Draft Modified SRC3
This is a Draft for the Modified SRC3.
SRC3 stands for "Simplified Rules of Coordinated Consensus through Chaos". It is designed to be a replacement for Robert's Rules of Order. This procedure is modified version of HacDC's MIBS SRC3, tailored for the Dallas Makerspace.
Contents
The Basic Ideas
- Keep meetings as short as possible
- Keep everyone informed
- Keep the discussion on track while encouraging different ideas and perspective.
- Give everyone a chance to speak and offer solutions
- Handle problems outside of meetings
- Take basic input and solve problems outside of meetings Most everything should be decided on the wiki, over mailing lists and any other communication method that reaches all members.
- Come to meetings with solutions, finalize them in the meeting.
- Keep drama manageable
- Consensus is our goal, but it is not a requirement.
- Consensus does not mean that everyone agrees 100% on a course of action, only that they are comfortable with the decision of the group.
Before the meeting
- Avoid bringing issues to meetings. Solve them on your own.
- Where possible, work through the existing committees.
- Avoid making new policies.
- Avoid bureaucracy.
- Use e-mail, the wiki, IRC, hangouts, tacking notices to the wall and any other communication method to define the problem and seek solutions.
- When issues cannot be solved by daily consensus, or need to be voted on (such as allocation of funds) submit them for the next meeting as an agenda item. Make sure each agenda item has:
- A BRIEF SUMMARY of the relevant problem
- A more comprehensive discussion of
- WHAT the problem is
- WHY it's relevant to the membership, board, etc.
- WHO is involved
- Describe the proposed solutions. List pros and cons of each solution.
- Propose ONE BEST SOLUTION as official agenda proposal to be adopted in the "Consent Agenda"
- Suggest the time it should take to achieve resolution on the issue.
- All agenda items should be submitted at least 48 hours in advance of a meeting.
- The item MUST be sent out to the mailing list for discussion, if discussion is not allowed to take place beforehand the item should not be voted on.
The Meeting Agenda
Each meeting should have an agenda. The cut-off time for addition to or revision of the the agenda's items is 48 hours prior to the meeting. This allows the members time to review the agenda and proposals, to see if they have any objections worthy of pulling the item from the agenda.
The agenda should include:
- I. Draft minutes of the last meeting
- The Secretary shall type up the meeting minutes highlighting all the relevant ideas and arguments presented by each member for each agenda item at each meeting, as well as providing a list of members present at each meeting. The minutes of any meeting shall be posted in draft form immediately after the meeting and continually revised by the members until "perfect". In a perfect meeting, members have read the minutes and made any necessary corrections by 48 hours prior to the next meeting.
- II. The Consent Agenda
- Each of the newly proposed agenda items appears in the consent agenda. Any member present at any meeting may pull an item out of the consent agenda for discussion, at which point it goes under "New Business". If nobody objects to the solutions presented by the consent agenda, everything in the consent agenda passes by consensus. (This is to encourage people to discuss solutions and policies ahead of time.) In a perfect meeting, the consent agenda passes everything without actual discussion, because it was discussed and agreed to before the meeting. This meeting agenda shall be frozen 48 hours prior to the meeting to encourage members to review and discuss the agenda in its final form prior to the meeting.
- III. Committee Reports
- Each committee chairperson should submit an official report by 24 hours prior to the meeting. During "Committee Reports" questions from the membership of interest to the membership at large should be fielded by the chairperson, if they are not present the questions should be recorded and answered at the next meeting. In a perfect meeting, everyone already asked their questions of the committees and the committees included those answers in their report.
- IV. Old Business
- These are the issues that remained unresolved from the last meeting. In a perfect meeting, there is no old business.
- V. New Business
- These are the issues from the consent agenda that were pulled out for discussion. Items that do not appear in the consent agenda may only be added at the discretion of the Meeting Chair or by approval of 2/3 of the members present. In a perfect meeting, there is no new business.
- VI. Adjournment
- No meeting should last more than 60 minutes, especially if it starts at 19:30. In a perfect meeting, all business can be wrapped up in two minutes, allowing more time for showing off and collaborating on cool projects.
Meeting Procedures
- One person speaks at a time
- No person speaks for more than a minute when others are waiting to speak.
- Members should indicate non-verbally that they would like to speak (e.g. raising your hand).
- The Meeting Chair will recognize only one person speaking at any time and clearly indicate who that is.
- The Meeting Chair will strive to make sure each person is heard in discussion or each person's objection is heard before giving any person a second chance to talk.
- Asking for objections.
- The Meeting Chair will ask for objections to a given item or action. When they say, "Any objections?" or "Anything else?", they are asking for objections.
- Any member may object simply by indicating "Yes!" or "Objection!" (if you like those sorts of games).
- If there are no objections after three seconds, then the item or action is approved, and/or the meeting moves on.
- If any member objects, they must give a short explanation why, then the objection procedure takes hold.
- Objections should be used sparingly.
- Keeping discussion short
- When it appears that consensus will not be reached in a timely manner, any member can ask that the issue be tabled during their turn to speak. An explanation on why the item should be tabled must be given.
- To table an issue, the Meeting Chair will ask for objections first. If there are objections, a vote will be held on if the issue should be tabled. If there are no objections, the issue should be discussed outside of the meeting and brought back as "Old Business" in the next board or membership meeting once consensus is achieved.
- Once it appears that consensus has been reached, the Meeting Chair will clarify the proposed item and ask for objections.
- If there are no objections after three seconds, then the item or action is approved, and/or the meeting moves on.
- Handling objections
- When an objection is placed, the Meeting Chair will call a vote.
- Each of the proposals will be stated preceded by "All in favor of?".
- Each member may vote only once for each alternative.
- The alternative with the highest votes wins and the meeting moves on.
- In the event of a tie, the Meeting chair will ask for objections to a run-off vote, in which the tied options are the only choices. If there are objections, the item will be tabled.
- Subsequent ties will result in the item being tabled.
- Meeting Chair
- TODO: we need generate consensus on this rule
Meeting Process
At the scheduled time, if people are generally ready, the Meeting Chair will start the meeting by saying, "Get comfortable and get quiet, we're starting," and ask the following questions or making the following statements in the following order:
- "Do the committees have their reports?"
- Each committee gets five minutes to give a report and five minutes of Q&A.
- Each committee's report may be extended for time once, by asking if there any objections to extending the time.
- Once nobody responds to, "Anything else?", or time is reached and not extended, the meeting moves on.
- "Does anyone have any items to pull out of the consent agenda for discussion?"
- If yes, wait for members to pull things out of the consent agenda.
- Any member present may pull an item out of the consent agenda.
- Who pulls items out must be recorded.
- Consent agenda items are discussed in the order they appeared in the agenda.
- Whatever is left in the consent agenda is approved and the meeting moves on.
- "Does anyone have any other new items to add to the agenda"
- New business items that do not appear in the consent agenda may only be added at the discretion of the Meeting Chair or by approval of 2/3 of the members present.
- Does anyone have any revisions to the minutes?
- If yes, wait for revisions.
- Revisions should be a free flow discussion between the Secretary and the group at large.
- Members may only change what they said or acted upon.
- If there are no further revisions, ask for objections to moving on.
- "Moving on to old business!"
- Items from old business are discussed.
- "Moving on to new business."
- Items pulled from the consent agenda are discussed.
- Last minute items (if they were allowed by the Meeting Chair) are discussed.
- "Adjournment?".
- If there are no objections or all business is taken care of, the meeting is automatically adjourned by declaration of the Meeting Chair
- All remaining new business items are moved into old business for the next meeting.
Examples
Members Asking To Table
- Can we table this, I don't think we will reach consensus tonight.
- Any objections to tabling?
- Nope.
- Item tabled
- objection! I want to keep talking about this
- Vote options: "Table", "Continue discussing"
- objection! I want to vote on this
- Vote options: "Bring to a vote", "Continue discussing"
- Nope.
- Any objections to tabling?
Approval Of Item
If the group appears to have reached consensus, the Meeting Chair will clarify the item and then ask if anyone objects.
- Any objections to this item?
- nope! Item passed
- objection! I want to keep talking about this
- Vote options: "Bring to a vote", "Table", "Continue discussing"
- objection! I want to vote on this
- Vote options: "Bring to a vote", "Table", "Continue discussing"
- objection! I want to table this
- Vote options: "Bring to a vote", "Table", "Continue discussing"
