Study groups – sociocracy and non-violent communication

The Reef
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Hi @reeflings!

@reef-governance has discussed organising regular study groups for the concepts that are particularly important for a project such as ours, both in terms of manifesting the vision and sustaining a well-functioning community.

The idea is to have two study groups a month, one for sociocracy and one for NVC. Obviously, this will be a bit much for those of us who are already feeling overloaded with the number of meetings and tasks already taking place, but for others we hope it will be a welcome opportunity to become more familiar with these two essential concepts. Here’s how we envision these two study groups happening, but feel free to make suggestions if you can see a better way of doing it :slight_smile:

For the sociocracy study group, this would take place once a month online. Initially it would involve discussing one particular chapter of the ‘Many voices, one song’ book. Later, we could focus more deeply on a particular aspect of sociocracy, and there’s no shortage of teaching and learning materials online. I would be happy to facilitate the first few sessions, with the idea that others would do so later.

For the NVC study group, this would take place once a month in person. There are two reasons for doing it in this way rather than online: firstly, as those of us who did the 6-hour course recently discovered, it’s a bit more of an intimate process, which involves a certain amount of vulnerability, thus more compatible to being together; secondly, it’s a chance to combine it with a brunch, lunch or other activity, creating a nice excuse to spend some social time together. We could recreate some of the activities from the 6-hour course, as there was often not enough time to do them all, or find others online. Initially, we thought this group would only involve those who had done the 6-hour course, but actually now I think it should be open to whoever wants to be involved. Once again, I would be happy to facilitate the initial sessions, unless anyone else wanted to do so.

As these are voluntary exercises, there’s no need to put it to the group for consent (I think), so if you are interested in one or the other of these study groups, express your interest below. As always, any comments, feedback, suggestions, etc. welcome… :slight_smile:

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Thank you so much for this!

I’d be happy to facilitate in both groups if there would be an interest.

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I’m in for both!
Although 1/mo for each means twice a month, which is quite a lot.
But I guess we can pick and choose dates, and drop in whenever we can, right?

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It may well be… it could just as easily be alternate months. Perhaps those who are interested can specify how often would be ideal for them, and we can go from there :slight_smile:

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i’m in for both! thank you for this great idea

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Also in for both and up for the idea of making it alternating months. Thank you :slight_smile:

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Just to let everyone know who is interested in the idea of these study groups, it is still on the cards, but has slightly fallen down the priority list with so many meetings and activities going on at the moment. My hope is that in the new year, when the team meetings develop into a bit more of a settled rhythm, we can find one evening or afternoon a month to further our understanding of core concepts together, and maybe even use it as an excuse to socialise a little at the same time :slight_smile:

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I’d also be interested in joining a potential NVC study group! Once a month could work for me (if I only join the one), but every second month is fine as well :slight_smile:

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@ChrisM, would you be willing to hand over the responsibility for organising these meetings to somebody else? It’s not a reproach at all, it’s more that I think now is a good moment to offer people opportunities to take more ownership, and this seems like a good candidate for that. Would that be ok with you?

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@Lee - absolutely fine to hand the responsibility for this over to someone else. I’ve got a lot going on with the teams I’m involved in at the moment, as well as getting the ongoing facilitation training happening, so more than happy for someone else to step up and take ownership of the study groups :slight_smile:

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Hi @reeflings,

We (@manuelpueyo and I) would like to start an NVC practice group for the Reef - more here, inlcuding about how to join/sign up for the sessions :slight_smile:

If any of you has feedback on how we propose to approach this do let us know of course!

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Great work @BarbaraG and @manuelpueyo !

Not sure everyone will be able to make it every 3 weeks in light of current commitments, but as you say in the doc, it can be just as effective with a changing group dynamic. I took part in an NVC weekend recently, and I’m more convinced than ever that in a project such as the Reef, the more people that have a good understanding of NVC, the better our chances of moving forward together.

Looking forward to the first session!

:slight_smile:

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Hi @reeflings! Just a little reminder that we’ll be starting the NVC practice sessions this week: on Wednesday, 8 March, at 19:30, at Chris and Sarah’s. Everyone is welcome to join. There’s more info in the document hyperlinked in my previous post (scroll up), including how this will work. The general idea is that everyone reads the first chapter of Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life before we meet and then we go through the exercises pertaining to that chapter together (which should last about 2,5h). Hope to see some of you!

PS. We have the book in epub. For reading it in the browser just search ‘read epub online’ - this page seems to work well for example.

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Next NVC practice group meeting: 21 March, 19:30, at Chris and Sarah’s

We will go through the exercises for chapter 2 of Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life. Great if you could read the chapter beforehand!

(If you missed the first session you can easily go through chapter 1 alone or just skip that.)

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Next NVC practice group meeting: 18 April, 19:30, at Claudia’s

We will go through the exercises for chapter 3 of Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life. Great if you could read the chapter beforehand!

(If you missed the first sessions you can easily go through chapter 1 and 2 in the main book alone (they are not long) and either not do the exercises in the workbook or do them alone.)

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Next NVC practice group meeting: 3 May, 19:30, at Chris and Sarah’s in Anderlecth

We will go through the exercises for chapter 4 of Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life. Great if you could read the chapter beforehand!

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