SUMMARY OF CHECK-IN SHARES

CHECK-OUT

Given the day was coming to an end and sleep was not far off, our check-out question was “What is your dream for the next two day”?

How do we maintain balance/equilibrium when the system is always changing.

 

MONDAY 30TH MAY 2017

LET’S CONNECT

Our connection activity was based around 6 events that we all got to make decisions about and then we explored what we drew on to make those decisions, i.e. values, beliefs and assumptions and other things like perception, past experiences, stage in life, geographical location etc.

The values that people are generally willing to claim were brought into the conversation, e.g. trust, fairness, integrity. The values that we are less willing to claim such as control, power, influence, money etc. were also brought into the conversation to support the gatherers thinking through all we were experiencing as we work through reinventing the organisation.

 

TEAL TALK

We opened up a conversation on “What is Jeder if it is “Tealish? Or is it something else – maybe a hybrid organisation”? We soon realised we were not that clear on what a “teal” organisation is. We used the 3 core elements of “teal” (wholeness, self-management and evolutionary purpose) to explore the development of a common understanding of what “teal” means for Jeder.

Updates on Co-creation

The “teal” conversation was followed by updates from our gatherers using 3 questions as a framework for their updates:

CoSsie’s by Michaela

 

What has happened since the Pittwater Gathering?

We grew very quickly, having 150 participants and 8 CoSsies within 8 months. Very exciting but for some it was overwhelming. Felicia and Kerry have decided to leave the CoSsie work with Jeder and do this work for Anala. I’m disappointed by their decision and it is a shame they could not see it through with us.

 

What is about to happen?

We have investigated the NDIS registration process and while it is a lot of work it is doable. We have established a team to work on the documentation that is required. Pere will lead the team with Michaela’s support, Michelle and Maree will focus on the governance and Jason and Rachael will focus on the Operational Policies. Pere will Jederize all documents and map them to the standards.

 

What do we need to pay attention to – what is emerging?

Getting ready for the Third Party Verification process (TPV). We have Kathy Rees an independent auditor available to support what we need.

Greece by Dee and Michelle

 

What has happened since the Pittwater Gathering?

More understanding of Next Stage World (Teal) principles and understanding that we are learning as we go and that’s okay. Policies, procedures and accountability are important for Next Stage organisations – just because we are boss-less doesn’t mean we don’t have to follow agreed rules. It’s about the way we go about developing the rules (making sure it’s not top down).

Michelle and Dee travelled to Monolithos, Rhodes, Greece to attend the Next Stage Gathering (Teal, next-stage orgs) – they travelled holding the question around TPV and how a highly-regulated initiative could fit in a next-stage organisation. They attended a pre-conference Constellation workshop hosted by Rainer, Lena and Maude and stayed on after a full week for a post-conference Teal Mentoring workshop hosted by George, Chris and Anna.

A couple of things became clearer; 1. we are not fully Teal, nor do we need to be 2. we are quite a way forward on the next-stage path, which was affirmed by others at the gathering 3. CoSsies CAN fit, it we make a commitment for it to (because we don’t have to be Teal).

 

What is about to happen?

Continuing our development as a Next Stage organisation and ensuring that all Jeder team members understand what it is we are creating.

Michelle has joined a newly formed Teal Mentoring group with George, Chris and Anna and will be a Jeder voice in this community of practice. Dee will keep drawing the circles and donuts in her head, as they become clearer with each amendment, as she senses into the shape of Jeder.

 

What do we need to pay attention to – what is emerging?

Our organisational structure is emerging and ever-changing. We need to pay attention to the relationships between each other and continue to grow together. Michaela is attending the next gathering in Rhodes in October.

Membership by Dee

 

What has happened since the Pittwater Gathering?

The roles from Pittwater were vast and Pere did a great job in condensing them for the Slack channels – this has offered the basis for a newly designed membership document which has been emerging for many months – it has been co-designed by Dee and Felicia up until recently.

 

What is about to happen?

Dee will finish the document herself as Felicia has pulled back from Jeder work and Dee feels she has it clear enough in her head to merge half a dozen documents together and finalise a draft to share with the broader Collective.

 

What do we need to pay attention to – what is emerging?

What is emerging is a well-rounded document, which is not overwhelming, (I hope?!?) and will offer new members clearer information. We need to pay attention to the detail in the draft that Dee sends through. A thorough edit, putting yourself in the shoes of a new member, will be required.

Tech and Information Management by Pere

Pere discussed the platforms that we have been using for virtual communications and the different uses they have. He also presented the idea of virtual team work from the perspective of psychological safety and purpose based on the workshop “Work and play in virtual teams” of Nora Ganescu & Gertraud Wegst. There was a discussion around the different levels of technical know how and the way that impacts communication in a virtual environment.

 

What has happened since the Pittwater Gathering?

There was a flurry of activity using the Slack platform which as died down as we’ve realised it’s not useful for all forms of communication. Decision making processes were explored on Slack but weren’t so effective. We moved decision making and discussion to Loomio which is working better. Many people have returned to email as the default form of communication. It is clear that people use technology in different ways and levels of technical know how are not frowned upon.

 

What is about to happen?

Communications will be simplified with email and the Slack general channel being the default method for Collective wide messages. Small teams will continue to use Slack as they see fit. Loomio will continue to be used for collective decision making and in depth discussions. Google drive and

Dropbox are currently being used for storage while a back end to the Jeder website is developed to house standard documents and forms. People will be encouraged to jump into the technology or ask questions if they are unsure and this will later be incorporated into induction processes.

 

What do we need to pay attention to – what is emerging?

There is a need for a more formal induction process for new collective members and if possible in person meetings. There is a lot of information to get through so the best practice is to keep it simple.

Everybody uses email so that was felt to be the best default form of communication. Slack continues to be of benefit to Cossies and for general announcements but not for information management.

Loomio is the best platform for Collective decision making and in depth discussions about proposals and issues that affect everyone.

Virtual communication emerged as a key area to focus on, particularly due to the fact that the Collective is geographically spread out. Psychological safety needs to be paid attention to but members need to understand that virtual communication doesn’t always translate the same way as verbal communication with all of the other non-verbal cues that accompany it. The Hunter Gathering group came up with “Agreed ways to virtually share, connect and make decisions in a safe and supported way that everyone understands and commits to.” This is yet to be fully explored and enacted at a policy level but marked the beginning of discussions about the importance of agreement, connection, involvement in decision-making, safety, support, understanding and commitment. It is the beginning of a foundation for effective collaboration and a quality framework for inviting commitment from and meeting the needs of members.

Dee, Michelle and Lee paid attention to “Paid Roles”. Under this heading they covered off on:

TPV, IT and Administration (Organisational Administration and COSsie Administration).

They got really task focused and drafted a job description for the Organisational Administration Role with a “must have” skill set and desirable skills that included many of the roles identified during the Pittwater Gathering. Many of these roles need attention now and as we transition to self- organising, these roles and who does them can evolve, but for now, someone needs to take on these roles so things get done.

Michelle to work with Shirley to develop up the job description and determine how it might be implemented.

The COSsie Administration Role Job Description to be developed and Michelle and Michaela to work on a cost model for the COSsie Administration Role.

Next it was time to draft a job description for the IT Role. Again, the “must have” skill set was identified and desirable skills that picked up more of the roles from the Pittwater Gathering.

Leigh and Dee to work on the job description.

While they were on a role Dee, Michelle and Leigh tackled Membership Monkeys

Dee and Felicia had been working on membership leading up to the gathering.

Dee mapped out the levels of membership, benefits, what contributions will be required and the process for becoming a member and being a member.

This work is well under way.

TUESDAY 31^ST MAY 2017

We started the day with the good hosting question, “What is alive in us today”?

 

I think it was during this check-in that Pere talked about being an old stone and more about bread making (you really had to be there – really!).

BAKING JEDER BREAD

When they were “baked”, they gathered in groups of 4 and shared their “ingredients” and to complete the recipe, they gathered as a whole group and created a vision for Jeder as a “next stage” organisation (“next stage” is the alternative to “Teal”.

Dee and Leigh will work up a “next stage” graphic.

IMAGES OF THE GATHERERS COMMITMENTS TO INTENTIONAL CHANGE:

 

Gatherers to revisit their commitments in a month’s time to see how they are going with them and celebrate or re-commit.

Change takes intention, attention and caring for yourself.

INTRODUCTION TO RBA

Barbara delivered a session on Results Based Accountability to start us thinking from an outcomes perspective. (insert a hyperlink to the PP slides please)

(note to Dee, Michelle, Michaela – not sure what we decided to do with RBA at this stage)

ROLES, CHANNELS/WORKING GROUPS

The gatherers took some time out to consider the outcome they wanted from our ways of connecting on-line in between our face-to-face gatherings.

This is what emerged that we could agree on.

THIRD PARTY VERIFICATION (TPV)

Confidence was riding high at this point and so the gatherers moved outside to deal with TPV.

A working plan came together with everyone starting to understand where they fitted in the plan; what they could contribute and how they could do it.

We really seemed to be getting the hang of things by this stage. All the ground breaking work achieved at Pittwater was being built on and the gatherers were gaining the clarity they came seeking.