Hey folks! Us in the Mediation WG have been working very hard lately; we have written a mandate and brought it to GA for approval (it was ratified at march 31′s GA, I believe), developed the bulk of our conflict resolution process, brainstormed an “ear” program we will need plenty of volunteers for soon, discussed approaches we will take to certain issues, and planned out several things we hope to accomplish.

At yesterday’s meeting, we decided to go to the WG’s and present a list of recommendations the Mediation WG has for all meetings to be a little more open, smoother, transparent, etc. Of course these are just suggestions that we think would be helpful to keep in mind, and we are aware some groups already do some of these things, and not all groups will need the whole list… But we feel it will be a good resource. Here is the list, and you will be hearing plenty more about it at your meetings this week and next week:

Mediation WG Recommends (in no particular order):
- Allyship in the face of oppression (i.e. patriarchy, ageism, etc. in meetings)
- Community agreements to be reinforced at meetings (stated aloud?)
- Additional roles (dragon, timer, well-timed vibe-checkers? “co-facilitator”?)
- Self-facilitation (active listening, staying on topic, not repeating ourselves unless absolutely necessary, etc.)
- Check-ins/appreciations (at the end of meetings? taking a break during?)
- Pairing up with new folks to make them feel more comfortable, help them understand the process (“buddy system”)
- Clear, gentle communication (calling folks out, stopping to address tension, etc.)

And also, here is our official mandate, which has been ratified at GA as of Mar 31.

“The Mediation WG seeks to develop a step by step process for addressing and solving personal conflicts within OSR. We seek to help the movement abide by its community agreements, because they embody the kind of culture we strive to create. We also hope to avoid public airing of private conflicts, or the public denouncing of the movement, out of respect for the movement and individual privacy. We encourage all OSR participants to act responsibly and in good faith. We will have a list of volunteers who can be “ears” to listen to personal grievances and conflicts, and work to heal all individuals involved, and the greater community, to the fullest extent possible.”

Thanks for reading, folks, and any feedback is totally welcome, publicly or privately. <3

It’s really important to not direct people to the Mediation Working Group without first explaining the Mediation WG Mandate. If you consider the person’s issue to be a “private conflict” not to be aired, then you should express to the person the desire of Mediation Working Group to be used as a way to encourage people not to have to go to mediation, but rather to find any other option, and to “avoid public airing of private conflicts.” Usually, when it get’s to that point of public airing it is out of a true and real frustration. If you send people to Mediation WG and then tell them that they have to deal with their “private conflict” on their own, then you may just succeed in making them feel even more alone. That is not in the spirit of reaching out and encouraging people to talk. I appreciate the intention, but I am wondering if the reaching out and encouraging people to talk that Emerald so lovingly offers, will really be offered when someone comes to the WG upset with some issue. Will the ears really listen? I agree, bad vibing and attacking anyone in public does hurt all of us, but so does bad vibing and attacking in secret, and that’s why people really do need those ears. I hope we all can live up to the ideals the mandate has set. It’s a great start.