Finding the perfect team for smooth process
Sometimes acting on behalf of the circle means asking uncomfortable questions. Here is a really uncomfortable one: should all of us really be on this circle?
The idea of sociocratic circles is that those who work together also make the policies for that area of the work. “Working together” means more than having opinions on the matter!
But quite often, I see that circles consist of people who just come because they have opinions. Their only contribution is showing up to the meeting. But that’s not enough, and here’s why.
First of all, opinions not backed by real life aren’t good decisions. Second, it makes consent much harder.
If the circle consists of people who are actively contributing via work regularly, then
- The decisions are fueled by real-life needs.
- People have to live with the consequences of decisions in their everyday organizational life - which means they will make solid decisions. People who just talk often go into “perfection” land or wishful thinking instead of finding rightsized, viable solutions.
- Work done shoulder-to-shoulder makes it easier to find common ground. No one is interested in making life harder if we have work to do.
- It’s much easier to hear a no from someone who also contributes. It avoids the antagonistic dynamic of “why are you telling me what to do in my work if you don’t even do anything?!”
- Accepting “talking heads” into the meetings slows down meetings - each person in a round slows things down; as a whole, groups get bigger than they need to be to do the work.
In a sociocratic circle, we aren’t as strict about writing down operational roles. But regardless of whether roles are written down, having a role and doing operations in the circle’s domain are essential for consent decisions to work well. All the pieces weave together into a coherent system to form an upward spiral!
Maybe you have that person where you wonder why they are still in the circle. Now what do you do?
I know it’s uncomfortable but I highly recommend you do a round from time to time where you ask yourselves - should all of us be here? Call it “reviewing circle membership” and set the stage by making clear that he measure is: who needs to be here to make things work?
And if you find that some people are only there for meetings, do some thinking. Could they pick up some work here? Or do they leave? Or maybe we will invite the “talking heads” as advisors on particular topics but not have them as circle members at each meeting? There’s a good chance those “talking heads” are themselves unhappy with their way of contributing. So it’s less about asking them to leave and more about finding good solutions for everyone to shine.