Presentation follow-up

The Reef
41

Hi everyone!

An update on our membership situation since the last presentation. We had eight (!) households fill in the survey since then, and one more to come (from Alberto’s mini presentation recently). Everyone has been “assigned” a full member to have a one-on-one with, who becomes their de facto buddy (more on this below).

I think this might make it even more complicated. The main thing is to share the load, in terms of everyone’s energy and time management. If anyone is interested in the full list of who is buddying the current exploratory members, you can find it here: https://c301.nl.tabdigital.eu/f/65253

For various reasons, I’ve fallen behind with my Reef-related tasks recently, one of which is make a detailed post of how we expect the buddy system to work. I really would have liked to have done this before the current round of one-on-ones, so my apologies for that! Team Recruitment and Onboarding have been discussing the best way to approach the buddy system, and about providing clarity for both parties in the process. I hope to have this done by the end of the weekend.

In the meantime, a few things to take note of for those of us who are currently meeting with exploratory members:

  • They all have access to our ‘Key documents’ page, but the Onboarding Manual is the document they should get to know most at the beginning of the process.
  • Ideally the one-on-ones will take place quick enough for them to then attend a plenary meeting before taking their next decision about associate membership.
  • During the one-on-ones, as well as answering the many questions they will have, it is important to give a clear and realistic picture of what being a member of the project entails. In particular: participation (attending plenaries and engaging with the platforms); contribution (being a part of a team and/or finding a role that helps us move forward); financial viability (meeting with the confesseurs and banking institutions); and commitment.
  • After the one-on-ones, signing up for an Edgeryders “handle” (two if it is a couple) and asking Alberto to create a Nextcloud account should happen right away. The buddy can then welcome them to the platform and I can add them to the relevant groups.
  • It’s a good idea to let them know early that they shouldn’t try to read everything, and explain how to keep up with the most current posts.
  • It’s also a good idea to emphasise the centrality of sociocracy and NVC to our group, particularly with regard to decision making, and let them know that training will be available.
  • Finally, we want to find the balance between welcoming new people and helping them to get to know the project and people as much as possible, on the one hand, and not spending a lot of time chasing people, on the other. If people are excited by the project, as we are, it shouldn’t be hard work connecting with them and helping them navigate their exploration.

@Lee and @alberto - feel free to add anything that you think I’ve missed. As mentioned above, I’m going to do a more comprehensive job of this in the near future…

:slight_smile:

4 Likes
42

Great job @ChrisM. The only thing I would add is to highlight the importance of the buddy system itself. I tell my buddies:

  • That they will be meeting with their buddies regularly during their period as associate members.
  • That the purpose of the buddy system is (1) to give associate members a more personalized support to making the decision on whether to go for full membership and (2) to give full members a better sense of how good a fit the associate member is for the extant group.
  • That it is completely OK if they would like to be assigned a different buddy.
4 Likes
43

Good points @alberto! I focussed on the exploratory member phase because they are currently ongoing, but the more comprehensive post should include more about the associate member phase, including everything you’ve said :slight_smile:

44

Great job @ChrisM !

I managed it myself in the begininng but it’s really helpful to go trough the onboarding manual with them AND to explain physically how to use the Edgeryders forum to follow up the conversations and how to look for info.

And less difficult but still good to do the same with Nextcloud.

2 Likes
45

Indeed. This is information that should be given to the exploring members, as it helps them understand the implications of applying for associate membership. Talking to your buddy is just another thing they will do, and it goes in this list: