Loomio Using Loomio

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.

Loomio Groups We Facilitate

External / Public Groups

| Group | Facilitator | Purpose | Decisions | Membership | | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | | Loomio Community (parent) | Alanna | public outreach, helpful content | Off | Anyone - request to join, introduced | | Comunidad en EspaƱol | 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

GroupFacilitatorPurposeDecisionsMembership
Co-op MembersMaryShareholder/co-owner decisionsBindingMember-shareholders
WorkersHannahCollaboration space for all workersBindingStaff participating in sprint
Trainers & ConsultantsMichaelHelp and discussion for facilitators using Loomio with clientsCase by caseby invitation
Employment PanelCoordinatorsDecisions about long-term hiresBindingSelected by coordinators for each hire
Thread ArchiveNatiOld threads removed from other groupsoffinternal staff, by request
AccessibilityHannahUser testing and advice for accessibilityRecommendationAccessibility users and developers
BoardMatthewGovernance of Loomio co-opBindingDirectors
Working groupsVariousSelf-facilitated spaces for working groups as neededCase by casemembers of working group