Working Groups

Members of The Open Co-op are collaborating to build our shared vision in voluntary Working Groups:

Tiki work
Open Food Co-ops
Business Planning
Fundraising
Virtual Open Organisation Platform?
London Open Co-op

If you agree to our purpose and principles, please register and co-operate!

To create a new Working Group, or start a new Local Open Co-op, please use our 'Working Group Project Template' by following the instructions below.

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Creating a new workgroup or project is easy!

Simply:

• Enter a name for your Group/Project in the "Create/Edit page" module below, and click edit.
• Apply the 'Working Group Project Template' using the "Apply template:" drop-down list just above the edit box
• Use the template to write you're document, replacing the 'guideline' text where necessary.

More info on what to include when completing a Working Group Project Template

A example of the template is shown below:

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Group/Project Name

• Working Groups
  • Creating a new workgroup or project is easy!
• Group/Project Name
  • Principles
  • Goals
  • Time Plan
  • Participants
  • Notice Period
  • Coordination
  • Interdependencies
  • Decision Making

Principles

• Add your own or adopt the Open Co-op's principles

Goals

• A brief summary of what you intend to achieve. This must include a precise description of the intended measurable results, so that once the project is finished, someone outside the group could determine whether you reached your goals.

Time Plan

• How long you think the project will take. Depending on the project, this may be a hard-and-fast deadline, or a rough estimate. You can write 'ongoing' if the project consists of tasks that are to be performed as needed, or on a regular basis, throughout the life of the group.

Participants

• Who will do the work. This should be a list of names of people committed in various ways to make the project viable, including the author of the proposal. If the proposal is accepted by the group, those listed will be expected to honour their commitments. This is in order that Open Coop projects don't become just another talking shop, but have real positive impact in the world. It is also important so that groups have a reliable assessment of their skills and resources, when making organisational decisions. If you 'would like to but dont have the time' don't commit yourself to too much. Unless otherwise indicated by a groups decision-making principles, it is understood that others may join the group/project if they wish.

Notice Period

• How much notice participants will have to give if they want to change their commitments to the group/project.

Coordination

All participants should muck in here to:

• Maintain lists of priorities/tasks (here, or linked from here)
• Maintain a record of who is working on which tasks (here, or linked from here)
• Writing periodic summaries (e.g. every month or two) of what has been done (here, or linked from here)

Interdependencies

• Who is the group's work meant to affect/benefit? (You should consult regularly with those who are meant to benefit, and allow them (or their delegates, or a random selection of them) to participate in your decision-making.)
• Whose work will affect this group? (monitor this carefully)

Decision Making

Leave this link to our accepted Guidelines for Consensus Decision-Making, or design/borrow an alternate set of guidelines for your group and upload the text to the site.
This process can be conducted via e-mail, mailing lists, real world meetings, instant messenger, or voip, but every effort should be made to document proceedings in the form of web pages linked from this section of your project template which are owned and managed by the group.

• Current Proposals
• Archives
  • Accepted Proposals
  • Rejected Proposals