A lightweight protocol is a minimal procedural form that coordinates people and tasks without hardening response into a rigid command hierarchy [@landau2022; @occupysandyorientation2012].
Within emergent disaster response, the term matters because horizontal organizing still requires forms, guidelines, check-ins, role assignments, contact numbers, and reporting expectations. Landau characterizes Occupy Sandy’s volunteer training as a loose protocol, and the Occupy Sandy field orientation shows what that looked like in practice: tasks, roles, point people, forms, guidelines, timelines, and hotlines [@landau2022; @occupysandyorientation2012].
A lightweight protocol does not eliminate improvisation. It gives improvisation enough structure to remain legible to others.
Related terms
- Point Person - one role often created by lightweight procedures
- Improvisation - a capacity that lightweight protocols support rather than replace
- Volunteer Intake, Orientation, and Role Matching in Emergent Disaster Response - a text on one recurring site of proceduralization