Hi Mikerah,
I use #allthetools (slack, discord, signal, telegram, ip over avian carrier. Confluence, gDocs, equal parts git and powerpoint. #besttoolforthejob. strong preference for making progress / solving problems asynchronously. Meetings only as a last resort.
Being able to put yourself in the other person’s shoes and see things from their perspective, and then working constructively to find the middle ground. Meetings without actions and follow up are useless. Strong focus on accountability. If you say you’re going to do something, do it. Trust is granted at genesis, but lost if follow through is missing or moral compass is miscalibrated.
Jury duty. Felony assault case in Denver, while I was self employed as a security consultant and breadwinner for our family. Had to first accept that I was going to be out of pocket (from my business) for a prolonged period, and then work proactively to find common ground and an ability to communicate effectively with a group of folks that was a motley crue. My background as a martial artist gave me a unique (and unpopular) perspective on this jury that made me want to take the easy road and just go with the flow and the groupthink. After two weeks locked in a room with 11 other folks, we came to consensus (in the meatspace sense of the word), and along the way I had the opportunity to educate my peers about jury nullification. Not a fun fortnite, but civic duty fulfilled. The key to getting to a positive outcome was being able to see things through the eyes of my peers, and then work to find common ground iteratively.
I’d propose that the group first meet for an extended “offsite” (which will likely need to be virtual). I’d propose contracting a coach (aka a professional facilitator) to help “gel” the group and build connective tissue, which we’ll need when the going inevitably gets rough. I would seek to hire or contract (via ZF, but funded by MGRC slice) an admin/project manager (using MGRC funds) to be heads-down full time on MGRC, and focus on sourcing, vetting/diligence and oversight. I’d encourage the MGRC members to use a framework (such as OKR) to set goals for the group, and to establish both group and individual accountability. Finally, I’d encourage MGRC to establish a schedule 12 months out for MGRC to convene and make key decisions, and to provide transparency and accountability metrics to the community.
I’m a big fan of deep breaths, “save as draft”, and “look at this through their eyes” as primary conflict management tools. I grew up on IRC, and believe that while chat is a fantastic medium for getting stuff done, tone can be hard to read and things can quickly get out of hand. It’s common for me to say “hey can we talk about this voice real quick?” when I have a sharp or “off” interaction with a colleague, and I believe that a quick voice call or hangout or whatnot can go a long way to resolving problems that otherwise could escalate out of control quickly over a pure chat medium. If we end up with an MGRC member that is not pulling their weight or isn’t consistently constructive, I’d address my concerns with their contributions 1:1 initially, pulling in support from other MGRC members along the way as necessary to come to a constructive resolution.
FIN
DC