Team leads and facilitators
Protocol Stage 2 — SUPPORT
Each person states what support they need and what they will give, and it stays attributed to them.
- Time to allow
- Prework of about 10 minutes per person, then 30 minutes together
Before you start
- Stage 1 intent is confirmed.
What this stage decides
Support is where the Protocol stops being collective language and becomes personal. Each person names the support they need to do their part of the intent, and what they will give others.
These statements are permanent and attributed. That is deliberate: a support commitment nobody owns is not a commitment.
Send the prework first
- 1
Open Stage 2 and send the prework to the team.
Each member drafts their own statement before the session.
- 2
Watch the completion count on the stage.
Result: The stage shows who has drafted and who has not.
- 3
Chase the outstanding members before the session, or run the session and let them draft live.
Run the session
- 1
Read each statement aloud in turn, in the person's own words.
- 2
Ask the rest of the team one question only: can we actually give this?
If not, the statement is edited until it is something the team can honour.
- 3
Confirm each statement with its author.
Result: The statement is marked agreed by the team and attributed permanently.
- 4
Confirm the stage when every member has an agreed statement.
Result: Stage 3 opens.
What good looks like
- Every member has exactly one statement, in their own words.
- The support asked for is specific enough that someone could fail to give it.
If something goes wrong
- A member cannot see the prework.
- Check they are on the roster and have accepted the invitation; prework only reaches active members.
- Someone wants their statement removed.
- Statements are permanent once agreed, but the wording can be edited. Edit rather than delete.