Mandates and Working Groups

Interacting Between Teams

Our 'SOS' structure is a series of circles (teams) within circles (wider teams). Each circle contains the role of External Coordinator who attends the meeting of the wider circle. (and the EC of that circle will do the same, and in this way information is passed through the system.)

This applies to your Local Group External Coordinator (EC) attending Nation/Region meetings. But this also applies if you have a large local group and you want to create 'sub-circles' that feed in to your regular group meetings.

External Coordinators also feed FROM the wider circle back into your team.

Note: This should not be the sole interaction between teams. It is recommended if you are working on something that overlaps or sits close to a team many circles from you, that you reach out to them directly. Your External Coordinator should be able to find their contact details.

Mandates

We use mandates to distribute power through the movement. They help us manage without managers, and make our organisation transparent and accessible, with no mysterious 'black boxes'.

Simply put, a mandate outlines your purpose within the system, what is expected of you and what you are responsible for.

Lets say your group wants to organise a fundraising disco. You'll need someone (or a small team), to organise each element of the event. Different people can be given the responsibility to organise the venue, the food, the music, and the advertising. Each of those people has an informal 'mandate' to make plans in their area- they don't need to check every decision with the rest of the group.

But sometimes these responsibilities overlap, and it's important that people communicate effectively with each other. For example, if the venue team arranged a venue that closed at 9pm, but the music team had booked a DJ from 7-11pm, there would be a tension between their decisions. That's why its important to communicate your actions with the rest of the team, and check there is no harm in them, even though you're not having to get permission to do everything (like you might have to in a more heirachical organisation).

Learn more

If you want to learn more about XR's Self-Organising System, then you can attend regular online training on this or request specific SOS training for Local Groups.