RE: Community policies: general advice | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: Rob Sandelin (Exchange) (RobsanExchange.MICROSOFT.com) | |
Date: Mon, 25 Mar 1996 15:09:25 -0600 |
Some general advice about setting community policies Start with conceptual and then move to specifics. For example if you find need for a policy about pets, first find agreement about what you want a pet policy to accomplish, then work on the specifics of how to accomplish it. Or in other words, define why have a policy first, then work on the details. A very valid question to ask at any time is "why are we doing this?" Put a sunset clause on agreements. Most of your members will have no idea of the reality of living in community until they do so, and stuff you agree to early may want to change. Unfortunately policies in consensus organizations can be very hard to redo because of the "we've always done it this way syndrome". Setting a term limit on policies gives you a chance to try some things out, learn from the experience, then redo the policy based on your experience. A sunset clause forces the group to make a new agreement, and this can be a very good thing sometimes. Not always, but somethings are worth revisiting. This seems dumb until you find yourself strangled by an entrenched agreement that you can't get consensus to change. Be very conscious that policies will filter who joins and this may cause unintentional results. For example if you create a policy that participation is individual not by household, you may filter out two parent working families who are not willing to sacrifice their time with their kids. If you create a policy that every meeting has childcare and the cost is paid for by everyone in the group, you may filter in families with kids. As you ponder a potential policy (hows that for alliteration?) think about what impacts it will have on people who will want to join your community later. Sharingwoods pet policy for example, which restricts cats indoors and keeps dogs out of the woods has been a major filter. Be carefull about things which can effect resale. Banks are fussy about such things. There is a growing number of home owners associations which govern developments. Things like pet policies are normal, as are controls on exteriors, yards, quiet hours, etc. However, membership policies get a lot of scrutiney from banks, especially things like "reading the cohousing book" or "signing the principals and commitments". A friendly banker could review your proposed policies and give you some good advice about things that would endanger loans. Keep a separate document of your agreements and add them to the document as you make new ones. What happens is sometimes groups make agreements in a meeting, it goes into the minutes (without review so whatever the scribe wrote defines the policy) and two years later, you need to review it and can't find the notes, or the notes don't jibe with what people thought they agreed to. Hand this agreements document to every potential new member. Be sure to keep this document current. Sharingwood agreements document includes the intention of each agreement. It is not uncommon for a group to have a pretty wide diversity of opinions about needing agreements in the first place. Some folks want clearly defined rules about lots of things, other folks want freedom to do what they want without too many controls. This is a classic group power struggle and as much as it makes great sense to be proactive about potential problems, sometimes you have to have a disaster before the group will agree to something. Be ready to live with that balance, its a big part of being a community. Rob Sandelin Sharingwood
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