • If you are meeting virtually, ask all the participants in your virtual meeting room to turn on their cameras so that you can see one another.

Attendance and Name Tags

  • Create a sign-in sheet with room for the person’s name, address, e-mail, and phone number for those who may not have attended the information meeting. If meeting virtually, ask each new person to send their email address to you using the chat window.
     
  • Unless everyone already knows one another by name, provide name tags so people can immediately begin to connect. It is so much more gracious and neighborly to address someone by his or her first name. After this first meeting the name tags will likely not be needed. If this is a virtual meeting, each person's name will be automatically displayed.

Timing

  • Each element in the meeting agenda has an approximate time associated with it. It is rare that any meeting element will go for exactly that amount of time, so use it as a guideline. If one meeting element runs longer you will need to make up the time by shortening another.
     
  • Give the team shared responsibility for timekeeping. If any point seems likely to take a lot longer than you planned, tell the team and ask them to decide whether to extend the meeting or quickly finish the point. 

Pre-Work

  • Check your city's MEMBERS ONLY section to see if there is an additional locally created video for Topic 1. If so, plan to show it at the meeting.
     
  • On the website, review the actions in Topic 1, and select the actions your household will take. Come to the meeting prepared to share your action plan with the team by way of demonstration.
     

Send a Meeting Preparation Message to the Team

Contact your team members (via email or your team's preferred contact mechanism) 3-4 days before the meeting, to remind them of the place and time of the meeting, and to ask them to take the following steps in preparation [cut-and-paste the following into your message]:

  • Please register at the Cool Block website, coolblock.org.
    • Our block's registration code is: [Ask your program manager to provide this].
  • Review two short videos that will acquaint you with the Cool Block Program:
  • Each topic area has an action-planning tool for selecting actions, taking action and reporting results.
    • Review the actions in Topic 1, and select the actions your household plans to take.
  • Bring to the meeting:
    • your resulting Action Plan to share with the team. 
    • any requests for support in taking specific actions.
    • your calendar to help with scheduling future meetings.
    • your computer, tablet or phone with you, so you'll have access to the website.
  •        Let me know if you need assistance using the Cool Block action planning tools on the website. If so, someone on the team will help you.

Practice

To get the full value from this script, take time to study it so you are fluent and understand what you are trying to achieve with each meeting element. 

If this will be a virtual meeting, practice using your virtual meeting tool:

  • Clean up your computer's desktop so that it is not cluttered or showing any private information.
  • Open a virtual meeting room with e.g. Skype or Zoom. Check that the service you are using will support the number of people you are expecting, for the duration you are expecting.
  • Open your Cool Block meeting guide on your computer, so that you can practice following the script.
  • At the point when visuals are needed, such as when you are showing a video or displaying an action plan, "Share" your screen.
  • Click on a given link provided in the script when it is needed.  A new window will be opened. You can easily go back to your script by closing the new window, or by clicking on the tab for your script window.
  • When the only window you need open is your script, you can "Stop Sharing" your screen.

If you are not comfortable hosting virtual meetings, ask another meeting participant to do it for you.

Team-Building / Topic 1 Meeting Script - 1 hour

Recruit a note-taker

Ask someone to take a few notes:

  • Record all team decisions, including the Team Purpose Statement, the topic meeting schedule and Topic Leader assignments.
  • Take notes on the interesting findings and outcomes of the meeting.
  • You can then include these in your email communications with the team.

1. Introductions - 5 minutes

  • Make sure everyone is acquainted with one another. If needed, ask them to share their names and where they live.

2. Welcome and Meeting Purpose - 5 minutes

  • Explain that the Cool Block program requires a team effort to accomplish its goals, and your job, as team leader, is to keep the team on track so individuals can successfully accomplish the individual and collective actions they choose.
     
  • State the purpose of this meeting.
    1. Help build the group into a team by creating a team purpose statement.
    2. Identify people to lead the different meetings and schedule them.
    3. Develop a mutual accountability practice for becoming a high performing team.
    4. Review the first topic of the program, “an Energy-Resilient Home” and share Action Plans.
    5. Prepare for the next meeting.

    This allows the team to appreciate your role as team leader and the well thought-through goals for the meeting, building credibility for both. 

3. Create Team Purpose Statement - 10 minutes

  • Ask each person to take up to a minute to share his or her purpose for joining the team.
    • Write down the key points of each person’s purpose.
  • Highlight / merge key phrases and words of each individual’s statement to create a joint purpose statement.
    • Make sure some part of everyone’s purpose is included in the team purpose statement.
    • If the team wishes to wordsmith it further, ask those who are interested to form a group and bring it back to the next meeting.
    • Find Team Purpose Statement examples, developed by actual Cool Block teams here.
  • When created to everyone’s satisfaction, bring it to every team meeting. This serves as the north star to guide each person and the group throughout the program.

4. Select Topic Leaders and Schedule Meetings - 10 minutes

  • Ask the team to agree on dates and times for each meeting.
    • To make it easier to remember, try to meet on the same day and time. 
  • Each topic has a topic-meeting guide for the facilitator. The meetings vary slightly, but generally follow this format. Ask who would be willing to lead each of these topic meetings. 
    • Topic 2 Meeting: Disaster-Resilient Household  
    • Topic 3 Meeting: Cool Lifestyle  
    • Topic 4 Meeting: Cool Home and Cool Wheels  
    • Topic 5 Meeting: Water Stewardship
    • Topic 6 Meeting: Safe, Healthy, and Green Block  
    • Topic 7 Meeting: Resourceful and Community-Rich Block  
  • Ideally, each team member will lead one or more Topic Meetings.
    • If anyone is uncomfortable hosting a meeting, they can still lead it.  Just ask for a volunteer host.
  • Make note of where and when each topic meeting will occur, and who will lead it.
    • Email the schedule information to your team.
  • If someone cannot attend a meeting, request that the person:
    • Notify you in advance.
    • Find a buddy who can represent them and their actions at the meeting, and brief them afterward on what happened.

5. Create Mutual Accountability - 5 minutes

  • Let's commit to being successful -- please give a nod or a thumbs up to each point:
     
    • Attend the team meetings. Make a commitment to be at the meetings, and if missing a meeting is unavoidable, ask a housemate or find a buddy who can represent you and your actions at the meeting.
    • Share and support.  Share your successes and resources you’ve uncovered as you complete the actions you select at our team meetings.
    • Ask for and offer help and feedback. If you are struggling with the program actions or with something else happening on the block, ask your team for coaching. Coach others who need it.
    • Achieve your goals. Do your best to take the actions you select for your household and "Report Results" on the Cool Block website. This helps the whole team be successful.
    • Earn a badge.  Achieve the "Cool Household" goal or above in one or more topics and help make our block a very Cool Block!  By sharing our achievements we become a model for others.
    • Help make it fun! Enjoy the company of your neighbors and build "collaboration muscles" on the block. 

      Thank each person who commits to the team by agreeing to each of these points, and for laying down a foundation for success.

7. Share Action Plans - 15 minutes

  • Orient the team to this topic:
  • Open your Action Plan page on the website, set it to Topic 1, and share plans:
    • Go around the room and ask each household to share the actions they plan to take in this Resiliency topic, and why. (They can access their plan from a smart phone.)
    • Team members should feel free to modify their plans based on what they hear at the meeting.
    • Ask teammates to request support for carrying out any action they find challenging. Encourage team members to offer support where they feel competent.
    • Invite team members to suggest how to take any of the actions collaboratively.  

8. Preview the Next Topic - 5 minutes

  • Be sure your Action Plan page on the website is open, and set it to the next topic.
  • Preview the topic, pointing out the "Video and Tips" page.
  • Ask team members to look over the topic actions with their household before the next meeting, and bring their draft action plans to discuss.
  • For Topic 2, take a few minutes to review the local hazards you uniquely face. Is your block subject to flood? earthquake? wildfire? Encourage team members to take note of any actions and local resources that will help you prepare for these hazards.
     

9. Review Next Steps - 5 minutes

Take action and REPORT RESULTS:

  • Take action on the actions you've put into your Action Plan. Use the action recipe as your guide.
  • For each action taken, click on "Report Results" and enter the requested information. (You can demonstrate this on your Action Plan page.)
  • Note that some of the actions may take more than a few weeks to complete. Once an action is underway and you have a committed plan to complete it, you may mark it as "action taken".
  • Be ready to report on your progress in the next meeting.  

Prepare your next Action Plan:

  • Review the next topic's actions with your household, and make your action plan.
  • Bring this action plan to the next meeting (you can access it from your smartphone). 
  • Bring also any support requests you have.  

Thank everyone!

Helps people move into action mode and reinforces the accountability value of this program.