Cohousing-L Mailing List: Helpful meeting structure input. Was: Meeting Length in Sociocratic Communities

[Ruth J Hirsch (heidinys]

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Dear Barbara and folks at Hager Homestead [such a nice name],

For years and years while we were in development and 
after moving in, we used Color Cards in our meetings.  One person told us that 
she took us seriously bec we were using the Cards and running such good 
meetings.  Ours are literal color cards, readily made of construction paper.  
The cards help slow things down and give folks a moment to think about where 
their input goes in the meeting.  
Also, I added a white card to ours. 
 
This means : I suggest we take a moment of silence to breathe.  I am not in our 
Commonhouse r now.  Here is are sets of color cards from Mosaic Commons,  quite 
similar to ours.  

> We use color cards as a tool for reaching consensus, and to help organize our 
> discussions. 
> 
> If you have any questions about the cards or the meeting process in general, 
> please feel free to talk to someone on the facilitation team.
> 
> Discussion Cards:


> Blue  Comment: I have a comment or opinion.
> Yellow        Question: I have a question or need clarification.
> Green 
> Answer: I can provide clarification, by providing information that I feel is 
> pertinent to a question raised.
> Orange        Acknowledgement: I appreciate your contribution made to the 
> group (thank you)!
> Red   Process: I have a process observation (e.g., discussion is off-topic).
> Consensus Cards: 
> Green         I agree with the proposal.
> Yellow        I have a question that must be answered before I make a 
> decision.
> Blue  I am neutral or have some slight reservation.
> Orange        I have a serious reservation but will not block consensus.
> Red   Block: I am against the proposal and feel it would be bad for the group.


In case it’s not obvious,  cards are kept in sets,  clipped together by a paper 
clip.  Before the meeting one of us distributes them so each participant has a 
set.  [I often bring snacks and put them around the tables.  Passing them is 
friendly.]  Most of usneed to remoe the clip and review them.  When someone 
wants to speak they hold up not just their hand,  but the color card that shows 
the function of their comment.  It helps enormously to stop and see what the 
comment adds to the meeting.  

And of course after using them a while,  Hager homestead can adjust them to 
meet your preferences.  


 May the coming time be filled with your hearts desire----- with moments of 
joy, delight, and peace.   And vibrant good health.  
And may goodness ripple out around the world.
Ruth Hirsch,  Cantines Island, A family Friendly Community.  Saugerties.  



Date: Sat, 21 Dec 2024 13:43:18 +0000 (UTC)
From: Barbara Smith <brownsmith82 [at] yahoo.com>
Subject:  Meeting Length in Sociocratic Communities.

We are a new, over-55 cohousing community in Massachusetts, using Sociocracy as 
our governance. We limit meetings to two hours, and some circles allow 90 
minutes. That makes sense because, given our age, we've had our fill of long 
meetings. But sometimes a topic is controversial and members become emotional. 
Facilitation falls apart. What could have been a short easy "consent" topic, 
can take (as in a recent meeting) 25 minutes, with members, including the 
facilitator, frustrated, even angry. But the issue isn't resolved because the 
meeting has to end at 2 pm!! ?Yes, I know that emotions need to be dealt with 
(I've watched Laird Schaub's video on the topic several times, as well as his 
critique of Sociocracy. All makes sense.)
But now, I just want to know: how long do other Sociocratic communities allow 
for meetings? Is the duration open-ended when emotions arise? In such a case 
(above) do we end on time and explore the topic off-line? (We still Zoom our 
meetings.) Finally: for all communities using other governance (such as 
Consensus), how long are your meetings? Do young people tolerate long meetings 
better than Oldsters??Thanks in advanceBarbara Smith, Hager Homestead, 
Littleton, MAbrownsmith82 [at] yahoo.com

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Message: 2
Date: Sat, 21 Dec 2024 09:44:55 -0500
From: Muriel Kranowski <murielk [at] vt.edu>
To: cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org
Subject: Re: [C-L]_ Meeting Length in Sociocratic Communities.
Message-ID:
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mail.gmail.com>
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We're a consensus coho. Our plenary meetings are scheduled for 2 hours and
we do usually stop at 9 PM, or very occasionally maybe 9:05 if everyone
present agrees to go a bit over.

The way we handle meetings that end inconclusively because the time ran out
is that those present are authorized to scheduled a follow-up plenary
meeting one week later. We've had this provision since the beginning. It
isn't invoked very often, but we did it once in 2024 as we worked through a
very complex issue.

I don't know about other communities, but in my 22 years of experience
here, we don't have as many difficult issues to work through at this point
and the decisions we have to make don't carry emotional baggage. Also, the
people who tended to get very emotional no longer live here. Even when a
proposal is exceptionally consequential, the tone of the discussion is
respectful, friendly, and rational. That was not always the case in our
more turbulent youth :)

Hope this helps,
     Muriel @ Shadowlake Village Cohousing


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Message: 3
Date: Sun, 22 Dec 2024 11:51:40 +0200
From: Pare Gerou <paregerou [at] gmail.com>
To: cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org
Subject: [C-L]_ Cohousing in Greece Tours 2025!
Message-ID:
        <CAP+GJ3j7k1zA3YJiAzANBZK4+OScoWNhuasLm-4MRoDFQiqnFg [at] 
mail.gmail.com>
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Dear Cohousing Friends,

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?


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