Monday (formerly Tuesday) Night Zoom Meeting History/Group Conscience

 

This meeting began June 15, 2021.  We had our first Group Conscience to July 20, 2021 and made the following decisions concerning the meeting:

 

1. Determined that there was sufficient commitment to make the meeting viable.

 

2. Decided to allow chairs to use of literature from other (traditional) 12 Step programs, with  word substitution, provisionally.  The group will reexamine this policy in 6 weeks.

 

3. Decided to use PayPal for 7th Tradition contributions

 

4. Agreed that although our current expenses are negligible (89 cents annually to use a member’s Zoom account for one hour each week), having our own Zoom account ($150/year) is preferable.   There will also be additional expenses for outreach via either contributions to Sunday’s web page or hosting our own.  With this in mind, we will begin collecting 7th tradition donations.

 

5. Decided to actively encourage additional participation in our meeting.  We will ask the Sunday night web page list our meeting, and will ask Workaholic members to let their friends and family know about it.

 

6. Although we think we’ll need a Treasurer (to collect and disburse funds), a Secretary (to keep track of who is chairing, get newcomers contact info onto the list, and possibly serve as timer), and an Intergroup Rep (to keep us abreast of what is happening in other meetings and to facilitate cooperation on joint projects), we did not elect anyone to those positions yet.

 

7. We determined that we do want to time our shares to be sure that everyone who desires to do so will have time to share.
 

A member agreed to put together a rough draft of our new format.

 

We agreed to hold another group conscience in 6 weeks on 8/31/21 to see how the new format is working.

 

Second Group Conscience was held 8/31/21.  Substantial unanimity was sought, and changes were only made when all present agreed.  The following came out of that meeting:

 

1. Many small changes to the Format/Script were approved, but the overall script remained the same.

 

2. A member had suggested that we add a reading of the 12 Steps of Work-Anon along with the tradition of the month.  Some members felt that doing so would make too much reading and allow less time for sharing.  Since we were not all agreed, we did not make the change.

 

3. A member had suggested that the self-care reading be the Chair's choice.  Not all were in favor so it was not approved.  We decided that by having a set rotation, it would lend stability to the meeting, and simplify the Chair's responsibilities.  Since that limited the self-care readings to the number of Tuesdays in a month, one member agreed to pick 5 for the script and we can make changes at future Group Consciences as needed.

 

4. Although it was not addressed directly, no concerns had been raised concerning use of literature from other 12 Step fellowships (with word substitution).

 

Third Group Conscience was held 12/14/21.  The following came out of that meeting:

1st Tuesday: Feelings Chart           (ACA)

2nd Tuesday: Affirmations              (ACA)

3rd Tuesday: Feelings Chart           (ACA)

4th Tuesday: Al-Anon Promises      (Al-Anon)

5th Tuesday: Chairperson’s Choice

"My Creator, I am now willing that you should have all of Me, good and bad.

I pray that you now remove from me every single defect of character that stands in the way of my usefulness to you and my fellows.

Grant me strength, as I go out from here, to do your bidding. Amen."

Please keep the focus on the Work-Anon program and not other 12-step programs.

No crosstalk. This means no criticism of another member, and no direct comments or questions to another member, no conversations. 

Sharing is voluntary and can be done in any order. 

 

 

Our fourth Group Conscience was held 4/26/22.  The following came out of that meeting:

 

1. Made a decision to modify the group comfort guidelines to better specify what is meant by "crosstalk."  In particular, no advice is given (I or me rather than you or we), and we share our own experience, strength and hope (rather than talking about another member's share).  It was also agreed that the chair will only interrupt a speaker to protect group members from crosstalk.  Other comort guideline violations will be handled gently, and at the chair's descretion, after the speaker has finished.  Special lattitude will be given to newcomers.

 

2. Affirmed that we have a core of six members who plan to be regular attenders and to provide service as needed.

 

3. Made a decision to change the weekly meeting time to 7:30 to better accomodate the current membership.

 

4. Made a decision to compile and maintain a contact list specific to the Tuesday Zoom meeting.

 

 

We held our 5th Group Conscience 7/26/22.  We made the following decisions:

 

1. Pay web page bills (Web Page SSL Certificate $34.95 for 5 years, Web Page Hosting $42.88 for 1 year, Web Page Domain Name $15.16 for 1 year.)

2. Contribute $42 towards the Zoom Room expense. (Annual cost $150 split among 4 meetings.)

3. Save the remaining $214 for future outreach projects.

 

We held our 6th Group Conscience 1/3/23.  We decided to meet Mondays instead of Tuesdays.

 

We held our 7th Group Conscience 3/6/23

 

Primarily called to consider the implications of Sunday night's meeting ending and our group becoming the primary contact for the Work-Anon Fellowship.
-so discussed.  No action items at this time beyond existing service being performed by various members. 

 

Other Items:
1) consider adding a timekeeper service position to the meetings via self-time. (Could do 1 minute left audible warning). 
    - So agreed. Script to be edited to ask for volunteer for time-keeper at the beginning of the meeting, and audible warning at 1

    minute remaining. 

 

2) consider adding verbiage to the script regarding extra time use for getting current when possible, and consider bounding extra      share time to 2-3 minutes
    -so agreed. Script to be edited. Time-keeping to follow same as initial shares. 

 

3) consider adding the source of the reading into the chat for latecomers or for reference
    -so agreed when possible 

 

4) discuss safety protocol for newcomers, ie allowing them to stay anonymous or on mute, and no “call outs”

     or side conversations until the fellowship portion after the meeting.
   -not discussed. 

 

5) consider scheduling service positions out for a month for more predictability. We could put the upcoming schedule in the chat.
    -decided to keep a single meeting commitment, but schedule out for a rolling month.

 

6) consider making chat open for member to member connections vs only now being able to chat the chair or everyone.
    -Declined. However, script to be edited to “if you want to connect further with another member, please indicate in the chat and      we will send you a contact list”. Members also able to post their contact info in chat. 

 

 7) consider amending our Al-Anon promises reading to change the word “slave” to a more appropriate/inclusive word, ie

     “beholden”.
    -Declined to modify Al-Anon literature. A member will investigate whether there is an updated Al-Anon list and report back. 

 

Work-Anon Group Conscience 8/21/23

We decided, at Al-Anon’s request, to remove the words “Al-Anon Promises” from one of our self care readings.  Bruce will update the reading and distribute it to members.

 

We decided to transfer the workanon@gmail.com annual bill from Marna (former member) to the current treasurer (currently Bruce).  Jessa will connect Marna and Bruce.

 

Jessa shared that Work-Anon will have two sessions at the Workaholics Anonymous conference - one on Friday 9/29 and one on Saturday 9/30.  The European meeting will take the lead on the Saturday session.  A tech host and someone to tell their story would be helpful.  Attendance by members to support the presenters would be appreciated.  Jessa will be in touch with more details as to dates and times.

 

Jessa also agreed to take responsibility for keeping the contact list up to date and sending it out to newcomers upon request.  Dave agreed to let Jessa know of newcomer requests on weeks that she is not present at the meeting.

 

Group Conscience 11/20/23

We decided to include the new reading from CoDa, “The Differences” in our self care selections with the following directions:

 

A. Separate it into 2 readings (reading 1 with the first 10 Differences and reading 2 with the second 10 Differences).

B. Chair chooses which of the two readings to use. 

C. We read it on the 3rd Monday, replacing the Feelings wheel. (The Feelings wheel will still be read on the 1st Monday of each month.)

 

We also discussed the Path’s to Recovery Google Group, but didn’t come to any long term conclusions. The Google group has not been active in some years, but it has many step-related posts (over 1,000) that might be useful at some future point.  An administrator needs to grant access for someone to view or post there, and the primary posters are not active with Work-Anon any longer. There are some questions concerning anonymity and confidentiality. We agreed that the administrator would give access to the five individuals who had requested it.

 

Group Conscience 8/5/24

We agreed to a weekly announcement: Saturday September 28, at 8:00 AM, there will be a Work-Anon Zoom meeting, during the Workaholics Anonymous Conference.  Several Work-Anon members are participating and your presence would be appreciated.  For details, contact Jessa or check out the conference web page https://workaholics-anonymous.org/news/conferences/

We agreed to accept the money from the Sunday night meeting (about $375) into our treasury.

We agreed to read the 12 Steps weekly along with the tradition of the month.  We'll check back in 6 weeks (around Monday, September 30th) and see how the additional reading is impacting the meeting.

Current Script/Format of the Monday Night Zoom Meeting

The Work-Anon Monday night Zoom Script  (8/14/24)

 

Notes for meeting leaders: Please review, prior to starting the meeting, promptly at 7:30pm, EST

·    Check your chat for any messages from the Tech Host or cohosts.

·    Ask for three volunteer readers (one for the Work-Anon Preamble, one for the 12 Steps and one for the Group Comfort     Guidelines)
·    Gallery view is best for viewing all participants.
·    Please keep your mic muted when others are reading or sharing to reduce feedback.
·    Cohosts will provide support with keeping time, and muting mics / video as needed.
·    In this script, italics are notes to hosts/chairs. Non-italics are the script.

 

OPEN THE MEETING: at 7:30 pm EST

 

Good evening, morning, afternoon, everyone! Welcome to our WORK-ANON Monday night RECOVERY meeting. My name is __________ and I’ll be your chairperson today. 

 

Work-Anon Family Groups are a fellowship of relatives and friends of workaholics who share their experience strength and hope in order to solve their common problems. We believe that work addiction is a family illness and that changed attitudes can aid recovery. Work-Anon has but one purpose: to help families, friends, and co-workers of workaholics. We do this by practicing the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Work-Anon. I have asked _______ to read the Work-Anon Preamble.

 

Work-Anon Preamble

 

For some of us, Work-Anon was a last resort: we were in pain, we were desperate, some of us had abandoned hope. We knew that our suffering was related to someone else’s work addiction, and we knew that we were unable to lead a normal life because of it. When we first arrived at Work-Anon, we may have thought we would learn how to stop the workaholic from acting out with work. At Work-Anon we heard that we could not make another person change, we can only heal ourselves. The program of Work-Anon teaches us that we are each responsible for dealing with our own pain, and we learn to place our trust in a Power greater than ourselves. The emphasis is lifted from the workaholic and placed where appropriate – on ourselves. When we tell our story, it is not the work addict’s story, it is the story of our own recovery. Through the Work-Anon program, we experience spiritual growth and we discover feelings of self-worth, strength and hope. We welcome you and hope that here you may recover through using the Twelve Steps and this fellowship.

I have asked ________ to read the 12 steps and tradition of the month.

 

The Twelve Steps of Work-Anon (Read all)

1. We admitted we were powerless over work—that our lives had become unmanageable.

 

2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

 

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood God.

 

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

 

5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

 

6. Became entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

 

7. Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings.

 

8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

 

9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

 

10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

 

11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood God, praying only for knowledge of God's will for us and the power to carry that out.

 

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to the friends and family of workaholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

 

The Twelve Traditions of Work-Anon (Read the tradition of the month)

 

1. Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon Work-Anon unity.

 

2. For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority—a loving God as expressed in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.

 

3. The friends and relatives of workaholics, when gathered together for mutual aid, may call themselves a Work-Anon Family Group, provided that, as a group, they have no other affiliation. The only requirement for Work-Anon membership is that there be a problem of workaholism in a relative or friend.

 

4. Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or Work-Anon as a whole.

 

5. Each group has but one primary purpose: to help families of workaholics. We do this by practicing the Twelve Steps of W.A. ourselves, by encouraging and understanding our workaholic relatives, and by welcoming and giving comfort to families of workaholics.

 

6. A Work-Anon group ought never endorse, finance or lend the Work-Anon name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.

 

7. Every Work-Anon group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.

 

8. Work-Anon should remain forever nonprofessional, but our service centers may employ special workers.

 

9. Work-Anon, as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.

 

10. Work-Anon has no opinion on outside issues; hence the Work-Anon name ought never be drawn into public controversy.

 

11. Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, and films. We need guard with special care the anonymity of all W.A. members.

 

12. Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.

 

Prayer

 

Please join me in the People version of the Serenity Prayer:

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change, courage to change the one I can, and the wisdom to know that one is me.”

 

This is a recovery meeting. We will have introductions of newcomers, review the Group Comfort Guidelines, then I will read a passage from a relevant 12-step literature with word substitution as necessary, after which we have a 2-minute meditation. We will then share on today’s reading. If time allows, we will have additional shares after initial shares on the topic. After everyone shares who would like to, or at 8:15, we will go into our self-care reading for tonight, followed by 1 minute shares. At 8:25 we will wrap up the meeting with announcements and our closing prayer.  Everyone is welcome to share, or not, as they wish.

 

Newcomer Welcome (To be read if there are newcomers): 

The Chairperson will ask newcomers to introduce themselves.

Please un-mute and introduce yourself if you are new to Work-Anon, or new to the Monday night meeting, so that we may welcome you.  Please put your email address and phone number in the chat if you want to be included on the contact list or have a copy of the list emailed to you.

       

We would like to welcome you to our meeting. We know the courage it takes to admit there is a problem and to try to find help.  All of us in this room were in your shoes at one time. Stick around and talk to one of us after the meeting if you have any questions. 

 

We recommend that you come to at least 6 meetings before deciding whether Work-Anon has anything to offer you. You will find that each meeting is a little bit different.  It is our sincerest hope that you will find what you are looking for.

 

 

I have asked ________ to read the Group Comfort Guidelines.

 

GROUP COMFORT Guidelines:  (By Group consensus) 
·     No crosstalk.  In this meeting, you may refer to someone else’s share as it relates to your experience, strength or hope. However, please refrain from any comments that may be construed as criticism, advice or judgement of another member. Also, please avoid direct comments or questions to another member, no conversations. 

·    Please respect the anonymity of those who share with us today. What you hear at this meeting should remain at the meeting. 

·    In our shares, we focus on own behavior and thinking, not that of the workaholic.

·    Please keep the focus on the Work-Anon program and not other 12-step programs.

·    Please turn off your video when moving around and doing tasks besides active listening. Feel free to keep your video off if you so choose.

 ·    Mute your audio unless speaking, to minimize distractions or disruptions for other members. 

·    The tech host may mute your microphone when needed to allow participants a quiet space to share. You can turn them back on when you need to.

 

READING: 
 (Chair does reading- ideally no more than 2-3 minutes. Announce source of reading and page reference, and put into the chat whenever possible.)

 

MEDITATION:
Everyone, please mute your audio now, as we go into our 2-minute silent meditation. I will welcome you back after two minutes.

Chairperson, set your timer for 2 minutes and mute your audio. After 2 minutes:

 

Welcome back, everyone.  It’s now time for sharing on the topic of today's reading. Can I have a volunteer for timekeeping? Wait for volunteer or volunteer to do it yourself. The timekeeper will time initial shares for 3 minutes, with an audible warning with 1 minute remaining. Sharing is voluntary and can be done in any order. (The meeting is now open for sharing).

 

SELF-CARE READING at 8:15: 
(Feelings chart, Affirmations, Promises, etc. from various 12 step programs)
For the self-care reading (except the feelings chart), we take turns reading from the list until we complete it.  Then the floor is open (no set order) for 1-minute shares – based on whichever part of the self-care reading touched or inspired you today.
1st Monday: Feelings Chart    (ACA)
2nd Monday: Affirmations        (ACA)
3rd Monday: The Differences - Part 1 or Part 2    (CoDa)
4th Monday: 4th Week Reading      (Al-Anon)

5th Monday: Chairperson’s Choice

ANNOUNCEMENTS: 8:25    
A few general announcements…

·    We open this room each Monday at 7:20 Eastern Time 

·    Announce any group conscious meetings, other meetings.  Everyone is invited to attend. 

 ·    If you’d like to connect with another member or sponsor, please reach out here or via the contact list. If you would like a current copy of the contact list please email workanon@gmail.com. You do not need to put your information on the list to receive a copy or to connect with another member.

·    Our schedule for the upcoming chairs is :(discuss or enter into chat)

·    If you are interested in serving as “Host” for future meetings, please let us know.

 

·    We are self-supporting through our own contributions, declining outside donations.  If you wish to contribute to support this meeting, you can donate through Paypal using the link in the chat (https://paypal.me/BruceB349?locale.x=en_US.)  In most 12 step meetings, those contributing tend to give about $2 per meeting, although everyone is welcome to fully participate - we have no dues or fees.  If you are new to our meeting, please be our guest. 

·    Are there any other announcements from the floor?
                                    
Chairperson facilitates announcements and information. If people have questions, ask them to remain after the meeting to address their questions.

 

CLOSING PRAYER: 8:30

With no other announcements, I invite you all to un-mute and join me in the Seventh Step Prayer pausing at the end of each line to help us stay together.

"My Creator,

I am now willing that you should have all of Me, good and bad.

I pray that you now remove from me every single defect of character

that stands in the way of my usefulness to you and my fellows.

Grant me strength, as I go out from here, to do your bidding. Amen."

 

Thank everyone for being there and say goodbye.
You did a great job and the meeting couldn’t happen without you.