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Appendix
Recommended Structure and Group Process
for Unitarian Universalists in Work Groups
With permission, by Professor William Doherty, University of Minnesota
Unitarian Universalists, an independent lot, would never tell other groups how to conduct themselves. But since our professional training gives us a bit of insight into group process and since we have had a successful experience, we want to pass on recommendations for other groups who might like to form. The focus here is on the logistics, but what is more important is that we tried to use the UU Principles in dealing with one another in the group. For more information on the process, contact Bill Doherty (bdoherty@che.umn.edu).
- Getting organized. It takes one or two people to organize the group and call its first meeting. The more similar the occupations of group members, the better; for example, nurses and physicians in separate groups rather than in one group of health professionals. But other occupations might be too specialized to have complete group homogeneity; for example, people in sales might form a group even if they sell different things. The time commitment should be spelled out in advance. A good group size would be 7 to 10 members, enough for diversity of perspective but not so many that individuals lack adequate conversation time.
- Choosing a facilitator. The facilitator's main job is to help the group stay with the process it has agreed to. Facilitators who are too vocal end up dominating the group; those who are too passive let the group get off course. The facilitator should also be part of group, fully sharing in the discussion while also being sensitive to keeping the group process moving. One of the organizers might serve as facilitator or recruit a prospective group member. If there are no likely candidates for the role within the group, the organizers can invite someone else from the local congregation who is not in the group's line of work to facilitate. That individual would serve as a process facilitator only.
- Choosing a recorder. Since a written document is to emerge from the group, it is important to identify someone who can take notes while still being part of the discussion. Ideally, this might be one of the organizers or someone else with a strong interest in capturing the essence of the conversations.
- Number of meetings. We recommend seven two-hour sessions divided as follows: five weekly sessions; a sixth after the report draft is written and distributed, to put the report in final form and decide how to distribute it; and a final session for closure and a chance for members to say what they hope to do with the insights they have gleaned from the experience. This structure allows for a more intensive focus than monthly sessions would provide, along with a relatively brief time commitment for busy people. Only those who can commit to attend all sessions should be invited into the group.
- A written mission for the group. Put it in written and oral announcements about the group being formed, and bring it to the first session for the group to accept or amend. Our mission was to understand how our Unitarian Universalist Principles and religious tradition inform our work as psychotherapists and to articulate a vision of how UU therapists can promote healing, justice, and community in the contemporary world.
- Recommended structure for session one. This is a crucial session for forming a group and deciding what kind of group to be. Here is the sequence of steps we used for this session:
- Each person says something about his/her work context and personal connection to Unitarian Universalism and this congregation.
- Each person says why he/she joined the group.
- The facilitator offers the mission statement and invites group assent or amendments. Ideally, this statement crystallizes what members have just said they want from the group.
- The facilitator offers a proposal for the structure and process of the group. The Group agrees or amends. It is important to have group buy-in for the structure and process but not to spend two sessions on this step. Our group decided to structure our discussions around the seven Principles of Unitarian Universalism. We agreed on the following group process and recommend it as a way to allow for individual time and group discussion time.
- Brief personal check-in. Each member answers the question: What is your frame of mind and heart as you rejoin the group tonight?
- Individual sharing: Each member reflects on the theme of the evening, a point or two taking a couple of minutes, not everything he/she might have to say on the topic. There is expectation of connecting to what other members have just shared. No crosstalk is allowed during this phase of the meeting; the group listens intently to each member without comment. Tip: It is helpful to have one person start and then go clockwise around the room, rather than waiting for people to jump in after silences. Anyone can pass. The facilitator should gently stop any crosstalk during the individual sharing time, so that each individual can receive undivided listening time.
- Open discussion. The facilitator should join in the discussion, not just moderate. Everyone should pay attention to sharing airtime.
- Brief reflection on the group process. About five minutes before ending, the facilitator asks,: "Did we do what we said we wanted to do? Were there barriers? Do we want to change something or stay the course?"
- The group generates ground rules. Ours were the following. You can see they were geared to avoid focusing on professional "shop talk."
- Confidentiality of all discussions
- No clinical supervision or consultation
- No competing over clinical models
- Avoid excessive focus on problems with managed health care
- Focus on underlying principles, not on details of cases
- No discussion of persons or programs in our church
- Anyone can pass and not share
- Start and end on time (ninety-minute meetings)
- Decide who will takes notes for purposes of writing the report and who will take the lead for writing the report. It is helpful for the organizers to have thought through a proposal for notetaking and pulling together the written statement, although volunteers may emerge during the first session.
- The group commits to a specific schedule of meetings.
- Solicit people's reactions to the first session.
- Structure for sessions two through four. Using the process described above, sessions two and three are devoted to discussion of the seven UU Principles. (We did Principles one through four in session two and five through seven in session three.) The content of the fourth session is not structured in advance. After session four, the facilitator (or someone else who takes notes) summarizes the major discussion themes emerging so far in the discussion and distributes before session five.
- Structure for session five. This session centers on reviewing the written themes from earlier sessions, seeing what needs clarification or more emphasis or could be better stated, and formulating plans for the written report. Decide on the primary and secondary audiences for the report. Ideally, one group member agrees to do the first draft of the report or members divide up the task. Eventually, someone will have to pull together the final draft and send it to the group before the sixth session. We decided to aim for about six to seven doublespaced pages—enough for a meaningful summary but not too lengthy. If no one in the group feels comfortable with this task, consider recruiting a church member who is a professional writer to help with the final draft. Schedule session six at a realistic interval to write the draft and give members a chance to review it. Then schedule the seventh and final session a week or two after session six.
- Structure for session six. This session should be scheduled far enough in advance for the report to be written and sent to members. The bulk of this session is spent reviewing the report, making changes, and agreeing on how to distribute it. Each member expresses his/her willingness to be a co-author of the report.
- Structure for session seven. Group members review their experience together and make their good-byes. Members can be invited to share any action steps they plan to take in their work roles or beyond. Some groups may want to reconvene in the future, and individual members might invite other members to a follow-up experience on a specific topic, but be careful to avoid pressuring members to extend their commitment. End the group when you promised to end it, and let the future evolve.
- The written report. This is a crucial part of the process, and should not be skipped even if it is intimidating. The written report serves as a way for the group to synthesize what it learned and experienced; it is the permanent memory of the group. It serves a larger public purpose to influence, inspire, and invite dialogue with individuals and groups inside and outside the profession about the broader significance of human labor in a democratic society. Ideally the report should be shared widely within the local congregation and beyond. As for the writing itself, we chose to organize our report around five themes that cut across the seven UU Principles. An alternative would be to organize the report around the Principles themselves, with a section devoted to each principle. We found it useful to articulate both what we affirm about the religious meaning of our work and how we are challenged by the same. We recommend avoiding the temptation, in the group discussions and the report, to dwell on ideals and inspiration to the exclusion of the difficulties we all face in living out the UU Principles in the world of work. Likewise, avoid the temptation to romanticize Unitarian Universalism, which has its own limitations and blind spots, or disparage other faith traditions, which have their own strengths and areas of illumination. But don't be shy about asserting the transforming potential of our religion for building communities of work that work for the good of all citizens.
Bibliographical Resources:
Bullis, Ronald. Spirituality in Social Work Practice (Washington, DC: Taylor & Francis, 1996).
Crabtree, Davida Foy. "Work" in The Empowering Church (Bethesda, MD: Alban Institute, 1989, pp. 49-53).
Dale, Eric. Bringing Heaven Down to Earth: A Practical Spirituality of Work (New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc. 1991)
Fox, Matthew. The Reinvention of Work: A New Vision of Livelihood for our Time (San Francisco, CA: Harper, 1995).
Frankl, Viktor. Life with Meaning (Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing Co. 1993).
Frankl, Viktor. Man's Search for Meaning (Boston, MA Beacon Press, 2000).
McMakin, Jacqueline and Sonya Dyer. Working from the Heart: A Guide to Cultivating the Soul at Work (New York: HarperCollins, 1989).
Richards, Dick. Artful Work: Awaking Joy, Meaning, and Commitment in the Workplace (San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 1995). |
Information:
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