How to check if the VMAs (vision, mission and aims) are fully agreed upon in your sociocratic community/organization?

adrian.zarif · September 12, 2023, 2:30pm

How to check if the VMAs (vision, mission and aims) are fully agreed upon in your sociocratic community/organization?

Ensuring that the VMAs (Vision, Mission, and Aims) are fully agreed upon in your sociocratic community or organization is crucial for alignment and effective decision-making.

Here are steps you can take to check and verify this agreement:

Review the VMAs:

Begin by reviewing your organization’s Vision, Mission and Aims. Ensure that these statements are well-defined and clear. It’s important that everyone understands what each statement means.

Document VMAs:

Ensure that the VMAs are documented and easily accessible to all members of the community or organization. This documentation should be regularly updated to reflect any changes or updates to the VMAs.

Hold Dedicated Meetings:

Consider holding dedicated meetings or workshops specifically focused on reviewing and discussing the VMAs. Use these sessions to ensure that all members have a common understanding of the VMAs and their significance.

Facilitate Discussions:

During these meetings, facilitate discussions to gauge agreement on the VMAs. Encourage open and honest dialogue to uncover any disagreements or areas of ambiguity.

Use Consent Decision-Making:

In your sociocratic organization propose a consent decision-making round specifically for the VMAs. This will allow members to express any objections or concerns related to the VMAs.

Seek Feedback:

Encourage members to provide feedback on the VMAs. Ask for their thoughts on whether the statements accurately represent the organization’s purpose and direction.

Clarify and Refine:

If there are disagreements or concerns raised during discussions, work together as a group to clarify and refine the VMAs. This may involve making adjustments to the wording or revisiting the organization’s underlying purpose and goals.

Check for Consent:

In sociocracy, consent is reached when there are no reasoned objections. Ensure that, through discussion, adjustments and integrating objections, you reach a point where there is a consent to the VMAs.

Document the Consent:

Once there is consent from your community / organization about your VMAs, document it. This could involve creating a formal statement or resolution that confirms the agreement on the VMAs.

Regularly Revisit:

VMAs should not be static documents. Set a schedule for regularly revisiting and reviewing the VMAs to ensure they remain relevant and aligned with the organization’s evolving goals and circumstances.

Use VMAs as a Guide:

Encourage members to refer to the VMAs regularly in their decision-making processes and actions. The VMAs should serve as a guiding framework for the organization’s activities and decisions.

Training and Onboarding:

Ensure that new members of the community or organization are introduced to the VMAs as part of their onboarding process. This helps maintain alignment and understanding.

Feedback Loops:

Implement feedback loops to continuously gather input from members on how well the VMAs are guiding the organization and whether any adjustments are needed.

By following these steps and maintaining an open and inclusive process for reviewing and agreeing upon the VMAs, you can help ensure that they are fully understood, consented, embraced and sustained by the members of your sociocratic community or organization.

This alignmenis the foundation for effective decision-making and collective action.

If you want to share your personal reflections on this topic, please feel free to do so in a comment below. Thank you.

Best wishes!

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