Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Sociocracy Q and As: How can we make decisions between meetings?

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

> On May 31, 2023, at 1:28 PM, Philip Dowds <rpdowds [at] comcast.net> wrote:
> 
> OK, but … Among whom do emails circulate?  Just the official members of the 
> team or circle?  Or the whole community?  Same question for the objection 
> franchise:  Just the members … or the whole community?

The whole community. We have a members list that is internal and is essentially 
business, although what in a community counts as non-business evades me. Issues 
relate to the whole community most of the time. Facilities makes decisions 
about pest control but everyone has to take care to empty standing water to 
avoid mosquito breeding. 

A decision that only involved a team would just be circulated to the team 
members. Team decisions are recorded in their notes which are supposed to be 
circulated before they are implemented. The decision may only involve who is 
organizing meals for whom or who is organizing the guest rooms. Announcing 
decisions is part of ongoing education. 

We have teams and we have pods. Pods get organized around specific work areas. 
The Pea Pod handles vegetable planting, for example, and includes all the 
people who grow vegetables. The Tech Pod handles all the technology. 

What I hear myself saying over and over is if you want me to respect or support 
your decision, you better let me know you are making it and why. We’ve had some 
newer members who think having to inform others means they don’t trust me. 
Trust is not the point. Engagement and participation don’t happen in a vacuum. 
If you want everyone to show up to set up chairs for music concerts, you had 
better involve them in making the decision about how often the chairs will need 
to be set up.

I remember our first August. One person handled arranging the maintenance 
visits for all our ground-source heat pumps 51 of them. They completed the 
schedule, posted it, and went on vacation for the whole month. At least half 
the units were empty for part of the month. That was a decision that needed to 
be announced for objections that would need to be resolved or the appts would 
have to be canceled. No one had made no commitments to shepherd the HVAC people 
around, to collect keys, contain pets, or anything. 

Sharon
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Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org