The group process#

Your groups may end up talking about some difficult and contentious issues that relate deeply to the members’ values and sense of who they are and what their community is for. In this kind of group, it’s important to avoid creating unresolved discord. The goal is for the members to establish common ground, acknowledge their differences, and come to a common sense of how to proceed for the good of the community as a whole.

To aid this process, we use “A Recipe” as a basic group agreement. We’ve put these in the wider reading materials, but they’re worth repeating here:

  • A — Avoid assumptions

  • R — Respect each other

  • E — Everyone’s contribution counts

  • C — Confidentiality

  • I — I speak for myself

  • P — Pass if you have nothing you wish to say

  • E — Expect to participate

It can be helpful to write these out on a large piece of paper to stick where everyone can remind themselves of them during the sessions.