We have a certain protocol in here that we run Friends Without Faces (FWF) by to keep in running smoothly and to avoid anyone's toes being stepped on. We would like you all to become familiar with how our protocol works.
This applies to everyone in here from the Founder (Mandy) to her Assistants/Overseers to the Head of each Committee, then the Assistant Heads then the members so make sure you familiarise yourself with this page!  :o)

We all have are own areas in where our boundaries lie and who we need to go to no matter what it is about.

As Members of Committees you will always go to the Head first.
If the Head is on LOA or if there isn't a Head, it would be their Assistant Head.
If there is no Assistant Head or Head, then it would be the Overseer.

It works down the line as that.

We have a page on our site where the members of staff are listed. You should all already know who your Founder and Founder's Assistants are  :o)
You can go here to familiarize yourself with who is on the staff of your Committee and find out who the Head, Assistant Heads and Overseer of your Committees are.

At all times you need to follow the protocol when needing to go to someone in your Committee with any problems, ideas or suggestions.

If for some reason you cannot be active, cannot participate, or just have a general idea please email your Head privately and
let them know, then fill out the LOA form.

Ideas and suggestions are not to be sent through the Committee... we all have ideas from time to time or suggestions you think would be great, we all do.  Out of respect for the staff of FWF, please do not send those through your Committee.  Those need to be sent to your Head/Assistant Head/Overseer privately.

The only type of suggestions I am referring to are one's that may have to do with help in making your assignment easier. And only once and awhile, keep it minimal.  Let the staff do their job.

You can email the staff of your Committee about suggestions on anything that has to do with how they are running their Committee, but please be gentle. That is strictly up to the staff and their role to decide... make suggestions *not* demands and please be gentle with your suggestions - they are only human, just like you and me and they are giving their time freely and voluntarily. 

If you don't know how to make your suggestion gently then put a warning in the subject line *and* as the first line of the email letting them know you are making a suggestion but you're not sure how to phrase it gently!  It's only 2 sentences and could mean the difference between a heated argument and a "thank you for your suggestion..." reply!

Even I, as the Founder and Owner of this group, will not step in and make suggestions through a committee (that is reserved for the staff list if it's a suggestion/idea that could affect everyone or privately if it's more personal) how a staff member needs to be running their Committee.
They have basic guidelines they have to follow and keep in tact, but the rest is of their choosing on how they want to set up the running of their Committee.

Whether it would be an idea or a suggestion, or links to tutorials or web sites for lessons, you think would be great to use for an assignment.
Those need to be sent to your leader privately and not through the Committee.  Anything that involves having to have staff decision, needs to be handled outside of the Committee.

The reason this is in place, even though you are doing this out of the kindness of your heart and being the loving helpful person you are, if it ends up being something that the staff member truly does not want to incorporate, you are putting them on the spot and getting all the
members in the Committee involved on a decision that is totally up to the member of staff only, whether to incorporate it or not.  You are putting the staff in your Committee in the position to feel like he/she is letting someone down and it can cause hard feelings and humiliation to all involved.  Nobody should be made to feel that way and the member of staff should never feel like they have to take on something just to avoid embarrassment in front of their members.

This applies to all of us in FWF no matter what your role is, Founder, Co-owner, Head, Assistant Head and members.

Unless the staff member specifically sends an email through the Committee asking for your suggestions and ideas please keep those off the lists. When you are asked your opinion keep your answers to what he/she is asking your opinion on.

This is necessary to give the Staff the control of their Committee they need to be able to have to run it effectively.

I love the fact that we do have staff and members that are so helpful and have creative ideas, but we all need to respect the roles we all have and be careful not to overstep and put anyone in an awkward situation. So please refrain from sending your ideas through the Committee itself.

Please become familiar with who is on the FWF Staff for your Committee so you know who it is you need to go to if your Head is unavailable.

The Staff should not be sending ideas and suggestions through the Committees or to the leader of that Committee at all!  If they are an 'active member' in a room, their only role is to participate in the assignments and have fun With the other members in that Committee.  They follow a completely different protocol and are not allowed to post suggestions, send links to tutorials or web sites for lessons, in the Committee.  That is a BIG NO NO!
They have to go to the Head of the Committee/Overseer that is over that Committee.

This is all put into place to help keep the FWF running smoothly and keeping respect for each others roles and not to have anyone's feeling hurt or to step on anyone else's toes. This can happen so easily.

So, nagging over with, I just want to keep FWF in harmony and at peace.  Believe me this is all necessary to keep this a happy place for all of us :o)

Thank you so much for your your co-operation and understanding on this :o)