Good day to everyone!

I’m excited about a General Circle decision today that marks an evolution towards more alignment. We adopted two organizational metrics that align with how we see people move through their sociocracy learning, also used in our Theory Of Change. What we’re hoping for is that sociocracy becomes more known, then more used, and then becomes a normal thing to do.

Website visits — We want to see how many people hear about sociocracy and how many organizations use it. How could we do that? An easy way is to see how many people visit the SoFA website — and that’s a metric already tracked. Many circles contribute to that — language, sector, website, content, training, outreach, and each individual SoFA member talking about sociocracy with their friends… it’s a joined effort! Can we double that number? Let’s try! 

Sociocratic organizations — The other metric is the number of organizations that use sociocracy. Organization Support has been working on getting data (for example, with the health checks). And again, that’s a group effort — many SoFA members are implementing with their own organizations or as consultants. Then there are self-implementations with SoFA materials and consultant-led implementations alongside communities of practice, sector support, conference inspirations, and many more. This metric is new — we started counting in November — and I’m very excited about getting more information on the number of sociocratic organizations worldwide. You can help us with that today by looking at the map of organizations and encouraging any organization you know of to get on the map by completing a health check!

Youth conference

Second Annual — Online 2/18 13:00 UTC

Check out the awesome line-up. We can’t wait to see you at the conference! Did you know SoFA members receive free admission to this event?

Updated meeting template

Email the IT Circle or the Log Keeping team if you would like assistance with the 2023 meeting template.

Help wanted

SoFA website technician (paid, remote)

Role Description: Website Technicians work with the website administrator to perform updates, fix bugs, and otherwise improve the technical performance of the website.

Activities:

• Support the Website Administrator with website maintenance, development and administration (by assignment)
• Participate in Website Circle policy meetings
• Continue to learn and develop own skills with website and online marketing to support SoFA Membership
• Perform forum updates and assist with multi-lingual issues and other structural changes.

Circle reports

Mission Circle

The members of Mission Circle have recently been working on needs and asset mapping for Ted and for SoFA as a whole.

notes::Mission Circle

General Circle

As Ted mentioned in his introduction above, General Circle discussed and agreed to a plan to establish and track OKRs for SoFA as a whole. The members also started to think about the dimensions of how we can create an evaluation process for language equity in SoFA, and they returned to discussing a plan for Ted to hand over some of his responsibilities as operational leader. In particular, Ted wants to find a way to reduce his operational burden, and the circle is working to better understand his situation.

notes::General Circle

Content Circle

Throughout this department, members are developing new tools and strategies for presenting SoFA content, including the new organizational sociocracy health check and the upcoming landing page. Content Circle is working on better integration with the Sector Roadmap, and that work is filtering down to Outreach Circle. Training Circle had a very long session recently to sort through the general structure of our training programs, and they are still working to clarify the details of the pay policies.

notes::Content Circle

Ecosystem Circle

At their last meeting, the members of this circle selected new role holders, started looking at the next round of the budget, and explored how to align OKRs throughout the department around the learning journey. Also, note that the Schools Conference now has tickets available!

notes::Ecosystem Circle

SoFA Support Services Circle

This unfamiliar name is the new name for Membership Circle. The members decided that the work they do is broader than work on membership (but includes membership work), and includes work that provides general support services. The circle has recently established a few guidelines for SoFA members to print business cards, and the members of the circle will be more broadly advertising how to obtain business cards. They also began discussing a controversial idea to add a new type of SoFA membership for people who want to contribute to SoFA work but who may not want to regularly attend governance meetings.

notes::SoFA Support Services Circle

International Circle

A working group has developed a draft of a fiscal circle proposal to help guide how International Circle can interact with financial circles across different countries and regions; that proposal is undergoing active review and revision as it is fairly complex. French- and German-language translations of MVOS are nearing completion, and it appears that they will be published this year. Many language circles are very active on translation projects and organizing courses and events!

notes::International Circle

Writer’s workshop

Would you like a chance to brush up on your writing chops? Or be published on SoFA’s website? Come join our Writer’s Workshop! We do fun writing exercises and help keep each other accountable to our goals through facilitated peer support.

Member events

• TUE January 24 @ 11:00 – 12:30 EST
  Writer’s Workshop
• WED January 25 @ 15:00 – 17:00 UTC
  Co-working: accountability, fun, and getting things done
• THU January 26 @ 12:00 – 13:30 EDT
  Sociocracy Implementation Peer Support (SIPS) Community of Practice
• TUE January 31 @ 11:00 – 12:30 EST
  Writer’s Workshop
• WED February 1 @ 15:00 – 17:00 UTC
  Co-working: accountability, fun, and getting things done
• MON February 6 @ 09:00 – 10:30 EST
  Community of Practice: Schools and Education
• TUE February 7 @ 11:00 – 12:30 EST
  Writer’s Workshop

SoMBu feedback

We’d love to hear how SoMBu works for you and suggestions for improvement!

Notices from role-holders or circles are welcome. Submissions are due on the day General Circle meets: 1/31, 2/14, 2/28…

Contact: [email protected].

Andrew Grant, SoMBu broadcaster