How to build transparency and mitigate power (mainly for Group Admins)

Why the Group Admin role matters

The Group Admin (GA) is vital to supporting the movement’s commitment to decentralisation, transparency, and equitable distribution of power. By documenting and maintaining up-to-date records of team roles, mandates, and members, you help ensure clarity across the movement about who does what, with what authority, and how to engage with them.

Effective group administration:

Supports autonomy: By making information accessible, it reduces dependence on any one person for decision-making or communication, ensuring roles remain clear and unambiguous.
Maximises transparency: Clear records empower individuals to contact relevant role holders directly, fostering collaboration across teams.
Strengthens accountability: Transparent mandates make it easier to see how roles fulfil their responsibilities, enhancing trust and efficiency within and beyond the team.

This work ensures the movement can function without traditional managerial roles that tend to concentrate information and power.

Overview of the role

The Group Admin plays a key administrative and facilitative role within the team, defined by the mandate they hold. The GA’s core responsibilities include:

Maintaining records of team membership, roles, mandates, and term limits for role holders.
Ensuring that this information is accessible to other teams and (where appropriate) the wider movement, enabling effective collaboration and accountability.
Supporting coordinators (Internal Coordinator, External Coordinator) in aligning team communication channels and keeping administrative tools updated.
Helping the team to organise meetings by storing and sharing minutes, project updates, and decisions.

The GA role is indispensable for ensuring smooth operations and empowering the movement to embody its regenerative and decentralised culture.

GA Skills

Success in the Group Admin role requires a mix of organisational, technical, and interpersonal skills:

Organisation: Managing records efficiently and ensuring that information is accurate and up-to-date.
Attention to detail: Ensuring mandates, roles, and records are precise and align with the movement’s goals and structures.
Collaboration: Working seamlessly with coordinators, role holders, and other GAs to facilitate communication and alignment.
Technical ability: Familiarity with record-keeping tools, communication platforms, and data-sharing systems used across the movement.

These skills ensure that the GA contributes meaningfully to the decentralised and transparent functioning of the team.

Tips for keeping on top of your role

Maintain live records: Keep an up-to-date record of who holds what role, their mandates, and when terms end. Ensure this is visible to all relevant members of the movement.
Categorise and organise:
- Records of mandates (purpose, accountabilities, domains).
- Membership details, including roles and sub-circles.
- Communication channels, meeting minutes, and key decisions.
Regular reviews: Periodically check for changes in roles or mandates and ensure that information is promptly updated.
Accessible storage: Use agreed-upon tools (e.g. Mattermost, shared drives) to store records securely yet accessibly.

Maximising transparency within the movement

The movement’s commitment to decentralisation relies on clear, accessible information:

Role visibility: Ensure that all role titles and mandates are accessible and up to date.
Direct engagement: By maintaining updated contact details and records, you enable others to contact relevant role holders directly without needing to go through intermediaries.
Accountability and alignment: Transparency helps the movement understand what each team is accountable for and ensures efficient collaboration without unnecessary conflict or duplication.

Working with coordinator roles in your team and other teams’ admins

As Group Admin, collaboration with other roles and admins is essential:

Internal Coordinator (IC): Work closely with the IC to ensure that all team members’ mandates align with the team’s strategy and that team priorities are clear and recorded.
External Coordinator (EC): Support the EC by ensuring clear communication between your team and the broader circles, helping track requests and responses from other teams.
Other GAs: Engage with GAs in other teams to share best practices, troubleshoot challenges, and align record-keeping standards across the movement.

Through these collaborations, the GA role becomes a cornerstone for transparency and efficiency in both your team and the wider movement.

Summary

Enable decentralisation: By documenting and maintaining transparent records, you empower individuals to take initiative without relying on gatekeepers.
Support accountability: Ensure roles and mandates are clear, enabling the movement to trust that work is being done effectively.
Foster collaboration: Work with coordinators and other GAs to align communication channels and maintain accurate, accessible information.
Embody transparency: Make information about roles and mandates easily available, ensuring everyone knows who to contact and how to engage.

By focusing on these areas, the Group Admin ensures their team and the movement as a whole can work together effectively, embodying regenerative culture and decentralised decision-making.