Setting up a New Group

Guidance for structuring group or project team

A Clear Structure

Too often, we jump into projects based on one or two leaders’ ideas about what needs to get done. People are swept along, often with many unchecked assumptions about what they’re doing, how much power they have, and what interests they serve. New groups or project teams are most effective when structural issues are clarified up front.

✓ Has your group …

︎ …clearly defined and agreed upon its specific PURPOSE?

︎ ....clarified its decision-making authority within the organization or coalition?

︎ … determined what it means to be a member?

︎ ….decided what interest groups are represented by its members?

︎ ….identified the people you’re accountable to and clarified its relations and communications with them?

︎ … clearly defined the responsibilities and expectations for all members?

︎ ... determined what expertise and authority are needed among the members and identified members’ training or orientation needs?

︎ … developed a procedure for orienting new members as they enter?

︎ … agreed upon how decisions will be reached?

︎ … established working agreements for all members to be accountable to?

︎ … established how you share communication within and outside of the group?

︎ ...determined how conflicts will be attended to?

︎ … established how to evaluate what is and isn’t working

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Clarity of Purpose

1. Does your group have a clear purpose? Be as specific as possible.

2. What are you promising, what are you delivering, and what are you telling people about the group’s purpose?

3. Who are you accountable to, outside of people in this group?

These next questions will help determine if your definition is clear enough.

4. What is and isn’t within the group’s “turf”?

We will address:

We will not address:

5. Are there short-term purposes that must be addressed? By when?

Short-term Goals:

Deadline:

5. Are there long-term purposes that are dependent on the first ones?

Long-term Goals: Deadline:

7. Do all members of the group share this understanding of purpose and goals?

❑ Yes!

❑ No What additional dialogue does the group need to have?

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Responsibility of Group Members

1. What are the responsibilities of group members?

2. How are responsibilities distributed among group members?

3. Is there clarity and agreement about this division of responsibilities?

❑ Yes

❑ No

Try out this tool for making roles and responsibilities clear.

To understand the pitfalls of structurelessness read this.

Clarify Team’s Authority

The group is operating within a larger organization or coalition. You will need to know – and have a shared understanding of – the boundaries on your power.

1. Can all group decisions be automatically implemented?

❑ Yes

❑ No

If YES, who arranges implementation?

How will the group communicate its decisions to the parties that need to implement them?

If NO, who must review and approve decisions?

How will the group communicate its decisions to the parties that need to review them?

What timelines will the reviewers commit to for responding?

2. Can some decisions, within certain boundaries, be automatically implemented?

❑ Yes

❑ No

If yes, what are those boundaries?

Over which areas, functions, and/or people does the group have authority to implement decisions?

How will the group communicate its decisions to the people impacted by them?

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Ensure That Your Group Communicates Effectively internally with one another

While relationship is important in any group work, clear expectations and explicit norms about communication provide the structure within which interpersonal interactions have the most chance of running smoothly.

These prompts will help you clarify communication norms:

How do group members communicate with each other about group responsibilities and decisions?

What form of communication do people respond to best in your group?

❑ In person

❑ Phone calls

❑ Video conferencing

❑ Texts

❑ Emails

❑ Slack

❑ Other

How do you indicate when something is time sensitive?

How do you facilitate good meetings?

Check out this list of tools.

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Ensure That Your Group Communicates Effectively With Your People

Who else within – and outside of the organization or coalition– is directly affected by the work of the group? How are they affected? Who must the group maintain relations and communication with in order to achieve its purpose?

Who are your people?

For each, you will want to determine:

1. What is the group’s relationship with each of these people/groups?

❑ They are the primary people you are accountable to

❑ Need to coordinate with you because your work is interdependent with theirs

❑ Need to inform them because your work impacts them

❑ They need to review and approve your work before it is implemented

❑ You rely on them for resources, technical assistance or other support

❑ Other

2. What expectations does each have of the group?

What communications and reports, in what form, do they want? How frequently do they want them? Who will handle the communications and produce those reports?

What activities and outcomes do they want the group to produce? By when?

What results do they expect the group to achieve? By when?

3. What expectations do you have of them?

What communications and reports do you want from them? By when?

What resources, technical assistance or other support do you want?

Have you communicated your expectations to them?

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After and Between Meetings – Keeping Others Informed

1. Do group members need to report back to other staff or your people about decisions made or being considered at meetings?

❑ Yes

❑ No

❑ Not sure

2. How often?

❑ After every meeting

❑ Other: __________

3. How should it be done?

4. What are the purpose(s) of these communications?

❑ To build peoples’ understanding of and support for decisions made.

❑ To gain feedback about concerns with decisions made/considered

❑ Other :

5. How might the purpose that you’ve identified be useful in communicating back to stakeholders?

6. What do you think are the most effective strategies for communicating with people internally and externally about the work of the group?

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Agree on the Decision-Making Method Your Group Will Use at Meetings

Key Elements for Finding Inclusive Solutions:

Identify common underlying values to guide decision-making
Strengthen Good Ideas. Evaluate and refine
Bring in peoples’ voices; Work with Resistance
Decision-Making Methods – agree on decision rule
Know when you need full support and when partial support will be acceptable

Decision Making Frame

Criteria to Support Decision Making (what known factors must be taken into account as well as others agreed upon by people involved in the decision)

Decision Making Authority

❑ Recommendation to leadership

❑ Final Decision

Decision Making Process

❑ Individual without Input

❑ Individual with Input
Consensus

❑ Other
Majority Vote

CONSENSUS DECISION-MAKING

IN BRIEF: PROCESS FOR GROUP CONSENSUS:

State the proposal
Identify interests
Raise clarifying questions and concerns
Brainstorm possible options
Test for consensus

State the Proposal

Advocate clearly for an idea, position or opinion. This could come from one person or a group, and can be presented verbally and/or in writing.

Identify Interests

Interests are what matters to you, what you care about that underlies a position. Understanding interests is critical to effective consensus-building. One’s interests may be met by advocating for a fixed position, but it is equally possible that they can be met by alternate proposals. Members of a group need to understand (and can often join with) the proposer’s interests and identify their own before working together on arriving at a decision.

Raise Clarifying Questions and Concerns

With a spirit of curiosity, explore each other’s interests – what about this matters to you, what would happen for you if this were not in place, how deep is this interest for you? This is not yet a time for problem-solving, but rather for deeper understanding.

Brainstorm Proposals

Think together about all variations on the original proposal that could meet the most possible interests. Generate possibilities before landing, but eventually the group needs to land on either the original proposal or a revision that is brought for group decision-making.

Test for Consensus

There are three choices in consensus decision-making: To give consent, to stand aside and to block consensus. At this point, there is a check with each person to see where they stand. If there is more than one stand-aside or someone blocking, there is no consensus and the proposal needs to be revisited.

To give consent. When everyone in the group (except those standing aside), says “yes” to a proposal, consensus is achieved. To give one’s consent does not necessarily mean that one loves every aspect of the proposal, but it does mean that one is willing to support the decision and stand in solidarity with the group, despite one’s disagreements.

To stand aside. An individual stands aside when they cannot personally support a proposal, but feels it would be all right for the rest of the group to adopt it. Standing aside is a stance of principled non-participation, which absolves the individual from any responsibility for implementing the decision in question. Stand asides are recorded in the minutes of the meeting. If there are more than a few stand-asides on an issue, consensus has not been reached.

The group should determine at the outset of the consensus process what number of stand-asides would stop consensus

To block. This step prevents the decision from going forward, at least for the time being. Blocking is a serious matter, to be done only when one truly believes that the pending proposal, if adopted, would violate the principles, ethics, or safety of the whole group or project.

Closure

Steps:

End discussion
Clarify agreements
Poll group
Use group’s decision rule to make final decision

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Navigating Conflict in the Group

If group members are in conflict with one another, what is the process for resolving the conflict? Who should people turn to for support in navigating conflict?

In determining group structure, it is important for group members to talk through expectations of how you will work through conflict, between group members and with external people to whom you are accountable. Groups can be supported to effectively transform conflict using the tools in the Framework for Conflict Transformation that apply to their situation. Some of this will be determined in the face of a conflict, but some can be agreed upon in advance.

In a perfect world all group members would have the skills needed to effectively work through conflict. In reality, a group can navigate conflict effectively if there is a respected member of the group who has a high level of emotional intelligence and strong interpersonal communication skills, and has been given the responsibility and power to step into conflicts when necessary.

We recommend that groups assess the skills that new members bring to the group and ask those with conflict negotiation skills to take on the role of designated community-keepers. The community-keeper’s role is to stay tuned into the dynamics of the group and to help the group cultivate a culture of mutual accountability and to help navigate conflicts where necessary. If your group does not have one such trusted person, for example, when you are part of a coalition of many groups, we suggest you seek outside support from a practitioner skilled in group process and facilitation.

Evaluation and Organizational Hygiene

In order to ensure you are remaining true to your values, and doing your work with integrity, groups should build in time at least once a year to address some key questions about the previous year.

How did we manage our income and expenses?

What did we take in?
Who did we get money from?
What did we use the money for? How did we decide this?
What did we communicate with our community members?

How did our structure serve the group's purpose?

How did our structure cause challenges in our ability to fulfill our purpose?

How did we demonstrate our values in real time?

Where did we fall short?
What values were in tension with one another?

Is the Group Set Up to Be Successful?

You have now outlined a structure for your group. Do you have confidence that the conditions for your success are in place? Here are some challenge questions that might help you consider this:

1. Does the group have the full support of the organization/coalition/others whose support is essential?

❑ Yes

❑ No

2. Does the group have the resources it needs to get the job done?

❑ Yes

❑ No

3. Are organizational leaders willing to change systemic conditions that undermine the chances that the group will succeed with its mission?

❑ Yes

❑ No

4. Do group members have the time they need to successfully carry out their responsibilities successfully?

❑ Yes

❑ No

5. Do group members have the skills and knowledge they need to successfully carry out their responsibilities, or do they have the resources and time to invest in educating themselves?

❑ Yes

❑ No

6. Do group members understand and agree on the methods they will use to come to decisions?

❑ Yes

❑ No

7. Does the group have a plan to ensure implementation and evaluate outcomes?

❑ Yes

❑ No

8. Does the group have an effective communications plan for all key stakeholders and the resources and capacity to implement it?

❑ Yes

❑ No

9. Other Questions..?

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