Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Quorum

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

On May 13, 2013, at 3:58 PM, Mabel Liang <mabel [at] twomeeps.com> wrote:

> Interesting!  What's your "posted for objections" process?  Particularly
> the time frame?

We don't have a specific policy on this related to meetings. Our 
decision-making policy allows posting for objections for certain kinds of 
decisions -- like under a certain amount and within a team's budget. We have 
extended this to decisions in meetings that need further review. One area is 
the wording on policies. Rather than wordsmith in meetings or bringing it back 
to another meeting, someone does the wording and posts it on email for 
objections. The time for response is usually a week, sometimes four days.

What is a minor change in a proposal is certainly a matter of judgement but in 
general it is one that changes a condition or detail, not the major thrust. 
Often clarifying wording that might have been misunderstood or not understood 
at all.

On other decisions it could be shorter. The facilities team just decided to 
replace a new security door on one of the corridors and gave 24 hours notice as 
an emergency decision. They had just learned that the door couldn't be fixed 
and it had to be replaced since it is a security door.

In sociocracy, the goal is the best decision. If someone who was not at a 
meeting has information after consent has been achieved at a meeting, the 
decision would be revisited. The issue is the _substance_ of the decision, not 
the process. If you are working off information and measurements rather than 
SWAG or preferences, this is easier to determine.

In several contexts lately it has become clear that all of us white collar 
workers have drifted to thinking meetings are the work. Meetings are not the 
work. The work is what you do when you walk out the door. 

Meetings are work because you are making a decision and decisions are hard, but 
the meetings are about what happens outside the meeting, not the meeting 
process. That shift in thinking makes it easier to avoid the focus on excessive 
detailing of process. If it's an incomplete or bad policy decision, it needs to 
be revisited whether the proper process was followed or not.

Sharon
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Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org