I’m part of a small nonprofit organization, and we’re exploring the idea of implementing sociocracy to improve our decision-making processes and overall collaboration. I’ve read a bit about the basics, but I’m looking for practical advice from those who have successfully integrated sociocracy into similar organizations.
What are some common challenges we might face, and how can we overcome them? Are there any specific resources or training programs you would recommend? Also, any tips on getting buy-in from team members who might be skeptical about the change?
I’ve begun moving our organization toward Sociocracy, but I took a really long view of the process. I considered key pieces that I could incorporate into our organizational structure, without naming it as Sociocracy as such. I said it was inspired by Sociocracy, but only when asked. I think this process is highly contextual, so you might find a different process more effective.
Here’s how we’ve done this:
Our organization needed restructuring when I first started as Executive Director. So I worked with people to develop a circle structure. Initially these circles were single linked (that changed later).
I focused especially on our General Circle having the task of “deciding who decides” and having representation from the board and each subcircle. We functioned and practiced this for about 18 months.
I taught them tools like the selections process for leadership, and started to incorporate consent into more and more of our processes.
We already had a process of doing rounds that we call Mutual Invitation (it’s a thing my organization teaches). We also theoretically used consensus at the board level (our definition of consensus is very close to consent). So, I started having us use those processes in more and more of our decision making (beyond board level).
Then, after 18-24 months of doing this, I started to talk specifically about Sociocracy and got a small group of board members to help consider how to make the transition. It was relatively easy, as by this time it didn’t actually mean very many changes structurally at all. This included the following changes:
Moving toward Sociocracy Agendas (and I could have done that earlier to be honest). Mostly they’ve been very happy about this process.
Double linking circles
Using selections processes to choose process roles (Facilitator, Secretary, Leader, Delegate). (This has been the most radical and beautiful shift. Suddenly it feels like we are better sharing the load of the work).
My next thing to teach them is around proposal shaping. I think this will be relatively easy, and exciting to them as well, as it’s something that logically fits into our way of thinking about the work we do.
I’ve gotten two areas of push back (which were really mild for us). A) When I started to give these processes a name, some worried that we were buying into a fad. That was resolved with bit of education. B) The other was that we have an expert in consensus in our organization, and some of these processes differ from their own, so they had to experience that these were as effective (if not more so).
I’m happy to talk through more of this with you, if that’d help.