Hello @reef-external! It’s time to meet up and strategize. And now it’s getting urgent.
When we created the team in 2024, I thought it would be a “political” organ of The Reef, tasked with embedding it in the social and cultural life of Jette and of Brussels at large, relatively removed from core operations. But in 2025 we find ourselves mobilized to communicate more so that we can support the completion of the group. The stakes are higher, and we really need to step up as a team.
This also mean I can no long serve as team coordinator. I am fully engaged in the Coordination Team, and with my situation at work I can barely keep up. I can see I am not doing a good job of keeping the team happy and engaged. I see no solution but step down.
So. I am calling a meeting. Agenda:
Selection of a new coordinator. This is open to all @reeflings. Please think who you would like to see in the role. If you are on the team and want to nominate someone, please make sure the person is aware of the meeting and plans to attend. If you are not on the team and want to nominate yourself, please attend this meeting (and participate in the poll below), or instruct someone to speak on your behalf. Could @ChrisM please point to a resource on how to do a selection process? EDIT: Role description. The coordinator keeps the team moving, making sure objectives are set and activities implemented that lead to reaching those objectives. It is critical to make sure deadlines are set and then met. In this phase, working closely together with @reef-recruitment is critical.
hello, thank you for this post alberto. i could step in if needed. but before i would like to have a more clear mandate. because “communicate more” is abstract and i would like to frame the mission with concrete objectives and performance indicators if possible.
I would not overcomplicate this. The indicator is the number of registrations to the presentations. The entire group depends on this, and we needed action on this since two months ago.
I’m also willing to take up the role of coordinator of team External. I understand the role of coordinator to be one where I do not do all the work but have to make it possible and likely that it gets done, by me and others in the team.
Yes. Coordinator is mostly about staying on top of deadlines. For this team and this phase, working closely together with @reef-recruitment is critical.
Sorry guys, we are moving this weekend the whole family from Leuven to Brussels, so I am afraid I have to miss put on this one, cause too much on the platter already. Good luck with the meeting!
As always, the go-to resource is Many Voices, One Song. Here’s a link to the ebook in Nextcloud: Login – Nextcloud
And here’s a link to the PDF: Login – Nextcloud
Chapter 2.3 talks about circle roles, including the coordinator. If there’s an obvious candidate, it can be as simple as someone proposing that person and then consenting to it, with however many clarification and/or reaction/concern rounds as needed (from zero upwards).
A selection process, on the other hand, is a good way of getting the group to really discuss the possibilities, and often encourages someone who might not have put themselves forward to see that the others trust them to do it. See chapter 3.6 for this.
One of the things that I’ve just read when looking for those chapter numbers is the importance of writing a role description. I think that we don’t do this enough for team coordinators, which means that they’re not always clear on how much management they should be doing with regard to the ongoing tasks that the team is responsible for. Writing a role description is also the best way to start a selections process…
