Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: MEMBER APPLYING TO BE PROJECT MANAGER

[Craig Ragland (craigragland]

Below...

On Jan 13, 2008 9:16 AM, Bill Wrenn <wmwrenn [at] aol.com> wrote:

> We are at the point of needing
> professional help and are currently looking for a project manager.

> Some of us have reservations about his character and
> qualifications.

Hmm... that doesn't sound very good.

I'm currently serving as a very part-time, in-group project manager
for New Earth Song Cohousing, I'm "charging" a $15/hr cash with
additional "equity credit" should certain milestones be met. I'm
hoping to pass on the baton on to a stronger construction project
manager as we move out of the earliest project phase(s).

As part of the group, why would I charge at all? Its complicated. I
live at Songaia Cohousing (13 units, 11 acres, 38 people), so I am not
necessarily helping to create a new community home for myself. That
being said, I am highly motivated to help more community housing
happen in proximity to Songaia - its so much better than the
conventional alternative, which is rapidly encroaching on our little
oasis of cohousing sanity (we're located in the Seattle suburbs, with
its rampant development). For me, given that most of the New Earth
Song members do not feel able or willing at this point to put much
time in, I wanted some assurance that they were willing to at least
put enough money into the project to demonstrate some level of real
commitment... In my opinion, its a silly idea to let group "visitors"
(even ones who visit a lot) set an agenda or plan - its smart to help
visitors become committed members (and some cash investment is at
least a good symbol of commitment).

When considering the part-time, paid staff role as Executive Director
for Coho/US, I let our group know that I would be less able to spend
as much time on the New Earth Song project. This is another reason for
us to phase me out, as appropriate, as the project manager.

By the way, New Earth Song does not intend to self-develop, but to
work with a professional developer, who brings their own project
manager to the table. The company we're working with on the
feasibility study does have a project manager, who knows development,
but is still rapidly learning about cohousing. A good part of
"cohousing development" is cultivating and growing real community,
which is quite different from typical real estate development - and
successful cohousing developers know and live this themselves.
Cohousing success requires attention and care for both and how they
inter-relate.

>
> What are other people's experience with hiring from within the group?

There are stories out there in coho land where this has worked out and
ones where it has not. Personally, I'm far more interested in the
relationships and successful creation of additional cohousing homes
than I am in my paid role and I'm eager for a more "powerful" project
manager to manage the real estate development part of our work.

> How important is it to have a project manager who lives in the immediate
> area?  What are the most important qualifications for an effective
> cohousing project manager?
>

Here's a useful article from the cohousing website on working with a
project manager:
http://www.cohousing.org/creating_manager.aspx

It focuses more on the building end of things, but that's also where
most groups need the most help.

> Thanks for your feedback!
>
> Bill Wrenn
> Norwalk, CT

Good Luck!

-- 
Craig Ragland
Coho/US Exec. Dir.
www.cohousing.org