***** Tools
- Stack
- Go Arounds
-4 Surveys
----- Stack -----
People talk in the order that hands are raised. Facilitator keeps track of the order that hands are raised. This is to give the quieter and gentler voices a chance to speak. Otherwise the loud and aggressive personalities can easily dominate the conversation.
----- Go Arounds ----
Each person has X time to speak or pass. A round is everyone has a turn to speak or pass. The group can do one round or multiple rounds.
If doing feelings Go Around, It person says what he/she/they are feeling in 1 – 3 words or passes. After everyone has had a turn, do it again. I suggest 5 rounds. Focus on feelings in physical body, instead of going into concepts or using the time to make speeches. The purpose of the feelings go around is to awaken our human inter-connection. Whatever our disagreements, all humans share having feelings/emotions.
----- Surveys -----
4 possible surveys for quick finding out where the group is around the proposal, use the ones that are helpful in the moment.
1) Straw Poll,
2) Are you clear about the four basics ?
3) What degree of impact do you see this having on your experience with group ?
4) To what degree do you experience your concerns being heard around this proposal ?
Explanation:
1)--- Straw Poll
Your position on proposal at this moment is
Each person chooses one option, NO or YES or Undecided or Stand aside
Give each person up to 30 seconds to say if they would vote Yes or NO or Stand aside or Pass and up to 30 seconds to say a little more about how he/she/they see the decision affects their experience living in the house.
Or, each person is asked to choose from one of 4 possibilities to get a better understanding of their position
for those who vote “NO”, ask if
-- not a big deal for me
-- difficult and could live with it
-- might move out
-- pass
For those vote “Yes”, ask if
-- not a big deal
-- want it, very helpful for me
-- need it, might move out if it doesn’t pass
-- pass
for those who vote “undecided”
-- need more time to think about and or get more information
-- split, 50% yes and 50% no
-- pass
for those who vote “stand aside”
-- conflict of interest
-- not ready to vote
-- pass
Purpose:
This is about finding where everyone stands in terms of yes,no, stand aside before deciding.
Sometimes, a group can get so caught up in debate, no one realizes everyone is ready to vote yes.
Sometimes, some people may not be aware of how serious this decision is for other members
This can provide critical information for how to move forward.
2) Survey
Are you clear about the four basics ?
1 – Which person or people will implement proposal
2 – What they will do
3 - With which community resources
4 - When or for how long
Purpose:
If these basics are not clear, there is a high chance there will be big problems with implementation
- 3) Survey
What degree of impact do you see this having on your experience with group ?
How many say none ?
Low ?
Medium ?
High ?
Pass ?
Everyone has option to speak up to one minute, answering this question, “Is there something around the impact that you want to share that will help the group make a decision ?”
Purpose:
This is about evaluating how much time to spend discussing proposal. In general, the greater the impact, the more time needed for listening to gather all required information to make an informed decision.
- 4) Survey
To what degree do you experience your concerns being heard around this proposal ?
How many say high ?
Medium ?
Low ?
None ?
Pass ?
Everyone has option to speak up to one minute, answering this question, “Is there something the group has no heard that you want to share that will help the group make a decision ?”
Purpose:
This is about evaluating have we heard enough to make an informed decision. The more people say unheard, the more likely the group is missing critical info for making an informed decision that will work out.