Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Your Participation Policy

[Mabel Liang (mabel]

As someone who has lived at Cornerstone "since the beginning", I 
disagree with Phil's characterization of participation at Cornerstone.

In particular, we used to have an expectation of 4 hours of work a month 
- people filled out a survey indicating their preferences of chores (A - 
would like to do, B - OK doing, C - don't want to do) and someone(s) had 
the job of assigning chores.  Assignments switched twice a year, but 
many people kept the same job.

We've switched systems to something that is more like what Phil 
describes.  I don't have time to go into it. but am cc'ing the committee 
that deals with participation.  There is one person who maintains a list 
of periodic jobs, and she posts a two-month list every month.

We also have periodic work days.  There used to be an expectation that 
one would participate in 4 half-days a year, and I think we had maybe 6 
of them.  There is no official tracking of that, either, there are fewer 
than 6 per year, and most work days seem to have the most participation 
in the morning, with little or none after lunch.  When the work days 
were instituted, the chore requirement went to 3 hours a month, figuring 
you got another hour's equivalent done during the work days.

-- Mabel :-)

 mabel [at] twomeeps.com
 Mabel Liang
 Software Engineer turned Gardener

On 2023-04-06 08:11, Philip Dowds wrote:

> At Cornerstone in Cambridge, MA, we've had a very light touch since the 
> beginning, operating under the premise:  No volunteers? = Not 
> important!
>
> But is it true that "everything gets done"?  For instance, in an urban 
> community where every square foot is expensive, limited and precious, 
> our workshop has turned into a junk dump.  Lacking a volunteer for 
> stewardship, it's now pretty much useless and unused.  The putative 
> exercise room is only a tad better.
>
> Maybe this is how we "vote", how we decide that a space is 
> "unimportant", without the formality of holding a meeting.  But the 
> premise feels a bit Panglossian to me.  (Just one opinion among many …)
>
> ------------------
> Thanks, RPD
>
> Almost everything in life can be explained by momentum, inertia, or 
> entropy.
>
> On April 1, 2023 at 11:47:15 AM, David Heimann (heimann [at] theworld.com) 
> wrote:
>
> <<<<<<<<<<
>
> Somehow everything gets done - although some people put in a lot more
> time than others.*
>
> <<<<<<<<<<
>
> Hello All,
>
> During our (JP Cohousing) early years we had assigned work
> tasks, fairness as a goal in doing the work, and strict accountability.
> After a couple of years of this, many complaints arose about 
> bureaucracy
> and "cohousing police". At a key General Meeting we faced the choice of
> having fairness and accountability or having a light touch with
> unfairness accepted and some work not getting done if no one stepped
> forward to do it and it wasn't essential. We chose the latter, and it's
> worked out since (YMMV).
>
> Regards,
> David Heimann
> Jamaica Plain Cohousing
>
> Date: Mon, 27 Mar 2023 16:52:37 -0700
> From: Sharon Miller <slmiller.325 [at] gmail.com>
> To: cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org
> Subject: Re: [C-L]_ Your Participation Policy
> Message-ID:
> <CADQ+R_K3eLFBqZhF8CRUJTYO4Z0hF90wCPPh2KsEM3TNdvEuGA [at] mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
>
> > From Sharingwood in Snohomish County, WA:
> 1. What you do when someone is longer able to participate in the
> physical tasks of maintaining your building and grounds. *People who 
> aren't
> able to do physical work volunteer instead for other tasks: giving 
> tours of
> the community; updating the telephone list; adding up the IOU book for 
> the
> pantry, serving on the Community Health Team, etc. My sense is that 
> those
> who have lived here for a long time always find a way to contribute.
> People also build up social capital over time and I think everyone is 
> happy
> to give a 'pass' to those unable to work. *
> 2. What you do when someone refuses to take part in getting the
> community work done. *This is a problem with only a few people or
> households. At one time there was discussion of whether someone could 
> pay
> someone else to do their tasks. This idea died quickly! I'm in charge 
> of
> team signups this year and after three reminders to sign up, I've 
> dropped
> it - as it's easy for someone to sign up and then just simply never do
> their assigned task. Better to have willing workers who show up than
> unwilling people who never complete their task. *
> 3. What are your requirements for participation . *Each person is
> supposed to sign up for two teams (although board members and team
> coordinators are required to sign up for only one team). Teams vary in
> terms of work load. The garden team (of which I'm the coordinator) 
> requires
> three hours minimum of work from April-Sept. I would say in general, 
> it's
> 2-3 hrs a month. The community has three work parties during the year 
> and
> it's all hands on deck at that time. Somehow everything gets done -
> although some people put in a lot more time than others.*
>
> *Hope this helps!*
> *Sharon Miller*
> *Sharingwood*
>
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