Black Cat Group and Meeting Structures

This article lays out Black Cat Group's meeting structures and why we believe they're important. We do our best to stick to structures, but, given the society we live in, this can be quite hard.

Black Cat Group is serious about its anti-authoritarianism. Whilst we dislike disempowering bureaucratic procedures, we believe that transparent and structured organisations are vital to ensure equality. The latter however can easily slide into the former. Being aware of this, we attempt to walk the fine line between the two.
In the following leaflet we'll explain how our meetings work.

1. Our undemocratic society

Even if everyone believed that we should all have an equal say, we still wouldn't be equals. Our society is drenched in structures (e.g. capitalism, patriarchy, racism) that make true democracy, where every individual has an equal say, impossible. Amongst the things caused by these structures are: different privileges resulting from differing wealth, education and health; psychological factors like competitive and authoritarian behaviour; tendencies to take certain groups of people (e.g. white, male) more seriously than others; and our varying abilities to speak up in public.

If we want to make democracy truly real, we need to take those factors into account in our structures: we cannot proclaim that we want democracy whilst excluding vast sections of the population.

2. On the subjective level

The first step towards a more equal space is to be aware of how your behaviour impacts on the people around you. As an example, men tend to interrupt and talk more often than women in meetings. Here are some things that can help create a better environment:

• Avoid interrupting others
• Be aware of the amount you have spoken
• Be aware of the length of your contributions
• Avoid just repeating what someone else has said
• Avoid in-jokes and teasing
• Show that you are listening by looking at the speaking person or by nodding every now and again
• Avoid asserting personal opinions as facts (e.g. It is better to...) instead, assert these as your beliefs (e.g. I believe that it is better to...)
• Be open for criticism and be willing to discuss your behaviour or past contributions to the group

3. Roles

Whilst we believe that every individual is responsible for making the group as a whole egalitarian, we also know from experience that this is easier said than done. To this end we designate some roles at the beginning of each meeting. We also try to rotate these roles amongst members as much as possible in order to spread the knowledge and skills of these roles. The roles appointed at the beginning of each meeting are:

Facilitator: the facilitator's task is to make sure that the discussion stays on track. They do this by summing up arguments, by calling for shows of hands/votes or simply by pointing out that the discussion is straying off the topic. The facilitator should also keep track of who wants to speak and who's turn it is to speak. Whilst generally it makes sense to allow people to speak on a 'first come first serve' basis, it makes sense to allow those who have spoken less to speak before those who have spoken more.

Minuteer: the minuteer is responsible for taking notes during the meeting. These notes can be used during a meeting to review what topics have been covered and which decisions have been made. The notes should also be sent out to the mailing list, so everyone can look at them. Finally the minuteer should bring the minutes to the next meeting so that the meeting can determine how the group is doing.

4.Collective procedures

In order to ensure that everyone has a say, Black Cat Group meetings follow these guidelines:

1. At the beginning of the meeting an agenda is passed around. Anyone who wants to add discussion points/items to the meeting can write them onto the agenda.
2. A Facilitator and Minuteer is appointed. This should normally happen through consensus or a majority vote, and members of the meeting always have the right to recall the Facilitator/Minuteer (this point applies for all delegated roles, not just for these two)
3. The Facilitator should give a quick introduction to how the meeting works and why the meeting works this way. They should also start a name round so everyone has a chance of learning other people's names.
4. If you want to speak, put your hand up. The facilitator will make sure you get a chance to speak.