Authors:

Anna Książek and Andrea Pucci (Fundacja Wyobraź sobie)

Main objectives:

• Reflect on various ways of making group decisions, including sociocracy

During the workshops, participants will (specific objectives):

• Take part in a group discussion and a decision-making process.
• Reflect on various ways of making group decisions and managing the groups, their strong and weak sides.
• Get to know and understand the concept of sociocracy.

Time: 

3h

Place:

Offline or online

Course:

1. Introduction 

Welcome participants to the workshop about Sociocracy and other group management and decision-making methods. Explain that we will start with an experience and then go into the theory and discussion. Invite participants into the round, asking their names, expectations toward the workshop and experiences with group decision-making. 

2. Lost at sea

Give each participant access to their copy of the Lost at Sea Ranking chart (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1OHsN9PMm5_V8TcOPq7mzCjZqC0eIXn8HyV94srbSdkM/edit#gid=0). Check if they understand the English words of all the items listed. Ask them to imagine that they are lost at sea. Their boat is not functioning, and with time they will have to get rid of some things to increase their chances of survival. They have a box of matches and the 15 objects in the chart. Their task is to rank the items in order of importance, one being the most important and 15 the least important (so the one which can be thrown away as first). Ask each participant to decide the order individually and pen it down on the first column of their chart. Then, divide participants into groups of 5 people and give them 15-20 minutes to decide the order together and write it down in the second column. In the end, each participant will have two columns filled, one with their ranking and one with the ranking decided within the group.

When the time is over, ask each group if they managed to decide and how they made decisions. Did they vote? Did they follow one expert/leader's opinion? Did they try to find a consensus accepted by everybody? How do they feel after this process? Are they satisfied with the outcome? Was their voice heard?

Now, read out the "correct" order, as suggested by the experts at the US Coast Guard:

1. Shaving mirror. (One of your most powerful tools because you can use it to signal your location by reflecting the sun.)
2. Can of petrol. (Again, potentially vital for signalling as petrol floats on water and can be lit by your matches.)
3. Water container. (Essential for collecting water to restore your lost fluids.)
4. Emergency rations. (Valuable for basic food intake.)
5. Plastic sheet. (Could be used for shelter or to collect rainwater.)
6. Chocolate bars. (A handy food supply.)
7. Fishing rod. (Potentially useful, but there is no guarantee that you can catch fish. It could also feasibly double as a tent pole.)
8. Rope. (Handy for tying equipment together, but not necessarily vital for survival.)
9. Floating seat or cushion. (Useful as a life preserver.)
10. Shark repellent. (Potentially important when in the water.)
11. Bottle of rum. (It could be useful as an antiseptic for treating injuries, but it will only dehydrate you if you drink it.)
12. Radio. (Chances are that you're out of range of any signal, anyway.)
13. Sea chart. (Worthless without navigational equipment.)
14. Mosquito net. (Assuming that you've been shipwrecked in the Atlantic, where there are no mosquitoes, this is pretty much useless.)
15. Sextant. (Impractical without relevant tables or a chronometer.)

Ask participants to write the US Coast Guards order in the third column so it's easier for them to compare. They can calculate their and their teams' scores by filling in columns 4 and 5. If you use the digital version of the chart, the score will be calculated automatically. The lower the score (lower the difference between the answers of a person or a group and the answers of the Coast Guards), the bigger chance for surviving - participants can check if they would have a bigger chance to survive alone or in a group. 

Complete instructions to "Lost at Sea" can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xDUrhOF0XzXdJWAk4mq_XcJcJhtPY3_3gC5nwG-rANk/edit#

3. Decision-making methods

Come back to the topic of decision-making and group management. Invite participants to a World Cafe. Choose three people to facilitate the discussions in smaller groups, which will happen in three different stations. Each station will focus on one of the most common methods of decision-making mentioned below. Each group's task is to discuss a particular method's advantages and disadvantages. The facilitator writes down notes from each discussion on a flipchart (offline) or jamboard (online). Participants freely decide which group they want to join, keeping in mind to keep the size of the groups balanced. After 7-8 minutes, invite participants to change groups - again, they can freely choose which group they want to go to next. Facilitators are the only people who don't change groups and stick to their stations. They inform new people what the previous group worked on so they can continue going deeper into the topic. After 7-8 minutes, invite participants to change groups one last time, so at the end, they should have participated in all discussions. On an offline workshop, you can use three different tables in the space; in case of an online meeting, many platforms, e.g. Zoom, can rename breakout rooms and give participants a chance to choose which one they want to go to. In this case, after each round, invite participants back to the main room, make sure everybody understands what's going on and if yes - let them follow to the next room. 

Decision-making methods to discuss: 

1. Democracy/Majority voting (making decisions by voting/majority agreement)
2. Authoritarian (decisions made by one person or small group of people, for example, expert)
3. Consensus (making decisions by group agreement, so each member of the group has to agree with the outcome)

A detailed description of the World Cafe method: https://theworldcafe.com/key-concepts-resources/world-cafe-method/.

After the three rounds, ask each facilitator to summarise the exercise's outcome and present the notes briefly. Ask participants for their thoughts and conclusions after the exercise. One of the most important things should be that there are no good or lousy decision-making methods. They all depend on the particular group's context, situation and needs. For example, although authoritarian decision-making may not be the best choice in leading communities or organisations in a moment of crisis (like being on a sinking boat or during the pandemic), it can potentially increase our chances for survival. 

Sociocracy

Tell participants about sociocracy - a decision-making and group management method used in various groups, communities, organisations, and businesses, which tries to answer some of the challenges connected to common decision-making methods discussed in the previous exercise. You can use this presentation: https://jamboard.google.com/d/1n1M_CXCF3oMfc2hPE3H0kBPILexmloJtlxal2a7hvro/viewer.

Basic information about sociocracy, together with examples from real life, can be found in this article: https://epale.ec.europa.eu/en/blog/sociocracy.

If sociocracy is something new for you, you can also invite somebody from the group which uses sociocracy or contact us, and we will be happy to share our knowledge and experience (Anna and Andrea - wyobrazsobie.erasmus@gmail.com). 

After the short presentation, open the space for questions and comments. Sociocracy is quite a complex method, what we recommend is to give a basic introductory presentation and then give room to participant's questions to go deeper into aspects which are most interesting for them.

Invite participants to share their opinions - would sociocracy work in their context? Which elements seem the most interesting and why? Which do they find challenging?

Summary

Invite participants for a final round to share their thoughts and learning from the workshop.