[TheThinkTank] organizational meetings: structure, facilitation, etc?

[Stuart O Anderson]

Free Ride is run by a consensus based collective council of
volunteers.  Anyone who volunteers 24 hours of time in a season is
eligible for council membership.  The council meets once a month, but
there are several committees that handle specific aspects of the
program.  These include finance, programs, open shop, and shop
facilities.  We also select, on a rotating basis, individuals to act
as liaisons to other organizations (i.e. our landlord, our 501(c)3
sponsor, etc).  Currently, committee's decisionmaking autonomy is
granted on an ad-hoc basis by the collective council.  We are in the
process of setting up budgets for each committee so that they can
operate with a bit more freedom.

On Fri, May 16, 2008 at 11:38 PM, Community Bicycle Shop Omaha
<omahabike at gmail.com> wrote:
> Community Bike Shop Omaha, a 501(c)3 has monthly board meetings and we're
> starting task-force type committees on the off weeks.
>
> Our meetings are consensus-based and we generate an agenda and minutes. We
> try to have the directors report (volunteers, programs, development, chair,
> &c). In our group, the chair helps the board establish our top three
> priorities which set the tone for the meeting.
>
> Stuart
>
> On 5/15/08, info at re-cycles.ca <info at re-cycles.ca> wrote:
>>
>> re-cycles is run by a core group of volunteers. We communicate on a
>> daily basis via an email list. We call a meeting when more detailed
>> discussion is required or when a major decision needs to be taken.
>> Meetings happen as often as once a month but usually every 2-4 months
>> (and sometimes slide to every 5-6 months if all is quiet). A little
>> less than half our core volunteers will make it to a meeting. The
>> agenda is pre-published and adjusted on the email list. Meetings
>> usually begin with informal socializing then we proceed through the
>> agenda items trying to stay more or less on topic. Minutes and action
>> items are recorded and later published to the email list. We almost
>> never vote on items as we are an agreeable group and almost always
>> reach a consensus. In January we usually have a bigger meeting where we
>> review the previous years financial and statistical reports as well as
>> chart our course for the upcoming busy season (we are under snow up to
>> 6 months of the year, although that does not stop several of us from
>> riding ;-)
>>
>> Unfortunately we will be moving to a slightly more formalized
>> environment as we move to incorporate and register as a non-profit. We
>> hope to retain our casual attitude but there will be a lot more titles
>> and paperwork.
>>
>> Chris
>>
>> > On Thu, May 15, 2008 at 11:42 AM, rachael spiewak
>> > <rachael at sopobikes.org>
>> > wrote:
>> >
>> > > Hiya, Bike Collectives.
>> > >
>> > > I'm wondering.. what kinds of meetings do you have?  How are they
>> > > structured and facilitated?
>> > >
>> > > Thanks!
>> > > rachael
>> > >
>> > > --
>> > > Sopo Bicycle Cooperative
>> > > 404-425-9989
>> > > www.sopobikes.org
>>
>>
>> Chris Wells
>> (Head Mechanic & Email Handler)
>>
>> re-Cycles Bicycle Co-op
>> 477 Bronson Ave. Ottawa
>>
>> re-Cycles is open 6pm-10pm Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Thursdays
>> (for volunteering, DIY, bike & parts sales & donation drop off)
>> AND SUNDAYS 3pm-6pm for Volunteering and Donations! :-)
>>
>> Bike sales and donation drop off also available during Cycle Salvation
>> hours: 9am-5:30pm Tuesday to Friday, and 9am-1pm on Saturday
>>
>> (IMPORTANT: Please remember that while Cycle Salvation will be using our
>> shop during the day, any public bike repair, whether volunteer or
>> do-it-yourself, is still only during regular re-Cycles hours in the
>> evenings.)
>>
>> info at re-cycles.ca
>> http://www.re-cycles.ca/
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>> Thethinktank at bikecollectives.org
>>
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>
>
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