Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Workshops

[Sharon Villines (yahoo]

> On Oct 23, 2024, at 1:14 PM, R Philip Dowds via Cohousing-L <cohousing-l [at] 
> cohousing.org> wrote:
> 
> No matter how many rules you post, a workshop is always besieged by entropy, 
> always trending toward clutter and mess.  Another feature that helps is an 
> assigned Workshop Steward:  A named individual who agrees to keep an eye on 
> things generally; sort salvage from trash; ensure tools are operating, and 
> safely so; etc.  Without a steward, a  workshop can become unusable in a 
> surprisingly short time.

This has finally stopped at Takoma Village. A person moved in who is very 
organized and was drawn to move here because of the workshop. He took over and 
began cleaning things out — every scrap of wood, every can of paint, empty 
5-gallon buckets, every extension cord, everything that might be a tool. For 
the first time, there are large areas of floor visible. And the room is mopped 
on workdays. It has been amazing.

It stays clean and orderly because he sends out an email every time someone 
leaves a mess. He has also stopped allowing people to donate odds and ends. You 
have to ask if something is useful in the workshop or whether it already has 
five that are rarely used.

Amazingly our members are very good at owning up and apologizing for forgetting 
to clean up. What it takes is (1) a person who establishes an order and (2) 
speaks up when it is broken. Ours does it nicely — no accusations of brain rot 
or evil intent — just a notice that usually includes a reminder of how this 
inconveniences someone trying to use the workshop. That one person completely 
changed the use of the room. 

Another person just completely changed the office. It has always been fairly 
neat and tidy. People maintain the machines — computer and printer. The tools 
used by everyone once in a while — electric pencil sharpener, paper cutter, 
label maker, etc., were neatly stored. File cabinets used by teams. White board 
easels for meetings (2 broken). And the entire collection of VHS tapes from 
from move-in 25 years ago. A table and 3 chairs. A desk and desk chair. 

They set it up as 3 workstations in the corners and opened the center floor 
space by removing the table and chairs, broken easels, VHS tapes, and old 
Angie’s List magazines. A shock but it works.

Sharon