![Minutes: Process 2004-08-31 [Minutes]](display/images/gocohologo.gif)
Process minutes: 2004-08-31
Minutes:
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Process [[Committee]] [[Meeting]] 8/31/04
Present:-Sarah, Susan, Amy H.,
Guests:-Katie & Carl H.
Agenda
1.-Check-ins
2.-Agenda check-in
3.-MONKEY REVIEW & NEW MONKEYS
4.-Discuss process suggestions from Katie
5.-Review Process Agreements from Sunward
6.-Review Frequency of Community [[Meeting]]s
7.-Scheduling Facilitators, Minute Takers, (and perhaps Timekeepers) for Fall ...™04
8.-Policy Review at Community [[Meeting]]
9.-Discussion about Fall Training on October 16
10.-Book of Agreements
11.-Decision Revisiting Policy
12.-Brainstorm on ways to support GO [[Committee]]s
14.-Fall meetings
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1.
2.
3.-MONKEY REVIEW
... Gail away so can...™t talk about her monkey
... Jim...™s monkey still on hold
... Sarah got process terms from Sunward (handout)
... Still waiting to find out what is happening with the F&L proposal about what happens when people can...™t pay their dues.-Mel still working on this.-
... Jillian not here so can...™t check on her monkey about contacting Tree.
... Jillian found out that Sandra is available for the October 16 training.-We may need to have further e-mail about this as there were two other possible facilitators.
... Sarah did e-mail the Community [[Bookkeeper]] to request a status report on the Process budget lines but has not heard back.
... Amy determined that a good new easel would cost around $150 for a good one that has a combo whiteboard and clips for easel pads and very sturdy construction.-Discussion about where to store this ... behind pot rack in the pantry?-Worth waiting until next year...™s budget to get a really good easel that will last for several years.-Lisa got a good quantity of new easel pads, and Sarah asked Carol to get a couple more pads next time she...™s shopping.
NEW MONKEYS
MONKEY:-Sarah will email F&L with a cc to Mel to ask what the status on the late association fees policy.
MONKEY:-Sarah to e-mail Process to settle on a facilitator.
MONKEY:-Sarah to look in New Member Packet and Book of Agreements and ask around to find out what our agreements are so far, to clarify whether we just need education or a decision on this.
MONKEY:-Sarah to e-mail other Process people if they could do the scheduling?-Not really very hard to do.-Jillian, Jim Sweeton, Gail, [[Elph]].
MONKEY:-Sarah to contact Adi to ask him if he...™d like to present with her at the September meeting.
4.-Discuss process suggestions from Katie.-
- Relates to Sunward process terms, next agenda item.-In general an issue about how we do our processes.
- -Katie lived in student coops during college and after and was on the Board of Directors and is familiar with their processes, things that are helpful in keeping things running well.-One is a way of dealing with blocks ... ...Kwunsensus...:-when a person is about to block a proposal, they determine whether the objection might be something that could be worked out quickly, and if so the objector and proposal writers leave the room and try to hash it out while there is still a lot of energy around the proposal and it might be able to pass with some changes that everyone can agree on.-
- The other issue is around people who don...™t attend meetings regularly but then halt the progress of a decision by not being up to speed on where the group is with proposals and rehashing concerns that had already been brought up.-In the coops, if people do not show up for two consecutive meetings, they lose their ability to vote or block a vote at the third meeting.-In order to gain that right back, they needed to attend one meeting.
- Concern about having a strict attendance policy here.-
- But at least people should be reading the minutes if they can...™t attend.-It...™s to the detriment of the community if people don...™t keep up but then slow the process with objections.
- How about people who are doing childcare?-An excused absence....
- What about situations in which people bring up objections very late in the process?-Is it because they aren...™t comfortable speaking early on?-Could we educate people about the importance of bringing things up early on?-Or of bringing concerns to the committees that are working on them?-Sometimes peoples...™ feelings take a while to percolate and form, so when they speak ...late... in the game, it might be because the idea took that long to formulate.
- Thanks to Katie for sharing her ideas.
5.-Review Process Agreements from Sunward
- What...™s our goal?-To fix something that...™s broken or to look around for ideas that might improve our processes?-We can...™t remember exactly what agreements we have around how we do our process.-We need to research this.
- We really like the Sunward one-pager defining Consensus Terms, including Consent, Consent with Reservations, Stand Aside, and Block.-Would like to read carefully and see if we...™d like to
- MONKEY:-Sarah to look in New Member Packet and Book of Agreements and ask around to find out what our agreements are so far, to clarify whether we just need education or a decision on this.
- Sense that it would be good to work on this and perhaps develop a proposal around this.
6.-Review Frequency of Community [[Meeting]]s
- On e-mail there seems to be a sense that it...™s too soon to stop having two meetings per month.-This week...™s meeting was cancelled due to low agenda traffic.-Let...™s observe what the effects are.-Note also that summer is a low energy time of year.-Let...™s watch to see if the committees start generating more proposals as the fall goes along.-Review again in December, perhaps?-
7.-Scheduling Facilitators, Minute Takers, (and perhaps Timekeepers) for Fall ...™04
- Gail had asked summer folks to give dates they couldn...™t do plus preferred dates and seemed to organize them very easily.-Who can do this?-Wait and see if Gail wants to do it?-MONKEY:-Sarah to e-mail other Process people if they could do the scheduling?-Not really very hard to do.-Jillian, Jim Sweeton, Gail, [[Elph]].
8.-Policy Review at Community [[Meeting]]
MONKEY:-Sarah to contact Adi to ask him if he...™d like to present with her at the September meeting.
- Let...™s do pet policy in October.--Susan is willing to present this at the October 6 meeting as long as she is not facilitating that day.
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9.-Discussion about Fall Training on October 16
- We need to decide who will facilitate and then Sarah is willing to organize a planning meeting with that person.-Let...™s have this at a scheduled Process meeting.-Let...™s shoot for the September 8 Process meeting.
- Claire Tinkerhess ... uses Clear [[Meeting]] model ... if you have an issue, articulate in writing what your issue is, then invite people to come sit in on a meeting on this, have a moderator, and try to narrow in on what the underlying stuff is beneath the issue.-She...™s very good at this.-Need to talk with Jim about how she is at facilitating groups such as ours.
- We know that people want to work on communications stuff, some with an emphasis on diversity, and how that affects how you hear things.
- Claire could help us with active, discerned listening.-
- Like the idea of exposure to more people.-Sandra is wonderful, but it might be nice to be exposed to some other people.-We don...™t know from Jim if she...™s available and how much she costs, etc.
- Better to do this one on one than by e-mail.
MONKEY:-Sarah will call Jim and Jillian and we...™ll try to make a decision by the end of the week.
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10.-Book of Agreements
- Willie has done a lot of work on setting up the structure.-It doesn...™t have much content yet, but the more of us that can poke around in it and give Willie feedback, the better.-Someone will need to put the content in.-Sarah will double check with Willie on this, to see if he...™d have time to put content in during fall or whether he...™d consider doing it in Winter, or we could assign someone else (Process contingency hours? Or?).-Good progress, thanks Willie!
11.-Decision Revisiting Policy
[[Elph]] and Jim not here so can...™t do this.
-12.-Brainstorm on ways to support GO [[Committee]]s
- clarity on decision-making processes, being effective in their work, etc.
- let...™s have a meeting of current and immediate past conveners to explore ...best practices... ... and put together a document for reference for future conveners
- help us ascertain what...™s going on in committees and where any help might be needed
- maybe some standards or formats basic, bare bones structure would help ... eg every meeting has a MONKEY review, tracking system, accountability, how do you keep things on time, etc.
- maybe new conveners need some training?-Support?
- remember Adi had the idea of a convener support group ... once per work session? Once per six months
- this might facilitate rotation of conveners if it was a known job, well-defined, and also perhaps if conveners had term limits?
- convener training might help get more people to facilitate committee meetings?
Other ideas about how to support committees?
- create criteria for what committees can decide about and what needs to come to the community?-What does ...empowered... really mean?
- remembering that Construction [[Committee]] was empowered to make decisions during construction
- Research agreements about the extent to which committees are empowered, provide a refresher on this for the community.-What items need to be brought before the community?-What would people be thankful not to have to discuss as a whole community and would be glad to see committees working on?
- This might expose situations in which decisions were made during a time when it was expedient, but then this became precedent-setting, and later might have caused a problem
- But we...™re more likely to find clear, experienced thinking that has evolved over time.-It would help to surface this.
14.-Fall meetings
- Sarah has a conflict on Wednesday evenings until Nov. 24.
- Change to first Monday and third Tuesday?-Jillian and [[Elph]] are not able to make Monday meetings.- And this would make meetings very close to community meetings -- pluses and minuses to this.
- Change first meeting in September to a time when Sarah, Jim, Jillian, and Susan can meet with the facilitator for October 16 to work on planning the day.-Then Sarah will send out a message to see about alternate meeting times.-Or maybe we...™ll do without Sarah as convener on Wednesdays for a while?