Loomio
Thu 16 May 2019 1:00AM

Want to call a crew together? Here's a simple guide (rough, WIP)

JG john gieryn Public Seen by 49

Want to become a caller?

Callers are people who invite the first call, and may do some of the early coordination and alignment-finding; e.g., what would serve this group best? See this example pre-survey that a couple crews used.

Callers are not necessarily a facilitator nor a coordinator. In our experience, small groups are most successful when every participant steps up to be a co-creator; giving all participants the chance to coordinate meetings, agendas, and facilitate can bring a lot of value and resiliency to your group.

Quick start guide
at its simplest (and roughest draft 😛):

  1. Create an invitation
  2. Send it to folks (in Microsolidarity, directly, or beyond)
  3. Find a time and a video client* with which to meet
  4. Host your first call!

*we recommend Jitsi as a free and open source option, and zoom if you have access to a paid zoom subscription

Key conversations when initiating

Below are a few prompts to help you sort out some foundational bits that will support your group’s success. There’s many more approaches and conversations that can serve early stage groups; these are just a few that feel important to us, from my colleagues (and my) recent experiences. There’s no ‘one size fits all’. Use what feels best to you, for your unique circumstance ☺

  1. How do you all want to interact together? What’s the intention or flavor behind your meetings?

a. You can ask things like, ‘what would be wildly ideal’ and ‘what would spoil this for you’... exploring the extremes of what would be good for each individual can help you create healthy boundaries and expectations for the group

  1. Setting a recurring meeting time

a. having a concrete cadence, not having to find a time again and again, has a big impact on your group’s chances!

  1. What are folks ready to commit to?

a. This is the culminating question of the previous two explorations, and also gives people a concrete sense of ownership and dedication to the plan you laid out

b. It’s helpful if the commitment question includes a proposal of a duration—at the end of which you’ll have a retrospective or group reflection—in addition to the intention and cadence

Finding people to invite
Check out this spreadsheet to get the names, and some emails, of those who have raised their hands via Enspiral Summer Fest.

Documentation

Share the love. As Rich has invited as well, it would be great if you would document your experiment as you go along, in whatever way works for you. @richarddbartlett has raised his hand to be lead librarian, and is reachable through his Loomio profile (click his name). Our best bucket for collecting documentation and reports, insights and learnings, is currently the "Documentation" thread.