<< EXPANDED GROUP: STEERING COUNCIL AND PROJECT COMMITTEES: >>
The Core Group may need to create Project Committees to help with the
work. This marks a transition to the Expanded Group. The Core Group
becomes
the Steering Council and Project Committees provide a new focus of
work.
The Steering Council needs to work closely with and listen carefully
to the Project Committees. As the Committees gain experience (ie: gathering
information, role playing, giving input, etc.), the Steering Council
can
decide to focus more energy on Strategy and give Project Committees
more
responsibility in carrying out action. Keep the Committees small (1
to 7
members) to maintain the advantage of working in small groups while
involving
more people.
It is especially important for the Steering Council to stay together
as a group to maintain focus on overall Strategy while new people get
adjusted
to the process. After the Project Committees are well established,
Steering
Council members may decide to take a different role and can be replaced
by
Project Committee members.
When reaching out to other groups, work through Links. Links are
people with experience and background that enable them to work with
a key
group. Mobilize when necessary to bring people together for action.
CORE GROUP: NEED TO INVOLVE INTEREST GROUP:
Initially the Core Group (2 to 7 people) will be enough to set up the
group and start to raise the issue. As the work load increases, members
of
the Core Group may need to ask a few individuals from the Interest
Group
(people interested in your issue but not yet actively involved) to
help with
special projects.
In some situations, working with this limited number of people may
be
enough to resolve an issue. In other situations, the Core Group will
need to
reach out to bring in the skills and energies of more people from the
Interest
Group and organize them into Project Committees to help with the work.
PROJECT COMMITTEES:
The Core Group can form Project Committees (1 to 7 members) to work
on
any kind of project. The work of the committees may change as circumstances
change or the committees may be standing committees (ie: Press Committee).
Often Project Committees begin by gathering more information.
For example, you may need more background information on your issue
(What are peoples concerns? What have others done?), or information
on
regulations that apply to your situation, or information on key groups
(your
Adversary, Decision Makers, other groups, etc).
EXPANDED GROUP: STEERING COUNCIL (Core Group) AND PROJECT COMMITTEES:
PROJECT COMMITTEES are set up by the Core Group around the work that
needs to be done. The involvement of Project Committees marks the end
of the
setup phase and a change in the structure of the group. To reflect
this
change the CORE GROUP becomes the STEERING COUNCIL.
The Steering Council continues to make decisions related to Strategy
(steering) and to test its proposals in Role Playing Strategy Sessions.
In
addition, it now takes on the responsibility of coordinating the activities
of
its Project Committees.
The structure of the expanded group (Steering Council and Project
Committees) allows more people to get involved in raising the issue
while
still retaining the advantages of working in small groups and consensus
decision making.
STEERING COUNCIL: NEED TO EXPAND ROLE OF PROJECT COMMITTEES:
As the Project Committees become more involved in their work and gain
experience in their project areas, it is important for the Steering
Council to
increase the Committees involvement in the process.
For example: The Steering Council has decided that there may be a need
for working with the County Legislature. A Legislature Project Committee
is
established to gather more information. Members of this Committee could
attend Legislature meetings to develop a good understanding of how
the
legislative process works. (How do resolutions pass through the various
subcommittees of the Legislature? What are the voting records and
personalities of individual members? etc.). Once well established,
the
Legislature Committee might be asked to Role Play proposals related
to the
Legislature being considered by the Steering Council. Or they might
be asked
to work on the wording of a resolution to be presented to the Legislature.
Steering Council members could also be members of Project Committees
and report back to the Council or Project Committee members could be
asked to
attend a Steering Council meeting when more input is needed, especially
when
considering actions related to their project area.
CRITICAL PHASE: CONTINUITY IN THE STEERING COUNCIL ESSENTIAL:
The energy and enthusiasm that new people bring to a group is a great
asset, but it has to be balanced with the potential for problems that
can
develop when people with less experience with the issue (ie: new people)
and
with a narrow focus (ie: their project areas) come into the group.
Members of the Steering Council need to stay together as a group
during this transition to keep the focus on the overall strategy of
the group
while new people get adjusted to the process.
Bring 1 or 2 Project Committees members into Steering Council meetings
as needed when considering proposals related to their project areas
for their
input and to build on their experience. When people are more experienced
and
familiar with the process then some of the original Steering Council
members
(formally Core Group members) may decide to take a different role (ie:
work on
a Project Committee or be less active). The Steering Council can then
bring
new people in from the Project Committees to replace them.
Throughout this process it is important to continue to maintain the
small group size (2-7) of the Steering Council and the Project Committees.
STEERING COUNCIL SETS STRATEGY: PROJECT COMMITTEES CARRY OUT ACTION:
As the Project Committees take on increased responsibility, the
Steering Council may decide to begin to involve the Committees in taking
action related to their project areas.
For example, the Steering Council has worked with the Legislature
Committee on the wording of a resolution and on Role Playing the Legislature's
reaction to it. The Steering Council could then decide to work jointly
with
the Project Committee in getting the resolution passed through the
legislature
or it might decide to give the Legislature Committee responsibility
for the
passage of the resolution.
As time goes on and its responsibilities increase, the Steering
Council may decide to focus more of its energies on developing Strategy
and
begin to rely more on the experience of the Project Committees to carry
out
action to implement those Strategies. The Steering Council needs to
work
closely with each of the Project Committees and the Project Committees
need to
work with each other to keep the actions coordinated.
DEVELOPING LINKS:
Often it is necessary to establish contact with other key groups
involved in the issue. A Project Committee gathering information on
a Key
Group would be in a good position to begin to reach out to that group.
At
times this may involve establishing contact between groups that do
not
normally work together and that may have very different points of view
or
culture (ie: locals and outsiders, rural and urban, etc.).
Developing Links involves finding people who have the experience and
background to serve as a bridge between the 2 groups. You are looking
for
people who are familiar with the customs, attitudes and feelings of
members of
that group. (ie: people who originally came from that group, people
with
friends or relatives in that group, people who already have a working
relationship with that group, etc.) For example, a low altitude flight
group
found that an Amish community was in the proposed flight path. The
flight
group chose one of its members who had worked with the Amish (cutting
wood and
working at their saw mills) to serve as a Link. His role was to translate
between the 2 cultures and be involved in any Role Playing of that
group. (The
more diverse the groups, the more important it is that all communication
between the groups be through the Link.) Finding people to serve as
a Link is
critical to working with other groups because it allows even groups
with
widely divergent points of view to work together in areas of common
interest.
MOBILIZATION: REACHING OUT TO THE WIDEST GROUP:
Mobilization is an important aspect of the expanded group. It
involves reaching out to include in some action (ie: attend a public
meeting,
write letters, etc.) people who have interest in the issue but may
have
limited time and can only be occasionally involved.
When calling on people to become involved, make sure they can see some
effect of their involvement so they will have a strong incentive to
come back
into action when needed again. For example, the Steering Council has
decided
to call a Mobilization of people to show support for the group's resolution
at
the next meeting of the Legislature. The Steering Council, Legislature
Committee, and Press Committee could all work together on the project
to make
sure the people are Mobilized and know exactly what they are trying
to
accomplish. A well attended Legislature meeting would have good coverage
in
the press and those attending could see some results for their effort.
Be
aware of the dangers involved in Mobilizing large groups of people
(see Show
Of Strength).
SPECIAL CASE: RAPID MOVEMENT OF NEW PEOPLE INTO YOUR GROUP:
Ideally the Steering Council would bring new people into the Project
Committees as the need arose. However, there may be times when a number
of
new people move to become involved in an issue almost all at once.
Two common occasions of rapid movement of new people into a group are:
1) right after the group starts up when many people realize they may
be
involved in the issue and 2) after the group has been established for
a while
and has made some progress or has some high profile coverage in the
media (ie:
Public Hearings). Right after a group just starts up is often the most
demanding case because the group is still in the process of setting
up. The
key in both cases is to make it clear that your group is defined by
its
Strategy of raising concerns without framing the issue in terms of
sides (See:
Concerned Position).
When many new people suddenly become interested in your group it is
often advisable to consider having an Information Meeting.
INFORMATION MEETING: 3 GOALS:
1) EXCHANGE INFORMATION: The purpose of an Information Meeting is
to exchange information. > No Decisions Are Made At This Meeting.<
Your group presents the information you have and listens to what people
think
and feel about the issue. Make a list of their concerns.
2) PRESENT YOUR POSITION: Your goal in forming your group is to raise
concerns about the issue and to reach out to build a broad base of
support in
your community to have those concerns addressed. You have decided the
best
way to do this is to avoid framing the issue in terms of sides because
you are
trying to avoid polarizing people and alienating potential supporters
by
forcing them to choose sides. Instead you want to bring together everyone
who
has any concern about the issue into a powerful base of support to
insure that
you concerns will be addressed. If a more definitive position on the
issue is
needed in the future (ie: an issue requiring a yes or no decision)
you will
wait until it is necessary to take that position, and it will be based
on how
well your concerns have been addressed. (see: Choosing A Position).
3) IDENTIFY PEOPLE WILLING TO WORK: Have a sign up sheet and identify
people who would like to work on Project Committees. Find out what
aspects of
the issue they are most interested in and what project areas they might
be
willing to work on. Find if they have special skills that may be needed
by
your group.
INFORMATION MEETING: PROBLEM AREAS:
RESISTANCE TO YOUR GROUPS POSITION: Often when people are directly
impacted by an issue they are emotionally involved and feel the need
to take a
strong stand. It is expected by the time of the Information Meeting,
the Core
Group has already come to grips with its emotional reaction to the
issue and
has decided on the clear advantages of a Concerned Position. Be patient
with
those who want to take a strong position and encourage them to work
with your
group to raise concerns without polarizing people into taking sides.
Often
even people strongly committed to a confrontational approach will begin
to see
the advantages after working with your group.
If people are still strongly committed to taking sides and confrontation
and show no signs of being willing to change then it might be necessary
to
acknowledge this clear difference in your views and suggest that they
may feel
better starting a new group based on their position. Raising concerns
from
their own point of view would be preferable to continuing with your
group
because this basic difference in approach could be very disruptive.
STRONG INTEREST IN SPECIFIC AREAS: When gathering people to work on
Project Committees, if people have very strong interest in certain
areas then
it may be better to encourage them to work in their areas of interest
rather
then trying to move them into areas outside their interest. Even if
not
needed immediately, their work may be useful in the future.
< SUMMARY 10 > EXPANDED GROUP: INTEREST GROUP, LINKS, AND MOBILIZATION:
<< EXPANDED GROUP: STEERING COUNCIL AND PROJECT COMMITTEES: >>
The Core Group may need to create Project Committees to help with the
work. This marks a transition to the Expanded Group. The Core Group
becomes
the Steering Council and Project Committees provide a new focus of
work.
The Steering Council needs to work closely with and listen carefully
to the Project Committees. As the Committees gain experience (ie: gathering
information, role playing, giving input, etc.), the Steering Council
can
decide to focus more energy on Strategy and give Project Committees
more
responsibility in carrying out action. Keep the Committees small (1
to 7
members) to maintain the advantage of working in small groups while
involving
more people.
It is especially important for the Steering Council to stay together
as a group to maintain focus on overall Strategy while new people get
adjusted
to the process. After the Project Committees are well established,
Steering
Council members may decide to take a different role and can be replaced
by
Project Committee members.
When reaching out to other groups, work through Links. Links are
people with experience and background that enable them to work with
a key
group. Mobilize when necessary to bring people together for action.