Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Exit Interviews

[Fred-List manager (fholson]

Mary Bennett <mbkbennett [at] gmail.com>
is the author of the message below.  It was posted by Fred of
the Cohousing-L management team <cohousing-l-owner [at] cohousing.org>
after adding the text of the ELDERBERRY EXIT INTERVIEW document
below.

--------------------  FORWARDED MESSAGE FOLLOWS --------------------
Hello Sherry;
Thanks for collecting info on this topic.

I am at Elderberry Cohousing.  We have a Culture Team, and they have begun
to do exit interviews over the last few years.  Attached is a document with
the questions we ask.

Importantly, in doing exit interviews we learned the following:
Most people who left were unhappy from pretty early on and never shared
that (surprise... I'm leaving!)
Many people had concerns that could have been addressed (even though they
would likely still have left in most cases)
Many people had great suggestions for improvements that they had not shared

As a result of doing exit interviews, we now do what we think are much more
important and valuable.... we interview all new members at 3, 6, 9 and 12
months. One member of the Culture Team does the interviews and shares the
results back to the team.  We address arising concerns and make suggestions
for improvements to the community based on interview feedback.  This way we
can identify problems early, help those who don't feel comfortable (esp as
newbies) speaking up with concerns or suggestions, address any conflicts
arising, and make suggested improvements that benefit all.  We also
interview everyone in the community once every 3 years.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have questions.
Mary

----------------
ELDERBERRY EXIT INTERVIEW document

We regret that you are leaving Elderberry, and we will appreciate very
much your time in answering some questions.  The purpose of the exit
interview is for us to continuously improve our ability to help people
assess whether or not this is the right place for them, whether they
will find what they are looking for here, whether they will really fit
with Elderberry’s vision and practices.   We are also interested to
understand the experience people have had here so that we can
investigate whether or not there may be some changes we would want to
make in our processes or practices for the betterment of the
community.   We know that Elderberry is not right for everyone and we
would like to do the best job possible in helping people determine
whether or not Elderberry is the right choice for them.

So we will very much appreciate your most candid and thoughtful
answers to these questions.   Unless you have given your permission,
your answers will be shared only with the Culture Team and Membership
Team.   Please let us know if you would prefer to answer the questions
verbally in a conversation or if you would like to provide written
answers.   Thank you so much for assisting us in this way.

The Culture Team

QUESTIONS
1. What did you appreciate about life at Elderberry?
2. How did you spend your time at Elderberry?
3  What experiences had best prepared you for living at Elderberry?
4. How was your experience of Elderberry different than you thought it would be?
5. How do you think Elderberry could change to satisfy someone like you?
6. What do you need that Elderberry could not satisfy?
7. What do you wish you had known before coming Elderberry?
8. How could the Membership Team have better prepared you for life at 
Elderberry?