KBDM

Introduction

We ‘ll be voting on doing KBDM for future assemblies which  would be new for NIAFG, but it’s been used by many other Areas for several years. For members that were at the September Assembly, it was used to help GR’s understand how purchasing insurance could benefit our Area as well as any potential pitfalls.

Their are  five questions for KBDM

To help members understand what KBDM is prior to the January vote, we are providing a KBDM document online and you can download it here

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The best way to experience KBDM is by seeing an actual example.

The other aspect to doing KBDM is to send the document to the fellowship in advance of the discussion and vote.

This will give the GR’s an opportunity to review the information well in advance.

The question we’ll be asking our GR’s at the January  assembly is if we should use KBDM in all our decision making processes ..

So here are the five KBDM question

KBDM

1.      What do we know about our members needs or preferences that is relevant to this subject?

• Our AWSC members as well as our Assembly members will continue to vote on matters.
• For our Area, our members would like to have information to make an informed Decision.
• Our members care about their responsibility to vote on matters in NIAFG.
• Our members prefer to avoid conflict. When our Area makes decisions, sometimes it’s about member “feelings” rather than facts about the situation, contributing to conflict.
• When we compile facts about something we vote on, we often end up with a unanimous outcome for the vote.Members want to feel part of the decision-making process and empowered.
• NIAFG has never used a formal process to bring a vote to the Assembly floor.  This often leads to confusion and doesn’t empower GRs to bring a motion to the floor.

 2.      What do we Know about our current resources and our vision for our area that is relevant to this subject?

• KBDM can lead to a less confusing Motion when given all information Beforehand.
• Substantial unanimity was approved as our Area’s means of voting.  KDBM provides a vehicle for that to happen.
• Many other Areas are finding a lot of benefit to its use.
• We can tap into the experience of other Areas that have been using KDBM if we’re ‘stuck.’KDBM has withstood the test of time.  It is still being used by Areas who started using it 10+ years ago.

 3.      What do we know about the current evolving dynamics of our fellowship

To this subject?

 Pros:

• Action tend to lean toward the greater good for our area
• It allows thorough examination on the topic at hand
• There would be greater opportunity to reach substantial unanimity / unanimous votes.
• It removes the tendency to run something through by looking at both the pros and the cons—plus addresses what we don’t know.
• It helps to remove the emotional side of making decisions
• It could remove conflict from a decision making process
• It could help to point out when we shouldn’t be doing something

Cons:

• It requires more work to answer the KBDM questions.
• Changing from the way we have done a group conscience
• Not everyone likes change.
• Could take longer to make a change because of the research.
• The fellowship doesn’t understand how to do KBDM.  It will take some training and time to implement it into our service structure.
• Not everyone has access to all information (or know where to go for the information) so the KBDM may not be complete.
• It’s most effective when KBDM is done by a committee and we don’t always have a committee to implement important decisions
• It will require more work from the Chairperson to send all information out in advance of a discussion.
• Answering KBDM questions can be difficult and may frustrate or turn off some members when doing it .

4.      What are the ethical implication of our choices will our decision be consistent

With our spiritual principles?

It fit right into our spiritual principles, concept five is included.

• Concept four is included.
• Tradition Two
• Warranty Three
• It would allow our members to feel more empowered in the decision making process
• It could increase the feeling of trust when making decisions.

 5.      What do we wish we knew, but don’t?

• How long will it take our fellowship to understand how much time we can save on a motion if KBDM is in place.
• Are our members willing to do the extra work/time to do KBDM?