###How We Loomio
Every group and subgroup Loomio operates needs to:
- have a facilitator (or facilitators)
- have a clear purpose
- be clear about who should be in the group, and how they get in
- be clear about what a decision means
- proactively choose its privacy settings
Facilitation guidelines for internal groups:
- Keep an eye on participation - is something a topic that everyone needs to weigh in on? If so tag them, if not let it go. Are we hearing from all the voices we need to?
- Prompt for proposals in more/many/most discussions
- Thinking about if we're doing what we can to dogfood on our tool, and capture feedback from doing so
- Encourage people to post on Loomio more, to include people who aren't in the room, on chat at that moment, etc
- Make sure the right people are in the group (such as when a new staff member joins, etc)
###Information Flows Many working groups have their own Loomio subgroup, as well as other communication channels and regular meetings, which they use to discuss topics and make decisions relevant to their work.
There is also a need to communicate between groups, or from a subgroup to the whole team. Many working groups maintain [update] threads in the general team Loomio group, where they put regular updates about progress within their working group, links to their notes, and news. This also serves as an explicit place where anyone on the team can reach out to that working group and ask a question.
If a working group confront a decision that's beyond their mandate, they can host a Loomio discussion in a wider group, or hand over to a different group (such as the board or coordinators) to make a decision. Often times, higher level Loomio decisions are made in a wider group (resourced by framing/background info provided by a working group), and more detailed or specialised decisions are made in a subgroup.
External / Public Groups
| Group | Facilitator | Purpose | Decisions | Membership | | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | | Loomio Community (parent) | Alanna | public outreach, helpful content | Off | Anyone - request to join, introduced | | Comunidad en Español | Nati | General forum for Spanish community | Recommendation | Anyone | | Help / Ayuda | Nati | Questions not answered by documentation | Off | Anyone | | Translation | Nati | Discussion for Translators of Loomio | Recommendation | Translators engaging on Transifex | | Installing Loomio | Rob | Help/info for those running their own instance | Recommendation | developers / technical people | | Product Development | James | Feature ideas, feedback, product updates | Recommendation | Anyone |
Internal
| Group | Facilitator | Purpose | Decisions | Membership |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Co-op Members | Mary | Shareholder/co-owner decisions | Binding | Member-shareholders |
| Workers | Hannah | Collaboration space for all workers | Binding | Staff participating in sprint |
| Trainers & Consultants | Michael | Help and discussion for facilitators using Loomio with clients | Case by case | by invitation |
| Employment Panel | Coordinators | Decisions about long-term hires | Binding | Selected by coordinators for each hire |
| Thread Archive | Nati | Old threads removed from other groups | off | internal staff, by request |
| Accessibility | Hannah | User testing and advice for accessibility | Recommendation | Accessibility users and developers |
| Board | Matthew | Governance of Loomio co-op | Binding | Directors |
| Working groups | Various | Self-facilitated spaces for working groups as needed | Case by case | members of working group |