Loomio
Sat 20 Mar 2021 1:49PM

How to use Loomio

LHB Loomio Helper Bot Public Seen by 68

Welcome to Loomio, an online place for communicating and making decisions.

In case you haven't read the group introduction go back and read that 😎 but I will also put the Code of Conduct here as well.

This is an example discussion thread. You can add comments below. Threads are for discussing topics and getting clear outcomes. This thread is about how Loomio works, so post questions about that here.

You are currently reading the thread context, which can be kept up to date with key information and questions that help people engage.

To get started with Loomio:

  • Try commenting in an existing thread, or this one.

Tips for posting on Loomio:

  • To notify a specific person, type @ followed by their name

  • Drag and drop pictures and attachments or click the paperclip icon

  • See 5 ways to use threads for some ideas and tips

If you have any questions, see Loomio Help.

It might also be useful to see an example of an active Loomio group that actively uses consensus based decision making: in this case check this the social.coop group out. A toy example of using Loomio to made a decision about a shared resource can be seen here in the members subgroup (must be a member to view).

Please also see the attached presentation on Using Loomio to engage with Biotech Without Borders. At the Biosummit 6.0 I updated this presentation somewhat for a general audience incorporating the concept of getting paid via Open Collective and you can find that here. My rationale about using these two tools was also delivered at Biosummit 6.0 and I will link that presentation in the thread about software choices at the bottom of the context before the table.

LHB

Poll Created Sat 20 Mar 2021 1:49PM

Have any questions about using Loomio? Closed Sat 27 Mar 2021 1:03PM

Outcome
by Danny Thu 1 Apr 2021 8:44PM

This is the outcome of a proposal or poll which summarizes the results! Since this first poll was just to play around there was no outcome :D

If yes, share your question. If no, you’re ready to comment in your group’s threads!

This Check poll is asking whether you or anyone here has any questions about using Loomio.

Go ahead and try it using the buttons and text field below.

As with any decision or facilitation tool, you will need to respond before it closes.

You can change your position while it is open (perhaps responding to new info).

Try participating! Click one of the buttons.

Results

Results Option Voters
Yes 0  
No 0  
Undecided 1 LHB

0 of 1 people have voted (0%)

D

Danny Mon 22 Mar 2021 1:34PM

There are good help docs and I'm also happy to do some training, especially if multiple people have similar questions.

D

Danny Thu 1 Apr 2021 5:19AM

Also we can use this thread to play around and get used to the features. I am particularly interested to see if I get an email if people react or reply to this comment

D

Danny Sat 30 Oct 2021 1:57AM

I do not get an email with reactions on comments that are not my own

D

Danny Fri 22 Apr 2022 1:00PM

And if you are concerned about notifying people by playing around you can check out the Sandbox subgroup.

However, hopefully all are aware we are all able to unsubscribe from notifications in any thread with a button just below the context.

D

Poll Created Thu 1 Apr 2021 2:37PM

Testing out how a proposal works Closed Sun 4 Apr 2021 4:05PM

Outcome
by Danny Sun 4 Apr 2021 8:17PM

Vik and I voted... there isn't anything special about block. I think it's a veto style vote. There are options to include it and "abstain" separately.

This is a test proposal so we can sandbox around and get a sense for how they work. The help docs for this site are great IMO and this one is particularly relevant to this case.

<testing editing a proposal "silently">

Results

Results Option % of points Voters
Agree 0.0% 0  
Abstain 50.0% 1 D
Disagree 0.0% 0  
Block 50.0% 1 VK
Undecided 0% 7 ID TL E N HI J EJ

2 of 9 people have voted (22%)

D

Danny
Abstain
Thu 1 Apr 2021 2:37PM

Because ambiguity!

VK

Vikram Krishnamoorthy
Block
Thu 1 Apr 2021 2:41PM

What does block do?

VK

Vikram Krishnamoorthy Thu 1 Apr 2021 4:58PM

I did not get a notification that the proposal was edited, either in email or in loomio

D

Danny Sat 3 Apr 2021 3:08PM

Yes if we don't choose the notify option it appears one can modify their own posts silently. Admin are also allowed to modify posts. This history is saved in the edit history which is accessible though the expanded options (...)

D

Danny Sat 3 Apr 2021 5:16PM

@Yuriy Fazylov you asked about reactions and replies. This section of the help doc might help clarify. Replying to this comment will notify me and I can answer any related questions.

VK

Vikram Krishnamoorthy Sat 3 Apr 2021 5:25PM

one frustrating thing about loomio - I don't see an easy way to activate notifications for all activity, or all activity within a channel, or something, and especially for some of the people in the organization, it's going to be important to be able to easily keep on track of everything that has updates without clicking into each thing, considering loomio's more specialized role as decision making software.

D

Danny Sat 3 Apr 2021 5:34PM

I don't think that it would be nessarily useful to see all activity but I think it's a group setting. Did you set it on both the main group and officers for yourself?

Here is the relevant doc

DU

Poll Created Sat 17 Apr 2021 12:55AM

was this efficient? Closed Tue 20 Apr 2021 12:06AM

Outcome
by Danny Fri 8 Apr 2022 1:37PM

Chirag was testing a poll.

curious if people circle back

Results

Results Option Voters
Yes 3  
No 1  
Undecided 0  

4 of 4 people have voted (100%)

D

Danny Sat 17 Apr 2021 10:40PM

@chirag raval It's not clear to me what your poll is about. I understand just wanting to try out a feature, but the question about "Was this Efficient" I do not understand.

DU

[deactivated account] Sat 17 Apr 2021 10:46PM

that was a test. if i can delete it I would.

D

Danny Sat 17 Apr 2021 11:06PM

No worries. The thread is for people to play around to get a sense of the tool. Just keep in mind that you triggered an email notification to all the people on the thread. Maybe edit your question to be more descriptive so people who read it don't think it's some sort of spammy message.

DU

[deactivated account] Sat 17 Apr 2021 11:27PM

I cannot make any edits so if anyone is wondering that is what I can tell. Also is the goal a resounding YES here? I would think it is.

D

Danny Sun 18 Apr 2021 1:17AM

Try the 3 dots. If that doesn't work i guess it's a good to know that non-admins can't edit polls. You should be able to edit your comments though.

D

Danny Wed 21 Apr 2021 1:50AM

Could you share with us the result of your poll?

DU

[deactivated account] Wed 21 Apr 2021 1:59AM

D

Danny Wed 21 Apr 2021 2:16AM

Oh you see the same thing I see. For some reason I had assumed that the votes would be open to your inspection. If you want to sum up the outcome of your vote please do! As I mentioned in my comment it would be preferable if you did not create unnecessary email by notifying all. Thanks for playing around.

I don't think I told you but making threads is restricted to admins of the group. But if you let me know the thread you want to make I'm happy to green-light it and let you post.

YF

Yuriy Fazylov Sat 14 Aug 2021 4:32AM

Notifications, if there are any, are missing me.
Is anything happening with BWOB?

D

Poll Created Tue 15 Feb 2022 3:56PM

Loomio training Closed Sat 26 Feb 2022 8:01PM

Outcome
by Danny Sun 27 Feb 2022 8:31PM

Thanks to everyone who voted. I created two events for scheduling flexibility and will likely post the weekend one for wider attendance.

The first was on Thursday March 10th at 20:00 UTC-5 and the second was on Sunday March 20th at 13:00 UTC-5

The slides are attached to the context of this thread

Hello all,

It's been expressed many times that this Loomio software has learning curve. Although I find the help docs of excellent quality, I also understand that it's not easy to learn something new alone (that's one of the ways I've been thinking/talking about the Online Microbiology Journal Club and I think of it as being loosely associated with the value of Collaboration as well as the purpose of community). This is also going to the first time I try and nudge everyone to respond to a poll. For some of you I only have Loomio as our point of contact so I may not be able to nudge effectively, but I'll try my best with the tools I have.

If you have someone you think I should add to this poll please let me know in a comment on this thread.

And let me know what times you are available to do a 1h online training on Loomio.

Results

UTC Votes D DU JQ ID MTM T AS VK CC TL EJ JS E GL BM CT N JS
Tue  8 Mar 2022  1:30PM
6.5
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Thu 10 Mar 2022  1:00PM
6.5
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Thu 10 Mar 2022 11:00PM
9
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Fri 11 Mar 2022  1:00AM
10.5
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Mon 14 Mar 2022 10:00PM
8.5
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sun 20 Mar 2022  4:00PM
9
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sun 20 Mar 2022  5:00PM
9.5
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

18 of 39 people have voted (46%)

JQ

Jason Qu Tue 15 Feb 2022 3:56PM

Tue 8 Mar 2022 1:30PM
Thu 10 Mar 2022 1:00PM
Thu 10 Mar 2022 11:00PM
Fri 11 Mar 2022 1:00AM
Mon 14 Mar 2022 10:00PM

Potentially out of town that second week of March, confirming this week

AS

Ayesha Sameer Tue 15 Feb 2022 3:56PM

Tue 8 Mar 2022 1:30PM
Thu 10 Mar 2022 1:00PM
Thu 10 Mar 2022 11:00PM
Fri 11 Mar 2022 1:00AM
Mon 14 Mar 2022 10:00PM
Sun 20 Mar 2022 4:00PM
Sun 20 Mar 2022 5:00PM

Based on my availability

VK

Vikram Krishnamoorthy Tue 15 Feb 2022 3:56PM

Tue 8 Mar 2022 1:30PM
Thu 10 Mar 2022 1:00PM
Thu 10 Mar 2022 11:00PM
Fri 11 Mar 2022 1:00AM
Mon 14 Mar 2022 10:00PM
Sun 20 Mar 2022 4:00PM
Sun 20 Mar 2022 5:00PM

mornings weekdays are hard - unsure about my schedule in march but might be available then

TL

Tina L Tue 15 Feb 2022 3:56PM

Tue 8 Mar 2022 1:30PM
Thu 10 Mar 2022 1:00PM
Thu 10 Mar 2022 11:00PM
Fri 11 Mar 2022 1:00AM
Mon 14 Mar 2022 10:00PM
Sun 20 Mar 2022 4:00PM
Sun 20 Mar 2022 5:00PM

Evening works best!

JS

Julia Schalk Tue 15 Feb 2022 3:56PM

Tue 8 Mar 2022 1:30PM
Thu 10 Mar 2022 1:00PM
Thu 10 Mar 2022 11:00PM
Fri 11 Mar 2022 1:00AM
Mon 14 Mar 2022 10:00PM
Sun 20 Mar 2022 4:00PM
Sun 20 Mar 2022 5:00PM

Weeknight evenings work best for me!

GL

Guillermo L.C. Tue 15 Feb 2022 3:56PM

Tue 8 Mar 2022 1:30PM
Thu 10 Mar 2022 1:00PM
Thu 10 Mar 2022 11:00PM
Fri 11 Mar 2022 1:00AM
Mon 14 Mar 2022 10:00PM
Sun 20 Mar 2022 4:00PM
Sun 20 Mar 2022 5:00PM

European afternoon works best for me!

D

Danny Tue 15 Mar 2022 3:18PM

@Ellen Jorgensen Wanted to add a pointer here on a comment I saw on your first thread and proposal. Chirag and I both made independent comments on your thread. To give the commenter notice and to organize the thread better the reply button (indicated in red) can be used to add a reply to a specific comment. The preferred behaviour would have been to use the reply button (circled in red) to address your request for clarification to Chirag directly. You are also able to see where I clicked the reply button (arrow in red) to open a response to your comment. I then thought it would be better to add that to this help thread so others can also learn from this example.

D

Danny Tue 19 Apr 2022 8:06PM

I was reviewing a thread and found a question about the Code of Conduct I'd like to repost here:

Q: In terms of “Ask Questions First/When in doubt askwho do I ask if the respondent I have chosen is not replying? What and where is the chain of respondents’ contacts? When is a good time to ask? (more to come)

A: I interpret the code ofAsk Questions First/When in doubt ask” as as speaking towards they way in which we assume something of the ideas of others but may forget to ask for clarification before responding to the idea.

  • If the respondent you have chosen is not responding, then unfortunately that conversation may be over. A big part of the Codes of Conduct is to eliminate harassment but still allow for disagreement and the voicing of disagreement. Might be better to phrase your comment as "I disagree with ... because I believe ..." and leave it there. I would suggest not replying directly anymore and, if you are still interested in contributing to the thread, thinking about the context of the thread and how a new comment may continue or promote a different discussion. It's possible a thread might have mutually incompatible ideas, even ideas that are not aligned with the Mission Vision Values, but until a poll gains alignment on some issue (and even then it's only as strong as its quorum) then I am of the current opinion we can tolerate the disagreement.