Fifth Congressional District Green Party Planning
Planning home | Notes from the fishbowl & open discussion (9/06/03) | Planning introduction & FAQ | Nov 2nd planning handout (PDF) | Results from "Values" discussion | Possible goals for the 5CD Greens (12/13/03) | Goals analysis
(Posted to Yahoo Group, 12-03-2003)
Hello greens,
I wanted to take a moment here in the middle of our planning process to reflect on what we've accomplished so far and where we'll be heading.
We've gotten a great deal accomplished in a few months. We've spent a total of 4 hours in membership meetings thinking, discussing, and moving through this planning process (at 25 members per meeting, that's 100 person-hours!). The plan we're developing will be a tool to help us focus our collective energy, time, and other resources over the next few years. The resulting plan will be written on paper, but it will also be a living organism, frequently reviewed—and even adjusted—to ensure that it remains relevant in changing times.
As I said at the last meeting, it is a challenge stretching a planning process over several months, especially when the planners are a large and ever-changing group of people. Despite this challenge, members have engaged in the process with a positive, creative, and energized spirit.
There have been no formal decisions made yet. We are proceeding with each step in the process and planning to review and adopt the plan when it's completed. The general structure of the planning process is:
- Deciding who we are
- Deciding, in view of who we are, what we want to accomplish together
- Laying out specific strategies to help us accomplish these things
Here's a recap and a look ahead.
AUGUST
Preview of planning—informing meeting attendees that strategy committee was developing a planning process for the membership and that we'd start it in September
SEPTEMBER: Role of the 5th District Green Party
- Introduction to planning
- Clarifying questions/concerns
- Review of the Green movement's shared vision
- Individual reflection on our unique role within the green movement
- Discussing our unique role in fishbowl discussion
- Discussing our unique role in open discussion
The consensus of this meeting was that the 5th District Green Party is the political expression of the green movement within the fifth district, and that our focus in the near term will be local elections and in the longer term, higher offices.
OCTOBER: Values of the 5th District Green Party
In the September meeting, members wanted to be sure that any electoral goals the party set would be pursued in a manner consistent with green values. To give the membership time to consider what makes the green party's approach different, the strategy committee decided to propose a values discussion in October.
- Introduction, context, and review of progress
- Discussion of values-setting
- Values and principles brainstorming
NOVEMBER: Values of the 5th District Green Party
The strategy committee proposed synthesizing the values brainstorming into a tentative set of values in November. These values will need to be developed more over time.
- Introduction, context, and review of progress
- Members split into small groups and synthesize results of values discussion into values
- Members report on the results of their small group work
DECEMBER: Specific, measurable, realistic goal-setting
We'll be moving into the phase many of us have been looking forward to—creating tangible, specific goals (results) that we can work to reach together. The strategy committee has created a process we believe will help members identify goals they believe are wise for the green party to pursue collectively.
- Introduction, context, and review of progress
- Description of the 5DGP's resources
- Brainstorming goals/results using those mentioned in September as starting point
- Selection by members of best goals for the 5DGP to consider
- Small group discussion on these goals
- Report from each discussion group
- Full group check-in
- Volunteers willing to do feasibility study on each goal established
LOOKING AHEAD: Finalizing goals, setting strategies, adopting our plan
Once we understand the pros and cons and feasibility of several goals, we'll be able to make an informed selection of the best goals for the party. The result should be goals the party wants to pursue and realistically hopes to achieve within the next few years. After we've selected goals we want to pursue, members will work in groups to outline the strategies needed to achieve these goals. Members will make a formal decision to adopt the plan as a tool after the strategy work is completed.
It's been a privilege to help facilitate this process. I think I can speak for the strategy committee in saying it's been a lot of hard work, but very rewarding work. We'll see you in December!