Sociocracy in co-operative organisations

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Glossary

Term	Definition
Backlog	A record of topics that arise in meetings that need attention from the Circle. The Backlog is used to construct future agendas.
Consensus Decision Making	A process for finding solutions that everyone actively supports, or at least can live with.
Consent Decision Making	A process for agreeing proposals. Consent is reached when there are no remaining objections.
Collective Governance	All of the members are also directors of the organisation.
Circle	A working group / team of (ideally) four to seven people who manage defined functions of the organisation.
Domains	A list of areas any given Circle has decision-making authority over.
Double Linking	Two members of a Circle (its elected Leader and Delegate) attend the next linked Circle within the organisation’s structure. These two members are full members of both Circles, supporting information flow and alignment of decisions.
General Meeting	A meeting open to the entire membership of the co-operative.
Mission Circle	The Board of Directors.
Opening Round	Opening Rounds are a check-in at the start of a meeting, an opportunity to boost connection between members and to share relevant information about anything impacting on a member’s ability to participate in a meeting.
Policy	Decisions made within a circle are referred to as “policy decisions”.
Rounds	Speaking one-by-one in turn until everyone has spoken once.
Selection Process	The sociocratic open elections process - selecting people into circles and roles using a nominations process and Consent Decision Making instead of a secret ballot.