Natural Cycles

Some circles have started to do their work in two week cycles:

First Week

Mon-Tue: Welcoming, Orientation, Planning, and Commitment Meeting (format below)

Tue-Fri: Doing the work

Fri: Check-in, celebration, reflection in pairs or groups. Progress updates for the week captured in a shared document for the following Monday.

Weekend: Rest, reflection, and play

Second Week

Mon-Tue: Updates and Unblocking Meeting (basically Tactical Meeting)

Tue-Thu: Doing the work

Fri: Tension shifting, Celebration, Reflection, and Visioning Meeting (format below)

Weekend: Rest, reflection, and play

Welcoming, Orientation, Planning, and Commitment Meeting Format

Welcoming

  • Hear from new team members and old about why they’re in the circle

Orientation

  • Someone remind us of where we got to last cycle and what our vision was for the next one

  • Answer any questions for members

Planning

  • Check that strategic priorities decided at end of last cycle are good

  • Decide what work can reasonably get done during this cycle, based on group hours, prior commitments, and need for flexible time

Commitment

  • Each member says which projects and tasks they are committing most in the following week and these are recorded for accountability and learning

  • The group commits to supporting each other in the coming cycle

Tension shifting, Celebration, Reflection, and Visioning Meeting Format

Tension shifting

  • Help the group to raise any difficult tensions that need to be shifted before we move on to the rest of the meeting

  • Process these tensions in the relevant way (IDM, empathic listening, etc.)

Celebration

  • Each member share what they most proud of from this cycle and what they’re most excited about for the next cycle

Reflection

  • Emotional Round: Acknowledge emotions that came up during this cycle and ask for reflection from someone if needed

  • Role Round: Acknowledge which roles are working for you, which aren’t, and which you might like to try in the next cycle

  • Ways of Working Round: Acknowledge any difficulties you’ve had with how we’re working together and process that tension if needed

  • Strategy Round: Reflect on whether our strategic priorities felt right, whether they were useful, and how they might change for the next cycle

Visioning and Peace

  • Visioning Round: Share your vision for the future of the circle and how you think we can move towards that in the next cycle

  • Peace Round: Share gratitudes or anything you need to let go of to feel peace over the weekend

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