Strategy diagram

Thanks, Claire, I don't know myself where I fit. I usually attend the steering meetings, even though I don't have any specific responsibility. Somehow I've ended up representing the group at "One-Day-Without-Us" meetings. I try to help with events, as and when. Maybe best classed as a generic "volunteer".

Rev 2 of diagram attached. Amendments in red. Further comments welcome.

I can't see the attachment

Sorry, but I can't can't see the attachment

Sorry - malfunction my end. Here it is. Any further comments welcome for next steering group mtg.

Hi claire, I must either have an ancient version of word, or its a loomio glitch, but the doc wont open properly. Could you please email the doc to me and maybe I will be able to open it. Thanks

I have sort of opened it: Here are my ideas.
1) Last nights meeting was a good example of how in my opinion we have now grown to the point where we can't adequately deal with all the key decision making in one meeting where we are all present. Everyone is valuable to the campaign and everyone has different skills to contribute. But by discussing everything withing the steering group, we quite rightly want a say on everything , myself included. We had to defer some important content form last night and this will happen more and more as the campaign grows and we bring more people on board, (if the volunteer sub group is successful!), and make more external contacts.
2) I support the suggestion that the steering or policy group is just that, reviewing finances, policy, forward planning and strategy, and that representatives from more specialist working groups feed back into this group at regular meetings probably fortnightly. The steering group would make recommendations to each of the working groups which they would then action. They would be trusted to get on with it and deliver, and so the steering /policy group would not normally get involved in the finer detail of stalls, meetings, leaflets etc etc, except in unusual circumstances. This does mean that we need to focus on building up the groups asap.
Change is always tricky, but I think we have an opportunity to bring lots more people on board this year which could mean lots more activities and this can only work if we de centralise.
3) We need to counterbalance this by ensuring that all activists remain connected and able to contribute to the debate, as without motivated activists, we are nothing. I can think of two ways to do this.The steering group should consult with all activists using loomio and they should refer to the responses when reaching decisions. Remember that the steering group will include reps from the working groups and any other it co opts. It wont just be the chair, treasurer and secretary! And secondly all activists need to have a forum where they can meet and network and share their ideas so maybe we need to build in monthly or two monthly activists meetings like the one we had at brsli, that are also social with food.

It seems that no chair was appointed after all?Maybe some key people were missing at the David Owen thing?

@lindagraham There was only one candidate, Claire Thomas, and she was appointed by those present at the meeting.

I thought we might have a formal announcement of the outcome of the meeting last night regarding the chair? It seemed to me that we were all very happy with the outcome - I guess that'll be reflected in the minutes.

Some of us have, however, raised questions about whether a much slimmed down steering group is a good idea. Whilst understanding the arguments for that, it seems we are at risk of losing the interpersonal contacts/dynamic between us all (rather than just those within subgroups). Text on screen (loomio/email) is fine as far as it goes but it's no substitute for contact with real people. The possibility of a more frequent strategy meeting (like the brsli one) might be a way round the problem. Didn't we say we'd discuss this at the next meeting?

It is important that we publicise the appointment of a new chair. Email newsletter? Maybe also ask those on our contact lists to confirm/update what contribution they are best placed to make- even if it means a change of group. A simple questionnaire?

I think the main reason we didn't get through our agenda was that the major part of the meeting was, quite rightly, taken up with presentations and discussions with the representatives from the European Movement. Had it been a slimmed down meeting, much would have been lost - I think we were all inspired by what they had to say and I'm delighted there were so many to meet them.

my comments on the diagram:
should we merge events and media? After all, there are no events without media, and little to talk about without events. Over time as we get more activists, we can split these groups, but at the moment the events group isn't really a group.
Outreach and volunteers also sit quite well together- stalls, making berets, commuter calls, all require volunteers. It also means for those of us who are broadly involved , and there are many, they dont have 3 or 4 meetings to go to! There is nothing stopping either of these groups setting up mini working groups to focus on particular projects. It would mean that each group might send a couple of people to the steering group.

I thought that's what was decided at the extended meeting at the BRSLI, i.e.two reps from each group.
Congrats to #Claire on your appointment. Thanks for coming forward!

I'm glad that so many of us decided to attend the steering meeting, and that the EM reps proved so inspiring. Which is certainly more than can be said for David Owen's talk at The Edge last night. 😣

Anna

Thank you everyone for your comments. I attach an updated diagram rev 3, as a pdf file which might be easier to open up. Here are my thoughts/wishes;

Steering group - should remain as free to everyone and plan future strategy however should be less frequent ie every 2-3 months and should be in a venue where we can fit everyone comfortably and be long enough so everyone can have their say. These should be planned in diaries now so that everyone has the chance to attend.

Core group - this is a new group. It is there to deliver the strategy that comes out of the steering group and does this by overviewing and coordinating the sub-groups. Outcome of these meetings to be communicated back to all.

Sub groups - as I said last Thursday I see these as largely autonomous and is where the real work so to speak happens. I would encourage everyone to decide which sub-group suits them best and think about how you can best deliver your bit of the strategy. I like the idea of Media/Events and Outreach/Volunteers coming together initially as two larger groups - indeed had a similar thought myself. I have reflected this in the diagram.

We agreed at the 4 Jan meeting at BRSLI that we need to grow by attracting new members and helping existing members to become more active. I think this set up will appeal to new people as there will be focussed sub-groups for them to attend and 'belong' to and the opportunity every 2-3 months to meet with everyone in a less structured way.

We can discuss this more next Tuesday however we are hi-jacking the media group meeting and we also need to talk Hugo Dixon and Pulse so please post any further comments here to save time at the meeting.

Great diagram, Claire, but can see that Mark has slipped into Outreach (which might be where he belongs) but his input is crucial to Media as he's responsible for our publications and not having him at meetings might affect our decision making.

Mark has posted on this thread that he is happy in Outreach and that his services are open to all. This diagram is to show people's primary responsibilities and we could do with Mark helping on Outreach, but this does not preclude him from coming to Media meetings if he is needed.

Your diagram's great, Claire. There's a lot of overlapping of tasks and roles, but by using Loomio effectively, I hope we'll manage to communicate well and make timely decisions.

I'm following this thread. Thank you Claire. I have been a regular at Alice's Events Group meetings. I will continue there for now if it helps and follow that group if it merges with media (where I might also have contributions to make). I will continue to volunteer on the Saturday stalls as I can. If Outreach/Volunteers seems to fit me better over the next few months, or there's more need there, I'll consider switching. As Ruth says there's a lot of cross-over of skllls and tasks!

Linda, thank you, that is great. Your help and support in Events will be greatly appreciated and I will add you to the diagram. And your second point is well made - if we need to make changes later, we can.

Most of the proposals seem fine to me. However, other commitments mean I can' t contribute to any of the action groups at present. With that in mind my only observation, for what it's worth, is that the assignation of strategy formation to a Steering Group meeting only every 2-3 months will probably hand strategic planning mostly to the core group - a lot can happen in two months. That could have advantages but it would make most Coordinating group work rather remote and possibly ineffective. Maybe the SG should meet monthly?

Just realised latest rev was not on this thread.