Re: meetings, meetings (FWD) | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: Fred H Olson WB0YQM (fholsonmaroon.tc.umn.edu) | |
Date: Wed, 11 Jan 95 15:49 CST |
On Mon, 9 Jan 95 Chris Hoskin, Broward Commons, HEYHOSKIN [at] AOL.COM was the author of this message but due to a listserv problem it was posted by the COHOUSING-L sysop. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- vicky de monterey, wrote about her concerns with long meetings and little progress to show for it- she is wondering about any technological means of limiting this probloem. Hi Vicky, we at Broward Commons are only three households at present and I can assure you that your concerns are legitimate! We were fortunate to have had a member in the beginning who was also very concerned about this issue. As a result we established a few mechanisms early on that seem to keep the number of dead horses that we flog to a minimum:-). The most important of these for us has been the existense of a specific agenda with time periods scheduled for each topic. If at the end of the allotted time we are still discussing the issue (almost always), the moderator steps in and we make a decision as to whether more discussion is warranted of if we can make a decision immediately. If the group feels that more discussion is needed the decision then becomes whether or not to table the discussion for another meeting (we have a "future agenda items" section at the end of each weeks agenda). I'm sure you are familiar with this stuff from your involvement in the anti-nuke movement (are you familiar with Clamshell Alliance and my personal hero John Sunnukenu:(? ). Any way, you were more interested in specific ways in which groups enhance productivity technologically/electronically. All (mostly) of our agendas are e-mailed in advance of the meetings as are minutes of past meetings, drafts of promotional materials etc. This is very effective as it gives people time to review material before they come to the meetings. Also if one person is working on a specific project, people can give their input during the week and a new draft can be ready for the next meeting. While this electronic aspect of our process has been very effective for us and I would recommend it to any group, we still meet every Sunday evening for two and a half hours. I think these meeting are more effective because of e-mail, but I think more important than the work we are doing at these meetings is the fellowship we are "doing" at these meetings. Someone said something about how the time spent together before moving in is when a group becomes a community and the moving in becomes almost-almost- a technicality. I couldn't agree more. I guess what I am trying to say is that while meetings can be a drag, they should not be dreaded. It has been many a Sunday evening that I was NOT excited about going to our cohousing meeting only to later leave the meeting totaly revitalized and more than glad to be a member of Broward Commons. Thrive on current solar income! Chris Hoskin Broward Commons Ft Lauderdale, FL PS another important factor in an efficient meeting is a hard nosed moderator and an understanding from the group not to take "moderation" personally. Consensus is a bitch!:-)
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