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Advice to steward a Unit

Do-ocracy

To avoid we get into decision paralysis, our governance/decision-making is very do-ocracy oriented: people are encouraged to jump in and start working on the challenges/opportunities they see. No need to ask for permission to develop an idea/proposal.

Working Out Loud

To avoid duplication of work and avoid reinventing the wheel, we encourage Working Out Loud: 

Find the appropriate channel (or in #general if you don’t know where else to post)

Share the challenge/opportunity you want to work on and ask other’s opinions and context they might have (start a page in our Notion to document and ensure everyone has access and can find it)

Then start working on the issue and regularly share updates (weekly or so)

Making progress in fluid teams

Working Out Loud often leads to many people jumping into the topic and giving their opinion. There’s a sudden burst of interest that can die down as people get busy with other stuff. This can create a lot of confusion about who’s part of the team, who needs to be included or informed, how to move forward, etc. And as a result initiatives can take a lot of energy and time to progress.

To mitigate the issue above, we usually define 3 tiers of engagement within Units: 

supporters: no commitment

contributors: showing up to meetings and doing some work async

leads: stewarding the initiative

However, in new initiatives, these tiers are likely unclear, a formal Unit hasn’t been created and there are no mapped roles. So we recommend leading with proposals. Here’s an example of how that can look:

individual shares an idea and asks for feedback

individual runs a workshop to discuss it

individual creates a proposal and asks for feedback (the proposal can be either the concrete change to be implemented and required resources, or a proposal to create a Unit to define and execute the work).

individual formally puts the proposal up for a decision (see
🤔
Decision-making
)

As you can see this is a very individual-led process but with collective input. 

Involving other leads

Sometimes, others will want to get heavily involved. We want to have an inclusive and collaborative culture as that raises the quality of output but we also want to ensure we can quickly test things and then iterate as needed or build on top, instead of ending in endless discussions.

To achieve this, you can invite others to join at every step, provided they have the following:

Enough time and headspace (as a reference point, I usually block a minimum of 8 hours a week to lead a team/project, and minimum 4 hours week for smaller things).

Flexibility or matching schedules so you can easily work together.

Ability to commit (can they work on this until completed or at least for a significant enough period of time?).

Relevant skills and expertise for the topic at hand (if they just want to learn, is best they stay as a supporter or contributor but not a lead. If no one has the skills and commitment, a non-skilled person can start the initiative and then find others to collaborate).

Let them think about it and make a decision by themselves, then you can provide feedback as needed (and they can give you feedback too!).

Risks to look out for

When roles are unclear and no one is actively leading, gatherings can become the center of the work. People show up with no agenda hoping to advance the topic but this is often ineffective.

Prepare gatherings in advance to get what you need to advance the initiative or develop a proposal. If you don’t know what you need to advance the initiative, say it in the chat, collect ideas and feedback and then make a proposal or simply share your conclusion and start working on it.

Some complex topics might require discussion to figure out the key challenges/questions that need to be explored, but most topics don’t require it.

Importantly, meetings with fluid membership are not ideal to get approval on proposals. Instead, use our 🤔
Decision-making
 

Advice to steward a Unit

Do-ocracy

To avoid we get into decision paralysis, our governance/decision-making is very do-ocracy oriented: people are encouraged to jump in and start working on the challenges/opportunities they see. No need to ask for permission to develop an idea/proposal.

Working Out Loud

To avoid duplication of work and avoid reinventing the wheel, we encourage Working Out Loud: 

Find the appropriate channel (or in #general if you don’t know where else to post)

Share the challenge/opportunity you want to work on and ask other’s opinions and context they might have (start a page in our Notion to document and ensure everyone has access and can find it)

Then start working on the issue and regularly share updates (weekly or so)

Making progress in fluid teams

Working Out Loud often leads to many people jumping into the topic and giving their opinion. There’s a sudden burst of interest that can die down as people get busy with other stuff. This can create a lot of confusion about who’s part of the team, who needs to be included or informed, how to move forward, etc. And as a result initiatives can take a lot of energy and time to progress.

To mitigate the issue above, we usually define 3 tiers of engagement within Units: 

supporters: no commitment

contributors: showing up to meetings and doing some work async

leads: stewarding the initiative

However, in new initiatives, these tiers are likely unclear, a formal Unit hasn’t been created and there are no mapped roles. So we recommend leading with proposals. Here’s an example of how that can look:

individual shares an idea and asks for feedback

individual runs a workshop to discuss it

individual creates a proposal and asks for feedback (the proposal can be either the concrete change to be implemented and required resources, or a proposal to create a Unit to define and execute the work).

individual formally puts the proposal up for a decision (see
🤔
Decision-making
)

As you can see this is a very individual-led process but with collective input. 

Involving other leads

Sometimes, others will want to get heavily involved. We want to have an inclusive and collaborative culture as that raises the quality of output but we also want to ensure we can quickly test things and then iterate as needed or build on top, instead of ending in endless discussions.

To achieve this, you can invite others to join at every step, provided they have the following:

Enough time and headspace (as a reference point, I usually block a minimum of 8 hours a week to lead a team/project, and minimum 4 hours week for smaller things).

Flexibility or matching schedules so you can easily work together.

Ability to commit (can they work on this until completed or at least for a significant enough period of time?).

Relevant skills and expertise for the topic at hand (if they just want to learn, is best they stay as a supporter or contributor but not a lead. If no one has the skills and commitment, a non-skilled person can start the initiative and then find others to collaborate).

Let them think about it and make a decision by themselves, then you can provide feedback as needed (and they can give you feedback too!).

Risks to look out for

When roles are unclear and no one is actively leading, gatherings can become the center of the work. People show up with no agenda hoping to advance the topic but this is often ineffective.

Prepare gatherings in advance to get what you need to advance the initiative or develop a proposal. If you don’t know what you need to advance the initiative, say it in the chat, collect ideas and feedback and then make a proposal or simply share your conclusion and start working on it.

Some complex topics might require discussion to figure out the key challenges/questions that need to be explored, but most topics don’t require it.

Importantly, meetings with fluid membership are not ideal to get approval on proposals. Instead, use our 🤔
Decision-making
 