Your Sharing Circle Questions Answered!

Hi everyone, last year we launched a group support initiative called Sharing Circles. It is a guided support session where members can share in a queue based setting. I am glad that we took this step to support the community better and the community like these sessions. I am grateful for all the support, cooperation, and appreciation this initiative received so far.

But, we also received some thoughts about it from time to time and I will be covering some of those through this post!

7Cups Sharing Circle is different from the Sharing Circles that happen in the real world.

I agree. 7Cups Sharing Circle is different from the ones that takes place in the real world. And, we never denied it. In the introduction post, it is clearly stated, “These circle meetings have a unique structure that is unlike our discussions and open chats. We took inspiration from the brilliant system groups like AA and OA have perfected and used the core elements to create our own re-imagining of the circles as it applies to 7 Cups!”

I highlighted part of the statement to focus on the points that 7Cups SC has a unique structure considering we are an online platform where communication is text-based. In the real world, when you participate in a session, you are able to see the people physically and view their every movement like who is speaking and the speaker can see who joined, who’s listening to the share, and so on. Able to view it and that’s why it has zero or fewer interruptions during the share.

But, on our platform, it is taking place in a text based chat room where the mode of communication is text comments. Whether someone is joining, someone is listening, someone is sharing, and so on. That means we put our efforts to have minimum interruptions during share but one may experience some interruptions during the share. Like a new member entered and asked,” What’s happening here?” or the supporters made comments like, “we are listening to you” to let the sharer know that they are not sharing in an inactive room or members didn’t abandon the sharer during the share. They are right there with the sharer and listening. So, it has a unique structure.

As we said before, we took inspiration from the brilliant system groups. We stated that we took inspiration from groups like AA and OA (as examples of the groups) who perfected the SC to meet their group needs. And, we created our own version that used core elements of 7Cups to meet its group needs. So, we added their names as an example but we recognize and value how it all started and appreciate all the people who were behind this original idea.

But, we couldn’t add everything in the script as it will make it too long and consume more time to cover that info resulting in less time for the shares. So, we tried our best to keep it short and informed.

7Cups Sharing Circle initiative is a unique structure and we started it to provide a better and uninterrupted space for shares compared to other support rooms.

I got interrupted during the share and I won’t share now.

We hear and acknowledge those interruptions and apologize for the inconvenience during the share as well. But, as above mentioned, it has a unique structure and we can expect some interruptions, please do not let it stop you from sharing.

We are so proud of you that you reached out and took the step to share your thoughts with us. Thank you for giving us an opportunity to support and listen to you.

Hosts aren’t well trained to host the SC session.

You are right. Sharing circle hosts aren’t your typical discussion hosts. But, they are better. They are taking the steps to learn the hosting skills and to ensure active listening is used throughout the sessions. Hosts are doing their best to lead an effective session to support the community.

So, it would be great if all of us are appreciative of their efforts and encourage them to keep learning instead of criticizing the things that didn't go well. We all are on a learning curve. Just the difference, we might be on different levels of learning curves.

Support is a two-way process. You support the hosts by allowing them to learn and become better at what they are doing while they try their best to host the sharing circle session to support you all. Give them a chance, encourage them, and allow them to learn.

And, it not applies to only sharing circle hosts but to every discussion leader or anyone who took the step to try and learn.

Can I rejoin the queue to re-share?

Yes! One is always welcomed to rejoin the queue to share. We would be glad to listen and support you. But, here are some scenarios to consider:

• If the session is quiet, a sharer can rejoin the queue as many times as they want to share once there are no other sharers during the session.

• If the session is busy, the queue is full. A sharer will have the opportunity to re-share once all other sharers completed their sharing.

• If no one joined the queue and after a sharer rejoined the queue, others also joined the queue. The sharer who rejoined has the privilege to share again as they came first before others. It is first-come, first-serve basis sharing.

• If a sharer does not get a spot to share or re-share during one session. They can always join other session blocks or the next day as well to join and share.

If someone (whether a listener or member) is unsupportive during the session at any given point in time, what will happen?

In such a situation,

• An on-shift community moderator can give them a single verbal warning to remain supportive and if after that behavior persists, they can be instantly muted.

• Other moderators can give them two verbal warnings before using 3 system warnings to mute the user.

We want to keep it as an uninterrupted place to share. So if anyone intentionally causes an unsupportive environment, they will be muted.

7Cups Sharing Circle is yet to be perfected, but meanwhile, we ask you to be supportive and cooperative with each other and the community as we work together on getting there.

What's in your mind? Feel free to join Sharing Circle Room to share with us! We look forward to seeing you there!