AALEP'S PPA COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE: GROUND RULES FOR BEING A MEMBER

AALEP's PPA Community of Practice has laid Ground Rules for being a Community Member:

• Members are willing to share challenges, and lessons learned as well as successes
• Members strive to create an environment of trust and to foster insightful, non-threatening discussion of ideas and experiences
• Members distribute leadership responsibilities and collectively share in the management of the community
• Membership and topics reflect public policy advocacy issues and organizations
• Members advance their personal and professional goals through participation in the community
• Members are practitioners, contributing to the community through their experiences, skills, and time
• Members agree to be respectful and use appropriate language in group discussions and to listen and respond to each other with open and constructive minds
• Members will not be afraid to respectfully challenge one another by asking questions, but refrain from personal attacks -- focus on ideas
• Members will participate to the fullest extent possible -- community growth depends on the inclusion of every individual voice
• Members commit to search for opportunities for consensus or compromise and for creative solutions
• Members will contribute to an atmosphere of problem solving rather than stating positions
• Members agree to speak from their own experiences instead of generalizing ("I" instead of "they," "we," and "you")
• Members will attempt to build on each member's strengths, and help each other improve areas in need of further development