Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: How does work get done?

[Cheryl A. Charis-Graves (ccharis]

On 7/22/02 11:24 AM, "Marty Roberts" <MartyR [at] sonic.net> wrote:

> We would really like to see a few concise descriptions of how other
> communities get their work done.

Harmony Village recently went to a new governing structure 5 years out from
completion. This process was prompted in part because people were
experiencing frustration with work requirements and because critical
maintenance tasks were not getting done. The new structure was developed by
an ad hoc group over a period of five months, with ongoing feedback from the
community at large.

We are expecting some bumps along the way, and we have a "sunset clause" one
year out. 

One of the more radical features of our new structure is that we disbanded
teams/committees as they are traditionally formed and divided up the work to
be done into five domains. Three form the core of our "critical maintenance
tasks: buildings, grounds, finances. Two are considered critically important
to our welfare as a community, but do not include "critical maintenance"
tasks:  social capital, and honds-on tasks. Each domain is overseen by a
member of our Coordinating Council, which is formed by nomination and
approval from the community. The council meets once a month and has defined
parameters for decision-making.

All tasks are clustered into 22 point positions. Point persons are
responsible for this cluster of tasks. Example: Turf maintenance includes
oversight of the community sprinkler system as well as the lawn mowing
contract. Each point person communicates with one of the Coordinating
Council reps.

We have also organized our community gatherings around the three major
functions of the overall community: business/budget, work days/parties, and
community building (development of specific skill sets). Each type of
gathering is scheduled quarterly, which means we have a group community
gathering of some sort monthly.

We talked about various systems of work credits and requirements. In our
process, we defined the tasks that have to be done to protect our investment
or to prevent legal consequences. As a community, we were not ready to set
up a system of work credits/requirements. If our current system does not
result in the critical maintenance tasks being completed, we have an
understanding that we will then need to talk a system of work credits to
fund outside contractors to complete those tasks. So our current system is a
kind of test to see if we can continue on a strictly volunteer labor system.

The idea behind creating individual responsibility in the form of point
positions resulted from observing that the team structure seemed to place
the burden on a few very responsible individuals while allowing others to
"disappear" as it were. This way, individuals are clear on their specific
responsibilities, and we know who to go to if something needs doing or isn't
being done. 

There are holes in the system ? some jobs that didn't make the list but
still need doing, some unevenness in the clustering of tasks, some people
who feel confused by the changes. But so far, I think our community is
responding in a positive, optimistic manner. We seem to be rejuvenated by
the changes overall. And we seem to be paying more attention to community
development, and not just business items.

I guess we'll see!

> Is there a participation requirement?
Every member of the community is expected to participate to the extent they
are able. Occasionally, a member has indicated the need to withdraw from
participation and that request has been honored.

> Is there a minimum # of hours expected?
No. Our agreement at present is that we are trying to ensure that critical
maintenance tasks are completed with a combination of volunteer labor and
contract labor. If we fall short of completing the tasks, then we will have
to move toward a work credit system.

> Is there an exemption for those who are unable to do physical work easily?
We have managed that by offering clusters of tasks that do not require
physical labor and recognizing that everyone wants to contribute in a
meaningful way. It is a concern, however, as we age and become more limited
physically.

> Is there a pay or work option?
Not at present. It has been discussed, but the community has some members
who strongly resist this idea so we have tried to create a system that does
not require it.

> Does someone track whether the work gets done?
At present, it is obvious when work does not get done. Coordinating Council
is watching over this in general, and providing feedback to the community
about our overall success in completion of tasks.

If you want to see our documents, please go to
 
http://homepage.mac.com/ccharis/Menu5.html

There you should be able to download the documents we created to support
this process.

Cheryl
Harmony Village in Golden, CO


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