How a cooperative decides with Agree
"Consone" is a cooperative that rents out a remote house in the mountains and manages itself digitally with the help of Agree. For the 20 members of the cooperative, the vacation and work house with a view of the Grisons mountains offers a change from living and working in the city. The cooperative organizes itself digitally, because it is practically impossible to find common dates.
Completely decentralized and digitally organized
A set of digital tools enables the cooperative members to organize themselves asynchronously. Important instructions and information are recorded in a wiki on Notion. This includes manuals for new members, but also information on garden maintenance. Ideas can be exchanged and current news shared in a Slack channel. And finally, decisions that affect everyone are handled with Agree.
With Agree, the cooperative can ensure that all members are informed about new decisions and that everyone has the opportunity to voice their opinion. But Agree offers other benefits as well: Yael Gold, a UX designer and member of the cooperative, explains that for her, the transparency it provides is a big advantage. It allows her to gain an understanding of what issues members agree on or where there is still a need for discussion. For example, whether or not to use a surplus for a rent reduction. Since this decision affects all members, it would be unfair if only those present at the discussion meeting could cast their votes. Therefore, after such voluntary meetings, the developed proposal is recorded as an Agree and sent to all members. Thus, every member can think about the decision - regardless of time and place.
No gaps in knowledge of "old" agreements
In order for everyone to abide by common rules, it is critical for the cooperative to keep everyone informed of current and past decisions. It is challenging to keep 20 members, who hardly ever meet at the same time, informed. All members now know that key decisions can be found on Agree, so they can stay informed at all times.
"In Slack, important messages sometimes get lost, but that's not the case with Agree.".
Such a "decision history" is particularly practical for new members: "With Agree, they can understand how the cooperative has developed, what the proposals were and how decisions were made," explains Yael. This prevents repetitive discussions of the same topics, for example.