Re: Using Professionals to Help Define Decision-Making Processes
From: Robert P. Arjet (rarjetLearnLink.Emory.Edu)
Date: Sun, 3 Feb 2002 22:04:00 -0700 (MST)
cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org writes:
>Sounds great, Sharon, but are most groups going to have the money for a
>professional facilitator?  How long does one expect to retain them?

Our group had a very beneficial consensus retreat about a year ago that
convinced me of the value of hiring professionals.  We brought in a
trainer, rented a facility that we could live at for the weekend, and
bought all of the food for common meals for about $130 per person.  This
in not a small amount of money for many people, but it is a tiny, tiny
percentage of one's eventual investment in cohousing.    The payoff has
been enormous- we make better decisions faster, we're all speaking a
common language about decisions, we understand what it is we're working
towards as we struggle with a decision. 

>I think life would be so much easier if we were taught group facilitation
>and conflict resolution as teenagers.  =)

That is the truth.  I think most of us were taught obedience through fear,
decision-making through power plays, and the bedrock belief that you can't
trust other people, so you'd better look out for #1 at all times.  A lot
of us have many, many things to unlearn in order to function in a truly
supportive community.  Hence the need for rented trainers...


Robert Arjet
Central Austin Cohousing
http://www.austincohousing.org

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