Resources for decentralized organizing, Bill Moyer’s MAP Model for Organizing Social Movements, Facilitating online meetings and more

Bill Moyer’s book, Doing Democracy: The MAP Model for Organizing Social Movements. Also on the Commons: The Four Roles of Social Activism and Surviving the Ups and Downs of Social Movements (MAP Stage 6). Transformational Change Leadership: Stories of Building a Just Future

Movement Building Canvas

The Movement Building Canvas is a practical framework to help you, your team or your organisation design your movement for maximum impact.

Network Building Canvas

The Network Building Canvas and Prompt Cards are designed to help you, your team or your organisation design your network for maximum impact.

beautifully lit paper boats floating in the dark
Photo by Andy Hall on Unsplash

Resources for decentralised organising

By Richard Bartlett

A list of resources about decentralised organising collated and shared by Richard D. Bartlett finding lessons across diverse contexts, from social movements to formal workplaces.

This list was published on 21 Oct 2019. It is being added to all the time so please go to this website for the latest update.

Hi I’m Richard D. Bartlett! I’m writing a book about decentralised organising, finding lessons across diverse contexts, from social movements to formal workplaces.

I recently asked on Twitter and on a mailing list for examples of decentralised organisations that have a public, transparent, well-documented handbook that explains how they work (e.g. decision making, roles, communications tools, etc). The response was overwhelming so I’ve digested it into this page.

If you have more to add, please edit this page, contribute on Twitter, or email rich@thehum.org :heart_eyes:

Contents

Specific examples of organisational handbooks

Permanent (e.g. workplaces, businesses, NGOs)

  1. Most of my organising experience is in Loomio, a software co-op with a great handbook.
  2. Loomio is one of many social enterprises in the Enspiral network. The Enspiral Handbook explains how we self-govern.
  3. The Gini Handbook is particularly strong on decision-making, with useful sections on communication skills, personal growth, and feedback.
  4. The GitLab Handbook is especially relevant for people working in remote teams — they have more than 800 staff in 50+ countries, and no central location.
  5. Crisp DNA is the handbook from a self-organising company of 35+ autonomous consultants. They do cool things with money and ownership!
  6. OuiShare Handbook – structures and practices for the distributed OuiShare network
  7. A Feminist Organization’s Handbook is a beautiful resource from the Women’s Center for Creative Work in Los Angeles. They explain how they work, with the expressed intention of helping others to learn from their experience.
  8. Alcoholics Anonymous operate as an “upside-down organisation”. Their manual is an up-to-date summary of 80+ years of decentralised organising at scale.
  9. The IETF is the principal body governing the development of the Internet. Their open, voluntary, self-organising principles are documented in the Tao of the IETF.
  10. Public Interest Research Center is a thinktank for civil society, helping social movements tell better stories. They’ve recently transitioned to a flat organisational structure. No handbook yet, but they published this excellent story about the transition.
  11. Platform is an arts /education / research /activism org. No public handbook, but their Social Justice Waging System is impressive.
  12. How to Start a Tool Lending Library is a toolkit hosted by ShareStarter.org, a site which they are seeking to convene a “Lending Library Alliance”, to promote the establishment of new Libraries of Things and Tool Libraries across the country and around the world by spreading the idea, inspiring the creation of new tool lending libraries, and providing the information and assistance necessary…
  13. Transition Towns’ Essential Guide to doing Transition is available in many languages.
  14. Valve Employee Handbook – Valve is a software company that works without bosses. They published their handbook in 2012.
  15. Edgeryders is a unique online community and company, a kind of thinktank and mutual aid network. A lot of their work is done in public, e.g. see their Principles for collaboration and operations in Edgeryders. “No plan is the plan.”
  16. The Borderland a collaborative community organized around an annual participatory event. It organizes itself using two processes: Dream Prototyping and Consensual Do-ocracy, also known as the Advice Process, influenced by Frederic Laloux’s Reinventing Organizations.
  17. Outseta Operating Agreement – Outseta is a SaaS company with a fully distributed team that has adopted self-management. We’ve made our operating agreement public: how we make functional and financial decisions. We also published an overview of what self-management is, an overview to folks new to the subject.
  18. 350 Seattle – Structure resources for a campaigning org
  19. Open Coop Governance Model designed for use in the Guerilla Translation co-op, as a model for others to remix
  20. Scaling Agile at Spotify: explaining how Spotify’s 250+ tech staff coordinate across tribes, squads, chapters and guilds.
  21. Hanno Playbook – a self-managing team of 8 designers with excellent documentation about the internal operations of their company
  22. Bridge Foundry – a network of self-organized free programming workshops for underrepresented folks in different cities and different languages/frameworks. How to Organize a Railsbridge Workshop encourages anybody to create a workshop, and the Workshop Cookbook contains detailed instructions.
  23. Camplight – a digital cooperative that creates experiences for the web, mobile and beyond. In August 2019 they published their internal guideline. More stories can be found on Medium.
  24. Root Systems – a small high-trust livelihood pod doing tech consulting and software development within the Enspiral network.

Temporary (e.g. campaigns, events)

  1. Barcelona en Comú published How To Win Back The City, one year after a coallition of grassroots activists won the municipal elections.
  2. How We Organize the Allied Media Conference (2017 edition). This zine was organized in 2013 by the Allied Media Projects to open source their methodology for convening what is now, in its 20th year, more than a 3,000 person conference themed around “media-based organizing” in Detroit, USA. The content of the conference is generated, coordinated, and selected in an impressively decentralized manner.
  3. HOFFNUNG 3000 – a self-organized festival. How do we organize ourselves in our social, artistic & theoretical communities? HOFFNUNG 3000 was not simply a festival but more of a process of organizing a festival, a festival that creates itself. Through each and every participant.
  4. How to Create a Rent Strike
  5. Repair Cafe is a place to meet and fix things together. Their handbook is available on a ‘pay what you want’ basis.
  6. TEDx organisers guide
  7. Awesome Foundation Wiki. Awesome Foundation is a network of autonomous groups who make micro-grants to people working on awesome projects.
  8. How to start a SOUP: a microgranting dinner celebrating and supporting creative projects.
  9. How to start a Food Not Bombs chapter: decentralised grassroots peace movement sharing free (vegan) food with hungry people.
  10. Cosecha is a movement for US immigrants. They operate with a transparent strategy & structure.
  11. Swarmwise by Rick Falkvinge, the tactical guide from the Swedish Pirate Party
  12. Ouishare Fest Toolkit– a guide to organizing a participatory festival.
  13. Guide to the Extinction Rebellion UK self-organising system

Generalised lessons: toolkits, books, etc

More business like

  1. Better Work Together – stories and tools from Enspiral (network of self-managing social enterprises)
  2. The Toolbox Toolbox: a curated list of the best analogue and digital toolboxes and methods from companies, institutions and thinkers.
  3. Reinventing Organisations by Frederic Laloux is a really influential book sharing case studies of large organisations in different sectors, successfully operating without centralised management systems. Good wiki too.
  4. Insights for the Journey – video series to accompany the Reinventing Organizations book by Laloux
  5. Going Horizontal by Samantha Slade: practices for flattening organisational hierarchies
  6. Repsonsive Org Playbook from Ed Elements – mashup of Holacracy, Design Thinking, Lean, Agile, etc. Includes “practice” templates.
  7. 12 Principles for Prototyping a Feminist Business
  8. Remote Only manifesto for companies that work without a central office.
  9. Remote Starter Kit – digital tools to support remote collaboration
  10. Atlassian Team Playbook – toolkit for effective self-managed teams, by the makers of Trello.
  11. Self-managing organizations: Exploring the limits of less-hierarchical organizing – research paper by Amy C. Edmondson and Michael Y. Lee
  12. Teaming by Amy C. Edmondson
  13. Google’s Team Effectiveness Guide Psychological safety > dependability > structural clarity > meaning > impact
  14. Corporate org dev consultants The Ready published their OS Canvas – a tool for mapping the present state of your org and planning future changes.
  15. Why Employees are Always a Bad Idea – business book by Chuck Blakeman
  16. HyperIsland Toolbox – a collaboration toolkit for innovation, team development
  17. Liberating Structures – 33 meeting formats for inclusion and creativity
  18. The Future of Work is Human – practices for holistic meetings, collective learning, innovation.
  19. Core Protocols for Effective Communication
  20. Beyond Empowerment: the Age of Self-Managed Organization business book by Doug Kirkpatrick from Morningstar: a pioneering self-managing company & the world’s largest tomato processers
  21. One from many by Dee Hock (VISA)
  22. Joy at work by Dennis Bakke (coined the Advice Process at AES)
  23. Eckart’s notes by Wintzen (BSO) – Dutch
  24. La belle histoire de FAVI by Zobrist
  25. The second cycle by Lars Kolind
  26. Maverick by Ricardo Semler
  27. Team of Teams by General Stanley McChrsytal – how the US Army developed a networked management structure to respond to urban warfare in Iraq
  28. A Lapsed Anarchist’s Approach to Building a Great Business series by Ari Weinzweig at Zingermans
  29. The Haier Model by Yangfeng Cao
  30. Freedom, Inc.: How Corporate Liberation Unleashes Employee Potential and Business by Brian M Carney & Isaac Getz
  31. Future of Management by Gary Hamel
  32. The Holacracy Constitution 4.1
  33. Greater Than’s Guide to Collaborative Funding
  34. The Decider App: compares 9 different group decision-making methods, by NOBL Collective
  35. Brave New Work a book by Aaron Dignan from The Ready about how to change your organisational operating system (coming soon)
  36. Remodel: a free toolkit that helps you explore and develop new business models for physical products – based on open source principles.
  37. Transformative Scenario Planning by Adam Kahane
  38. Creating Breakthrough Innovation (framework) distills five practices for breakthrough innovation, with an overarching theme of bringing “cocreation” into nonprofits, philanthropy, and community groups.
  39. Autonomist Leadership (framework) – Autonomist Leadership is the name given to the non-hierarchical, informal and distributed forms of leadership found in emancipatory social movements, and, in particular, in networked social movements. This paper… sets out five principles that make it a distinct form of leadership.
  40. BOSSA nova: Company-wide Agility with Beyond Budgeting, Open Space and Sociocracy
  41. Inviting Leadership: Invitation-Based Change in The New World of Work
  42. Open Space Beta: Beta transformation just got a hell of a lot less complicated
  43. Team Tempo: book by NOBL Collective
  44. Prototyping.Work: Collaborative platform full op practices, tips and guides to reinvent the way we work.

More community like

  1. The Empowerment Manual: A guide for collaborative groups – excellent book by ecofeminist organiser Starhawk
  2. New Economy Organisers Network share their toolkit for campaigners, activists & organisers.
  3. Code for Canada’s Civic Tech Community Organizer Toolkit contains advice on how to start, sustain and grow a civic tech community group in your area.
  4. Post Consensus Cooperative Decision-making, an excellent slidedeck from Doug Webb explaining some of the limits of consensus and where you can go instead
  5. Rules for Radicals is the last book written by legendary community activist and writer Saul D. Alinsky about how to successfully run a movement for change.
  6. Horizontalism: Voices of popular power in Argentina, an oral history compiled by Marina Sitrin, told by people in the autonomous social movements, occupied factories, neighborhood assemblies, arts and independent media collectives, to the indigenous communities and unemployed workers movements.
  7. My book Patterns for Decentralised Organising.
  8. Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown: “radical self-help, society-help, and planet-help designed to shape the futures we want to live”
  9. The Tyranny of Structurelessness – classic essay from Jo Freeman explaining why organising with “no structure” can be more abusive than the worst boss.
  10. Beautiful Trouble creative tactics for nonviolent direct action
  11. 350.org’s Trainings site includes resources for organisers
  12. Networked Change report “strategies and practices that made 47 of today’s most successful advocacy campaigns work… because of their ability to open up to the new cultural forces which favor open-ness and grassroots power.”
  13. Campaign Bootcamp Resources for campaigners
  14. Jackson Rising: The Struggle for Economic Democracy and Black Self-Determination in Jackson, Mississippi. A chronicle of one of the most interesting social transformations in contemporary USA.
  15. Earth First! Direct Action Manual (also available in print)
  16. Email Etiquette for Virtual Collectives
  17. Sociocracy 3.0 – a free & open guide to developing agile, resilient, consent-based orgs
  18. How To: Distributed Organizing guide for campaigners
  19. Mobilisation Lab resources: online courses, articles, videos, podcasts, reports & guides for campaigners
  20. How to Welcome & Engage People in Community Spaces by Danny Spitzberg
  21. Skessa: Collaborative Toolkit for Diverse and Inclusive Organisations
  22. Art of Hosting (Conversations That Matter)
  23. The Viable System Model, Jon Walker. How to design a healthy business: The use of the Viable System Model in the diagnosis and design of organisational structures in co-operatives and other social economy enterprises
  24. Many Voices One Song introduction, learned lessons and implementation assistance for sociocracy basics from Sociocracy for All
  25. The Essentials of Theory U: Core Principles and Applications by Otto Scharmer
  26. It’s vacant, take it! (zine) – 3rd edition (Fall 2013) of the Homes Not Jails squatting zine. While the guide comes from a group based in San Francisco, many of the tips would be helpful for anyone squatting regardless of their location. It includes tips on finding comrades/friends to squat with, finding a building, securing a squat, dealing with the law and/or property owners, and more.
  27. How to organize a pirate kindergarten in your neighborhood. A little manual on collective care and parenting, starting from the specific experience of the self-managed nest Soprasotto in Milan.
  28. Patterns for cooperative networks and associations. A typology of structures for cooperative association.
  29. P2P Foundation Wiki. An international organization focused on studying, researching, documenting and promoting peer to peer practices in a very broad sense.
  1. The Do-Ocracy Handbook: organisational types and legal structures by Mark Simmonds (UK legal focus)
  2. Sustainable Economies Law Center (SELC)
  3. Purpose Economy: Steward Ownership model. See Sharetribe for example
  4. Fairshares model for multi-stakeholder coops

Trainers

  1. AORTA – The Anti-Oppression Resource and Training Alliance is a worker-owned co-op supporting grassroots and social justice groups to grow their capacity.
  2. Ayni Institute – training for social movement organisers. A lot of their training content is available as online videos, e.g. see the Momentum Webinar Series on the science of social movements, and the SWARM Training on decentralised organising.
  3. Momentum “gives grassroots organizers the tools to build massive, decentralized social movements that aim to shift the terrain under policymakers’ feet”
  4. Ulex Project – a residential training centre in Catalunya. They practice “integral activist training”, addressing the interdependent links between individuals, organisations, and cultures.
  5. My little consulting company The Hum provides practical guidance for decentralised organisations.
  6. Organisational Misbehaviourists – corporate trainers focussed on psychological safety and collective wisdom
  7. PowerLabs campaigning trainers
  8. RAD.cat – Research Action Design (RAD) uses community-led research, collaborative design of technology and media, and secure digital strategies to build the power of grassroots social movements.
  9. NetChange – distributed organising campaign trainers
  10. Tripod Training – Training, meeting facilitation and conflict mediation to support groups to work in better alignment with their visions and values.

Why

I think the best structure for any organising effort must be custom-fit to its local context. I don’t believe in “one size fits all” solutions, but we don’t need to start from a blank slate either. My book is a collection of “patterns”, experiences that are common in all collaborative groups. Each pattern names a common dysfunction (e.g. unfair distribution of care labour), and a response (e.g. account for care work the same way you treat other work).

My approach to organisational development:

  1. 🏠 understand the local context for this org: history, relationships, intentions, strengths, obstacles, etc.
  2. 🌏 zoom out to a global view to find an appropriate frame of reference (e.g. #agile, #teal, #sociocracy, #coops, #designthinking, #artofhosting)
  3. 🔎 zoom in to an adjacent local context (i.e. another organisation that shares something in common with this one)
  4. 🏡 return home with lessons to inform the next experiment we’ll try

So the “handbooks” listed here are examples of local context (with much gratitude to the authors who make their experience transparent for others to learn from). The “toolkits and books” are global lessons extracted from local experience.

@richdecibels @patconnoly @toddhoskins @shareable @JPatrickDunn @patriciarealini @WCCWLA @adriennemaree @AyniTeam @UlexProject @pircuk @NEON_UK @jaimeyann @feminineist @staccoP2P @bcnencomu @mrchrisadams @350 @rhizomecoop @jdaviescoates @PlatformLondon @CFTransition @transitiontowns @awesomefound @sam5 @radicalthnktnk @Jas_Tribe @Sam_Applebee @randallito @CosechaMovement @roguesofa @Owoy @douginamug @neil @mattcropp @wearehanno @flpvsk @CfFominaya @disruptandlearn @yanche @AmyCEdmondson @JohnDobbin @theready @aarondignan @fred_laloux @ChuckBlakeman @guff_se @hyperisland @KeithMcCandless @Redshifter3 @b_bockelbrink @jamespriest_S3 @lilidavidis @CoopsMark @netchange @getpowerlabs @Price_J_Matt @MobilisationLab @hugi @outseta @valeriecosta @TheSELC @FairSharesAssoc @joost_minnaar @deewhock @kolind @ricardosemler @StanMcChrystal @isaacgetz @profhamel @jdaviescoates @GuerrillaTrans @daspitzberg @m8rt @crispsweden @rkasper @henrikkniberg @theQCommunity @douginamug @MatthewMezey @zaunders @worknobl @villum @designcentret @samspurlin @coopchange @nmaljkovic
@soprasotto @toolbox_toolbox @toupeira @UlrichSchur

If you have more to add, please edit this page, contribute on Twitter, or email rich@thehum.org :heart_eyes:

This work is licensed CC0, meaning you can use it in any way you like. If you want to be friendly you can credit Richard D. Bartlett from richdecibels.com

Momentum Webinars on movements, mass decentralised organising and mobilisation

January 28, 2020

Cover of The Activists' Handbook.

Book review of The Activists’ Handbook: A step-by-step guide to participatory democracy

By Naomi Blackburn

Aidan Rickett’s The Activists’ Handbook is a powerful guide to grassroots activism. Naomi Blackburn reviews the early chapters of the book which are particularly relevant to Theories of Change.

Review

Thinking again about the role of theories of change in activism this week I thought I’d look at the opening chapters of Aidan Rickett’s publication The Activists’ Handbook: A step-by-step guide to participatory democracy. Aidan Ricketts is an Australian environmental activist, activist educator and academic at the School of Law and Justice at Southern Cross University in Lismore. Ricketts says in the introduction that his hope for the book is that it “saves newly emergent activists from the ordeal of having to reinvent the wheel”.

Perhaps reflecting his academic bent, the book starts with two fairly theoretical chapters that focus on big ideas about activism. These are then followed by the more immediately useable advice suggested by the ‘step-by-step’ subtitle. Campaigners are typically a practical bunch and I suspect many will do as I did and flick to the middle looking for the practical advice to start off with. There they will be rewarded with a range of strategies to pursue change through the political system, by corporate lobbying, through direct action and via the courts. However, in starting with theory Ricketts obviously thought these ideas were important for new activists to engage with and I agree.

The first chapter ‘Advocacy, activism and the practice of democracy’ starts the book at quite a high conceptual level, with the definition of democracy itself. Ricketts devotes this chapter to defining between public and private interests. He shows how the law privileges private interests and makes it difficult to protect public interests through the courts. He also provides a checklist for determining when a problem is a public interest problem. In the introduction, Ricketts talks about his work with resident groups fighting local battles. I can see this public versus private distinction is particularly valuable for those who are acting to protect their local area because it is so important to be able to articulate the public interest at stake in those campaigns.

The second chapter ‘Building successful social movements’ introduces some of the key movement debates such as what is meant by non-violence and how to structure movement decision-making. These are only covered briefly here and serve to introduce the later chapters on ‘Direct action, protest and your rights’ and ‘Social change and conflict resolution’. On non-violence Ricketts acts as a helpful intermediary, directing readers to the work of American author and academic Gene Sharp and a recent issue of New Internationalist that focused on the topic. This thoughtful referencing was an aspect of the book I really appreciated.

In this second chapter Ricketts also provides a great introduction to Bill Moyer’s Movement Action Plan and illustrates the stages using the North East Forest Alliance as an example. Ricketts serves new activists well here by introducing a classic text with just enough to get a feel for its value and then referring them on to Moyer’s book for more. He takes the same strategy in introducing readers to the work of Joanna Macy on despair and hope and to Katrina Shields’ work on self-care.

Overall these initial chapters do a good job of introducing the reader to some core concepts, which create a platform for both later chapters and future reading. I feel like Ricketts is letting the emerging activist know these topics are the subject of discussions and has introduced them to some people with whom they can continue the conversation. After a pause and a think, he’s happy for them to dive on into the advice on strategy, media and more.

Table of Contents

Introduction

  1. Activism, advocacy and the practice of democracy
  2. Building successful social movements
  3. Strategy: The art of activism
  4. Planning and mapping your campaign: practical tools and processes
  5. Media, publicity and research
  6. Public sector activism: How to change the law and influence government policy
  7. Corporate Activism
  8. Direct action, protest and your rights
  9. Digital Activism
  10. Strategic Litigation
  11. Social change and conflict resolution
  12. Empowerment and personal sustainability: Staying active and avoiding burnout

For more see The Activists’ Handbook.

The author of the Activists’ Handbook, Aidan Ricketts, teaches a university accredited subject that teaches the skills of campaigning, community activism and advocacy through the Southern Cross University School of Law and Justice. It runs as a 5 day intensive on the Gold Coast from 3-7 December 2019.

Picture of a red manual.
The People Power Manual: Campaign Strategy Guide.

Campaign Strategy Guide

By James Whelan, Jason MacLeod

The Campaign Strategy Guide is the first instalment of the People Power Manual, a resource created for organisers, activist educators and facilitators. The Campaign Strategy Guide is available for purchase, in hard copy or download, from the Change Agency.

Campaign strategy needn’t be mystifying, lonely or stressful. Social movements become more powerful as more people are equipped to analyse their political context, consider paths to change and mindfully plan tactics. This Campaign Strategy Guide equips activist educators to facilitate a range of participatory exercises with activists, organisers and citizens. It can also be used as a do-it-yourself guide for campaigners. The guide incorporates 16 handouts, several workshop schedules and process guides for 24 strategising processes that have been tried and tested by thousands of campaigners.

The People Power Manual

The People Power Manual is a resource for activist educators. It is a collection of participatory and experiential processes and handouts organised around six themes:

  1. Campaign Strategy (released late 2015, 3rd edition 2020)
  2. Community Organising (October 2016)
  3. Civil Resistance
  4. Working with Groups
  5. Returning to Strength: Movement Resilience in the Face of Repression
  6. Educating the Activist Educator (Ed²)

The People Power Manual has been created to support facilitators and educators working to help local action groups and social movements win environmental and social justice goals. The manual is published electronically as a series of guides. Hard copies of each guide are also available. All funds generated by the sale of the manual go back into supporting grassroots social movement education projects.The manual has been written primarily for educators, trainers and facilitators who are looking for processes to use in their activist education work. We don’t expect people will read the guides cover to cover like a book. Instead, we imagine most people will dip in and out of these pages. We’ve written the guides for readers who already understand the concepts and theory that the processes and handouts are based on. For those interested in further reading, each guide recommends our favourite books, manuals and online resources.The People Power Manual is not a cookbook; it is a menu of options. Even so, the processes and handouts contained the Manual’s six guides are no substitute for experience and the skill of listening, creating a sense of safety and trust in a group, and creatively responding to the needs of participants by adapting and designing new processes in situ. Having said all that, we hope the People Power Manual will enable transformative education and dialogue. Purchase sections of the People Power Manual as a download or in hard copy here.

Outline of the Campaign Strategy Guide

We start with an introduction to our thinking about strategy and its importance in social change work. Before this you’ll find a glossary of expressions that are used throughout the guide. This is not gospel, and words will always be used differently in different contexts. But we feel it’s important to say what we mean and the manual uses some concepts and language in quite specific ways. This glossary could be a useful workshop resource too.

The manual follows a sequence that reflects how we think about (and teach) strategy. Often, we’ll describe this logic using the metaphor of a funnel. We encourage campaigners to begin their strategizing processes by thinking as broadly as possible about their visions, their social and political context, and about power. Step by step, we move through ‘cutting’ problems to issues, considering the steps involved in resolving the problem you’re focused on, who you might work with and how you expect to influence power-holders. After progressing through these analytical processes, we then shift our focus to the narrow end of the funnel; what tactics will you use

At each step along the way, we provide some of our favourite process guides and resources. There’s an extensive and searchable collection of resources on The Change Agency website.

The manual ends with a list of useful online resources, books and sample workshop schedules.

Contents

Acknowledgements…………..………………………………………………………………………………….. 7The People Power Manual……………………………………………………………………………………. 8Glossary………………….………………………………………………………………………………………….. 10Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 12Elements of Strategy………………….…………………………………………………………………….…. 14Handout | Short term campaign strategy template………………….…………………………..29Process Guide | Strategy as a house…………………….……………………………………………….31Handout | Strategy as a house…………………….……………………………………………………….34Process Guide | The blanket game……………………..………………………………………………..35Handout | The importance of strategic planning in nonviolent struggle……………..…36A Vision for Tomorrow………………….……………………………………………………………………… 41Handout | The vision for tomorrow………………….…………………………………………………..42Process Guide | Listening to the people………………………………………………………………..44Process Guide | Vision gallery…………………..…………………………………………………………..47Process Guide | What is your political vision?…………………..…………………………..……….49Handout | Shared vision: A powerful tool for change…………………………………………….51Process Guide | Cutting the issue…………………….……………………………………………………53Handout | Checklist for choosing a problem and issue…………………….……………………56Process Guide | Problem tree analysis………………….……………………………………………….57Situational Analysis………………….…………………………………………………………………………… 59Process Guide | Forcefield analysis………………….…………………………………………………….60Process Guide | Macro strategy tug of war………………………………………………….…………61Process Guide | Assessing and opening policy windows………………………………………. 62Handout | Assessing and opening policy windows…………………..…………………………… 64Process Guide | The Wave……………………..……………………………………………………….……..68Handout | The Wave……………………..……………………………………………………….………………70Process Guide | Critical path analysis………………….………………………………………………….71Process Guide | Creating a theory of change #1……………………….…………………………….75Process Guide | Creating a theory of change #2……………………….…………………………….79Handout | Theories of change………………………………………………………………………………..81Process Guide | Naming political assumptions……………….………………………………………83Process Guide | Mattress Game (pillars of support)………………….…………………………….85Organisational considerations…………….………………………………………………………………… 88Process Guide | The SWOT in practice………………….………………………….…………………….89Allies, constituents and targets…………………..………………………………………………………… 92Process Guide | Power mapping…………………..………………………………………………….93Process Guide | Spectrum of allies…………………………………………………………………..96Process Guide | Creating a tactical timeline………………….………………………..………..98Handout | Spectrum of allies…………………………………………………………………………100Campaign objectives………………..…………………………………………………………………… 101Process Guide | SMART Objective writing…………………..…………………………………..102Handout | SMART Objectives………………..………………………………………………………..103Handout | Key questions for developing your objectives………………..………………104Tactics and movement stages……………………………………………………………………….. 107Process Guide | Tactics analysis………………….………………………………………………….108Handout | Tactics analysis………………….…………………………………………………………..109Process Guide | From tactics to strategy………………….……………………………………..110Handout | George Lakey’s stages of movement development……………….………..112Handout | Mahatma Gandhi: Six stages in a large campaign………………….……….115Handout | Martin Luther King Jr’s six stage campaign planning framewo………..116Handout | Four roles in successful social movements (Bill Moyer 1990)………….117Handout | Eight Stages of Social Movement Success (Bill Moyer 1990)…………….118Process Guide | Template for a one-day MAP workshop………………….………………120Handout | Clamshell Alliance: Picnic Table Democracy…………………………………….122Handout | Bill Moyer’s reflections on his participation in the Clamshell Alliance occupation of Seabrook nuclear power plant…………………….……………………………..125Evaluation and success indicators………………..…………………………………………………. 127Other exercises for thinking holistically about strategy………………….………………… 128Process Guide | Stepping stones………………………………………………………………………128Process Guide | Playing for Life: The game of strategy………………….………………….131Process Guide | People-sized strategy board game……………………..…………………..137Useful resources and links…………………….……………………………………………………….. 139Workshop schedules………………………………………………………………………………………. 142Strategising for Change…………………………………………………………………………………….142Sample strategy workshop schedule………………….……………………………………………. 143Two-day Campaign Strategy workshop schedule………………….…………………………..144Three-day Campaign Strategy workshop schedule………………….………………………..150

The Campaign Strategy Guide is available for purchase, in hard copy or download, from the Change Agency.

Related

ChangeMakers Organising School – Season Two

September 8, 2020

Book review of The Activists’ Handbook: A step-by-step guide to participatory democracy

March 13, 2019

Organising: Start Here

September 8, 2020

Films!
Be inspired!A Force More PowerfulAlways was Always Will BeAmandla! A Revolution in Four-Part HarmonyBread and RosesCesar ChavezCrip CampDoloresErin BrockovichFire Talker: The life and times of Charlie PerkinsFundamental: 5 films about fighting for gender justice and fundamental human rightsGandhiHarlan County, USAHow to survive a plague Living Black: The Freedom Rides MatewanMilk Norma Rae Pride Rocking The Foundations Romero Selma Silkwood The Milagro Beanfield Water

Online Meeting Guides to Get Through COVID-19

By Commons Librarian

Connecting online has been part of our lives for years but the Coronavirus pandemic has made it crucial. Many teams already operate remotely whereas others are undertaking a steep learning curve about a whole new set of practices. Check out these guides to help you get the most out of your meetings.

Contents

Facilitation Tips

Many of the principles of face-to-face facilitation apply in online meetings, with particular considerations around increasing engagement, ensuring all voices are heard, and navigating technical barriers.

How-To Guides

These guides include both tech and facilitation tips.

Slide Deck Template

Help with Tools

Icebreakers

Adjusting to Working from Home

I want more!

Something to add or noticed a gap? Contact the Commons Librarians.

Related

Online Training Monster Manual

August 26, 2020

HUM: Double the engagement and productivity of your next online meeting

August 31, 2020

Top 10 resources of 2020

December 6, 2020

First slide from 350.org's Online Training Monster Manual slide deck. Includes picture of a purple monster with one large eye holding an open laptop computer.

Online Training Monster Manual

By Daniel Hunter

Tired of making new slide decks for interactive tools? Want new ideas on participatory methods online? Looking for new games and warm-ups? Then have we got an answer for you: the “Online Monster Manual” is a compilation of 80+ online training tools from 350 globally.

About the Manual

The most comprehensive Online Training Monster Manual — over 80 tools to make your workshops and events more participatory and interactive! Access the slide deck here.

I’m launching it now because so many groups across the globe are planning Online Training sessions and — yes, it’s not ideal to train online — but we can up our game!

The Monster Manual features common tools like spectrum of allies, pillars of support, polls, and online spectrums. It includes speciality organizing tools for analysis and tactic generation like paper plate challenge and Action MadLibs. It boasts a wide number of energizers guaranteed to lift your online events!

This version designed for use with Zoom + Google slides, but you can of course adapt and use.

These tools are used well in conjunction with the lessons from the free booklet Leading Groups Online.

Usage: Given freely to movement use by 350.org — free for any non-profit usage as long as you link to this page and use it for non-commercial progressive/revolutionary social change.

A note on credit: The content is created by Daniel Hunter but adapted from material from Leading Groups Online, Training for Change, 350 internal trainings, and external allies and friends. A huge amount of this was learned from the unparalleled Jeanne Rewa. We’ve tried to note credit wherever possible.

Table of Contents

ELICITIVE TOOLS

Content-free tools flexible for adaptation

  • Circle-making
  • Fishbowl
  • Role-play (fishbowl)
  • Chat
  • Filling out Charts
  • Spectrums (with name)
  • Spectrums (pseudo-anonymous)
  • List-making (stickies)
  • List-making (colorful stickies)
  • List-making (bubbles)
  • List-making (written)
  • List-making (two columns)
  • Poll
  • Image challenge
  • Break-out Groups (sign-up)
  • World Café
  • Drawing Exercise (and Art Gallery)
  • Our Newspaper Headline
  • Poems

ACTION DEBRIEFING

After an action — techniques for debrief

  • Summary
  • Timeline of Key Events
  • Spectrums
  • Quote to inspire
  • Tactic Review
  • Pluses and Minuses
  • 4 Aspects of Effective Strategy
  • Personal Reflection
  • Reference info for next time

ORGANISING & CHANGE

Unique tools specifically for organizing, mobilising and actions

  • Campaigns vs. Action (2 slides)
  • Paper Plate Challenge (2 slides)
  • Tactic Effectiveness Check-in
  • Action MadLibs (3 slides)
  • Points of Intervention
  • Finding Steady Ground
  • Pillars of Support (2 slides)
  • Moving the Rock
  • Power-mapping
  • Spectrum of Allies (3 slides)

TECH SLIDES (ZOOM)

Show how to do things in Zoom, like mute/unmute or turn interpretation on/off

  • Basic Zoom Functions
  • How to ask a question
  • How to use phone for audio
  • Private chat

OPENINGS

Set the stage for excited learning

  • Be Present
  • Rituals (E.g. kava ceremony)
  • Grab an object that supports you
  • Requests for this call
  • Introductions
  • Picture Introductions
  • Content Introducions
  • Group Guidelines

CLOSINGS

Checking-out of a workshop

  • Moment of Silence
  • How do you leave this call?
  • Which Greta are you?
  • Feedback
  • Holding Each Other
  • Songs
  • What are you taking away? Anything else?
  • Thanks/Contact

ONLINE GAMES & ENERGISERS

Tools to break up content, play, release, team-build, and have fun.

COMPETITIVE GAMES

Games that can be more or less competitive

  • Virtual Scavenger Hunt
  • Scategories
  • Hide and Seek
  • 2 Truths and a Lie
  • Kamehamaha
  • Guess the thing
  • Pictionary
  • Virtual Bingo

OTHER ENERGIZERS

Non-competitive game, stretches, improv exercises, etc.

  • Energy Ball
  • Story around the circle
  • Shake It Off
  • Yes Let’s…
  • Online Telephone
  • Big wind blows
  • Club Gesture
  • “Where on your screen is…”
  • Touch Blue
  • Music Dance Party
  • Chair Stretches
  • Chair Stretch (without video)
  • Break
  • Take 5 breaths together…
  • Gift Giving

LINKS, CREDITS, AND IMAGES

  • Our Recommendations to Learn More about Online Facilitation
  • Credits and Copyright Info
  • Images (and following pages)

SAMPLE GENERIC TRAINING DESIGNS

Free-to-adapt sample training agendas by 350

  • Movement Strategy in a time of covid
  • Creative Actions in a time of covid
  • Recruiting people in a time of covid
  • Healthy Teams in a time of covid
  • Finance Campaigning 101

Access the Online Training Monster Manual slide deck here. https://trainings.350.org/resource/online-monster-manual/

The content is created by Daniel Hunter but adapted from material from Leading Groups Online, Training for Change, 350 internal trainings, and external allies and friends.

Want more tips on online training and facilitation? See Leading Groups Online and Online Meeting Guides to Get Through Covid-19.