[Businessmtg] Service / Perceptions

[Jerry H.]

Biz-Pals,

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NOTE: ASP's business practices permit the Business Meeting Chair to participate fully in all discussions. This is a personal share, not a share from the Chair.

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Laurie posed:


"My question is..if there is a perception that BM and positions within BM
are in an unhealthy environment, people may he reluctant to step up and
serve bc of this perception? 

"What can we do to change this perception and how do we go about this?"


I'd ask what are the sources of this reported perception; who are the proponents; are they perceptions, resentments, statements of fact? ASP business meetings have been through a lengthy trauma over the past three or so years. Out of this trauma there were resignations and one removal for cause. It's not surprising to me that there are lingering hurt feelings and folks still taking sides in the wake of it all. We can't, though, just stop doing business.


"What can we do...?"

I'll tell you what I do when there are disagreements: I go to the Group Conscience. I become even more familiar with ASP's Founding Statement and Policies, its business practices. I try to become knowledgeable of the facts and discount the emotion.


In the casual actions which birthed these disagreements ASP's Group Conscience (GC) was being ignored. Changes were made by some trusted Servants without GC approval. Other Trusted Servants resisted these efforts to unauthorized change. Some, myself included, resisted these efforts quite firmly in favor of using ASP's KBDM and GC processes rather than autonomous decisions by some of the leadership.


When it became clear that the resistance to the autonomous changes was going to prevent keeping the changes in place there were resignations by some of ASP's leaders and one case a removal for cause. Not surprisingly, the resisters took a hit from those favoring those who are no longer here.


So I guess my answer to the question would be for everyone to become very familiar with ASP's business practices. Question perceptions. Take a personal inventories. Don't assume. Or do what I often find myself having to do: "Presume Good Will."


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Veronica posed:

[My input in brackets]


Maybe with Business Meetings we can be flexible to have a conference call.
I have had Conference calls with WSO on outreach with the other Area
Coordinators. We were all on different times zones but it was OK and it
lasted an hour. I would like to have a business meeting platform that
allows the following:

1. Adequate time for discussion. I find that 1-2 hrs has been good enough
time for continuous dialogue. Follow group conscience if said topic during
this discussion allotted time needs to continue or if the group is ready
for a vote

[ASP's discussions are to go on as long as it takes to reach substantial unanimity. Often topics take months to reach a conclusion.] 

2. Frequent Business Meetings: my SF AMIAS Business we’re Quarterly. My
Portland AMIAS Bus Are Monthly except for the Summer Months. We don’t meet
in the Summer.  My District was Monthly.

[Currently ASP Business Meetings meet every other month for the entire month. Topics may bridge from one meeting to the next. Adequate time is not a problem. Participation can be. Perhaps quarterly business meetings would suffice.]

3. A time for celebration: December was our Holiday Potluck for San
Francisco District Bus mtg. no District Business just fellowship. For ASP,
it could be our Once a Year Speaker Meeting Conference Call Speaker Meeting
about service and Celebration of Recovery. Introducing Who’s Who’s
regarding who are the ASP trusted servants. Announcements of open service
and how important service within the context of Digital Al-Anon means.

[ASP's website does identify trusted servants. Vacancies are noted as well and announced in the Business Meeting. I'm resistant to interrupting our topic meetings. I am open to suggestions for how our topic meeting schedule might be improved.]

4. Who’s the facilitator of the Business Meetings. I’m not clear who is.
This is my first experience doing an email exchange business meeting.

[ASP's website spells out our leadership, their duties, and our business processes.]

5. Minority Voices are recorded and published in the Groups Business
Meetings

[There are no secretarial minutes of ASP's business meetings. Archives are kept of all BM emails. To my knowledge no one has submitted a Minority Report - though all can email one to the BM which becomes part of the archive record.]

6. I have been to some District meetings where they had a Traditions and
Concept Study before their district meeting or during the meeting someone
shared a Short ESH on a Tradition for that month and what it meant for
them. I found this to be helpful and keep me in focus that I’m here to
service and practice step 12 and practice Q-TIP. (quit taking it personal)

[Studies of the Traditions is elemental to practicing the Al-Anon program. I agree that ASP members could benefit from more Step and Tradition-based topics in the recovery meeting. Members who include the Al-Anon principles found in the Steps and Traditions in their lives find changes in outlook, trust, and circumstances. However I would hope members of ASP's Business Meetings would have at least a working knowledge of these principles when they elect to join our business meeting efforts.]


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I guess I believe there is too often an expectation that ASP, an online electronic meeting with all the benefits and deficits that go along with this medium, should/has to/must operate the same way face-2-face meetings do. First and foremost, ASP is an autonomous entity which operates in a completely different environment than f2f meetings do - in both our recovery and business meetings. Because of our size and wide-spread membership we are in many ways like an Al-Anon Area, having adapted Area and other Al-Anon service practices to our specific needs. Great efforts were made by our founders to set ASP up to be able to provide effective Al-Anon recovery while recognizing online forums' history of wild-west, undisciplined behaviors.


All too often forgotten: ASP has an unexcelled 23-year history of successfully offering sound online Al-Anon recovery to thousands of folks who've been deeply affected by someone else's alcoholism. This success continues every day when our members turn on their computers wherever they live on this planet and make this ASP family a part of their personal recoveries. We must not let personalities and the aftereffects of disagreements linger to affect our future as a resource for those in need.


I encourage all who would consider ASP service to base their decisions not on perception, but on a conviction that service is an important part of personal recovery.


Jerry

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