One of the most important conclusions about last year’s governance reform, was that we missed the Coordination Group, the group that brings together all Team Coordinators.
With a bit of delay I am now taking up that task to bring that group back to life. Based on talks I have had with some people over the passed couple of months, I would also like to use this as an opportunity to move towards more shared leadership.
The process I have in mind would look like this:
14/01: kick-off meeting with an invitation to at least one person per team plus everybody who is interested.
02/02: discussion of some of the topics that were brought up in the kick-off meeting and co-creation of some of the Group’s future features (role of the Group Leader, aims & domains document, teams set-up, how to organise more reviews etc).
09/02: selection of the Coordination Group Leader (plus any other roles that the Group wants to create)
15/02: consent in the plenary meeting on the Coordination Group’s proposal on how it wants to function (selected Leader, teams set-up, review mechanisms etc).
(the dates can still be changed, but I preferred to fix them provisionally, given that agendas fill up fast)
A small note: if I am currently taking the lead on all this, it’s because it’s in my group description of Group Coordinator (current role description: Login – Nextcloud). What is implicit in the Powerpoint though, is that I am proposing to mothball the role of Group Coordinator, and to replace it with that of Coordination Group Leader plus some other roles that the Coordination Group might choose to create (see slides 15-16). My reasoning is simple: it is much more aligned with sociocracy, and if it works out well it will also bring more shared leadership. All this is just a first thought-starter of course, so up to Group to make its own choices (and for the plenary to give its final consent).
As for myself: I might end up as a member of the Group because I might still be selected as a Team Leader here or there, but I will have a strong preference for not being selected as the Coordination Group Leader. Given the high stakes of our group however and following Starhawk’s advice, I will of course be available for any kind of support that is needed to make this transition a success.
Some practical things:
To all the Team Coordinators: can you please schedule a strategy meeting between 15/01 and 01/02 (if possible) to discuss the questions that will be sent your way (see slide 17), and make sure you also select a new Team Leader (see slide 7) before the meeting of 09/02?
To anybody who is interested to attend the first meeting, can you please fill in the poll below, so that we can see whether we have all teams covered?
For those who have changed their choices about their teams (see slide 12), can you please indicate them with a yellow highlight in the “Teams set-up” file? (Team Reef > Teams set-up: Login – Nextcloud)
Poll to confirm your attendance to the kick-off meeting, 14/01 19:00-21:00, online
Teams listed: those that are active or that are considered a necessary member (again: everything can still be changed later)
Ideally it would be 02/02. I’ll correct it in the agenda.
Just to be clear though: everything can still be changed, including the agenda of the first meeting. What matters to me is that we get together with those who are interested, and that we take it together from there.
With regards to the draft circle structure we touched on yesterday.
Does anyone have, or would be willing to make, a little outline of our current structure.
I have a bit of difficulty understanding exactly what changes in the yesterdays draft compared to the current situation
I have followed up with two tiny practical things:
I have resuscitated the “reef-coordination” group added everybody who was there or who expressed an interest. Once the Team Leader selections have been finalised I’ll remove the people who are not Coordinators (or you could also do that yourselves).
I have added two tables at the beginning of the agenda document: one for the backlog (any topics you want to list for future meetings), and for questions that need clarification. If something would come up during your team discussion, you now have the possibility to share it there.
reef-coordination : the group of coordinators of the different teams
how do we address the reeflings of the Sosim team, formerly known as the coordination team and previously tagged by ‘reef-coordination’ ? We now tag them by coral-board?
For now we are using “coral-board” it seems. Let’s see what comes out of the aims and domains discussion, and if need be we’ll create another tag. Does that work?
We have scheduled a meeting with the architects on 02/02 (not having many other options and the matter being urgent), which makes that Els and I won’t be able to attend this Coordination Group meeting.
Would you agree to cancel this meeting of the Coordination Group, and just see each other again at the meeting on 09/02?
I believe maybe the coordination group is not a priority now, but here is the link to info on T.External for this group (according to what was requested in the slides to re-launch this group): Login – Nextcloud
Thanks a lot for that document! A lot of thought went into that, much appreciated!
I would personally really like to maintain the meeting, because setting up this group is really urgent for me. I have created a new post for all future general communication here: Coordination Group: general communication 2026
Back in January, the Coordination Group asked every team to look inward and define their objectives, roles, and priorities for the coming months.
Several teams have made great progress on this exercise. However, we haven’t crossed the finish line yet. Between the permit news and “life happening” to many of us, it’s been a heavy few weeks. At our last coordination meeting, we realized we didn’t have enough content to move forward yet, so we used the time to reflect on how the exercise went so far.
2. Transition in coordination
We have nevertheless moved forward with the transition of Lee’s coordinator role. For the time being, Els, Sophie and I have stepped in to cover Lee’s tasks until a new structure is defined and the Coordination Group selects its Circle Leader. Instead of selecting somebody right of the bat, the idea is to take an experimental approach in which people who are interested can try on certain tasks, so that the people in the Coordination Group can figure out together how they can make it work.
3. Our “Call to action”
To keep our momentum, we need to be the “actors of the change” we want to see:
If your team hasn’t finished the Team Leader selection process and discussing your roles and priorities, please try to do so soon and before the next meeting. (A poll is in the pipeline to set the date for thee next coordination meeting, ideally in three weeks from now).
Insert your contribution in the file where we centralize all input : Login – Nextcloud
When the coordination group will meet, please ensure at least one person from is there to represent your team
4. Next steps
Next meeting in about 3 weeks from now. By then all Team Leaders should ideally be selected, so we know who is part of the Group. Main focus for the meeting: operational issues and how the transition is going.
Continue to experiment with the division of tasks.
One of the next meetings: selection the Coordination Group Leader. After that: proposal for consent at the plenary.
Hi @LuciaM@reef-asbl-board , we noticed that none of the ASBL board members can make it to this meeting. Is input from us beforehand needed? Or is there another way we can accommodate?
