Course description and syllabus

Through sociocracy you can design feedback systems so everyone in your community knows what is going on and can be heard on matters that affect them. Far from the intentional community horror stories you may have heard, a sociocratic meeting is manageable and calm. There are opportunities for every person in the room to express their thoughts and be heard.

Sociocracy for All’s Ted Rau and Jerry Koch-Gonzalez, your course instructors, will cover how to optimize group listening, divide decision-making authority into meaningful chunks, and empower people to act with clarity. During this Sociocracy for Communities course, you’ll learn how to implement sociocracy correctly, with adaptations for your community’s specific needs.

Classes and topics in the Sociocracy for Communities syllabus include:

1st Class: How to combine the best of small group decision-making with a sense of the whole

• the basic principles of sociocracy
• structure with linked circles and roles
• work circles and general circle
• whole-community meetings

2nd Class: Group decision-making: Hearing everyone and moving forward

• consent and objections
• three steps to get to consent
• how to integrate the wisdom someone brings that doesn’t consent
• selections by consent

3rd Class: Feedback Design

• selections
• proposal generation

4th Class: Meetings: Techniques for small and big meetings

• optimizing meetings for deeper listening
• planning agendas
• consent decision making

5th Class: Stories and practical tips on how to put the most useful tools in place together

• step-by-step strategies for existing and forming communities
• legal implications and sociocracy

Your instructors

Ted Rau

Ted is part of Sociocracy For All (SoFa), an international organization he co-founded with his colleague Jerry Koch-Gonzalez in 2016. SoFa is now a growing, international movement service organization that provides resources, training and networking for sociocracy practitioners. Ted co-authored the sociocracy handbook, Many Voices One Song and has taught sociocracy workshops in several countries including the United States, Brazil, the United Kingdom and Italy.

Ted is transgender, and his experience of seeing gender dynamics from both sides has influenced his thinking and perception. He has 5 children and has been a resident of Cherry Hill Cohousing in Massachusetts since 2012.

Jerry Koch-Gonzalez

Jerry helps companies and organizations implement sociocracy to create adaptive and effective organizations where all members’ voices matter. He is a consultant and certified trainer in both Dynamic Governance/Sociocracy and Compassionate Communication (NVC).

Jerry has been a Board member of the Institute for Community Economics, United for a Fair Economy and Class Action, and a trainer with Movement for a New Society, the National Coalition Building Institute, DiversityWorks, Cambridge Youth Peace & Justice Corps, Lesley College Center for Peaceable Schools, Boston College Center for Social Justice, the Association for Resident Controlled Housing, and Spirit in Action.

Jerry is a founding and current resident of Cherry Hill Cohousing, a 21-year old community in Amherst MA that has been successfully using sociocracy (aka Dynamic Governance) for the last 6 years.

Testimonials

“This was a wonderful course which gave me a lot to think about and some very specific tools. Jerry and Ted were open, warm and knowledgeable and the classes were always interesting and well paced.”

-Shaun McLeod

“This course is a comprehensive overview of sociocracy, well presented and run by Jerry and Ted. There was a good mix of participation in breakout groups and presented content. The supplementary materials were ample and informative. It was enlightening to learn and hear from others in a range of intentional communities across the globe (in the breakout rooms).”

-Lindsay McLaughlin

“What a treat to join others on the journey of discovery and implementation of sociocracy, with the writers of the books as our guides! I think the sections on aim, structure, consent, how to object, feedback, facilitation, and meetings were all immensely valuable, with real-world applications and circle diagrams from actual communities sprinkled throughout.”

-Andreas Bastias

“The online [Sociocracy for Communities] course included multiple interactive, small group discussion segments in each session. This gave us all an opportunity to practice the process and techniques being covered in class, and made the learning experience more hands-on and meaningful. It was valuable to hear about other communities at all stages of development from newly forming to those transitioning to a second generation 20-30 years later. All communities deal with sensitive, complex issues. Sociocracy provides a governance structure that engages everyone in decision-making in a respectful, clear and participatory process , that integrates objections, without demanding full consensus.”

-Anne Harper

You might also be interested in

• Creating Inclusivity with Sociocracy (Inside Community Podcast episode with Ted Rau)
• Governance and Decision Making (Inside Community Podcast episode with Diana Leafe Christian)
• Becoming a Communitarian (10-hour pre-recorded course)
• Understanding Diversity in Community (10-hour pre-recorded course)