Circle members regularly meet in what is called the "Circle Meeting" to perform one or more of the 6 special meeting "Modes" described in the following section: Review, Synchronize, Adapt, Care, Play and Exploration. Circle meetings are scheduled by the Scribe and facilitated by the Facilitator, two Essential Roles.
People who are not Circle Members cannot process tensions at Circle Meetings. However, a person may be invited by a Circle Member to assist in processing a specific tension. In this case, the tension to be processed will still be considered by the Circle Members.
Circle Meetings must start with a check-in round, where one at a time, each participant shares how he or she is. The Facilitator fills the meeting with one or more of the 6 Modes, according to the time available and the needs of the Circle. The Facilitator must declare the name, objective and clarify the rules of each Mode before starting it. The Circle Meetings end with a closing round, where one at a time, each participant shares a final reflection on the meeting.
The different Modes are used to process specific Tensions felt by Circle Members. Especially before Synchronizing and Adapting, the Facilitator should ask the Scribe to build a "List of Tensions" to be processed. Each Circle Member feeling a Tension must name it using two or three words and identify the meeting mode which is required to deal with that or ask help for the facilitator to do so. The Scribe then records the name of the Tension, along with the name of the Member.
After the Tensions are listed, the Facilitator focuses on one Tension at a time. This means that the Facilitator should not allow other participants to attempt to include their perspectives in the Tension being processed, unless the participant who originally felt the Tension believes that perspective is useful.
When facilitating Modes, the Facilitator can make choices about which patterns to use and how to conduct each moment. However, the Facilitator must always keep his choices in line with the objective of the Mode and the needs of the Circle. A Circle may also adopt one or more Restriction that limits how the Modes are conducted. The Facilitator must respect these limitations.
If any Circle Member requests the Election of any of the Essential Elected Roles, the Facilitator must prioritize that Tension by addressing it before any other.
It’s up for the facilitator to choose how to prioritize the tensions during Synchronize and Governance mode. However, if tensions are brought associated with a mode the facilitator must prioritize in the following order: