Cohousing-L Mailing List: Fwd: Mechanisms for Resolving Community Challenges

[Jenny Guy (jenstermeister]

Hi, this is my first post here; I have been lurking intermittently.

At North Oakland Cohousing in California (not yet built), we're working on
filling in the gaps in our governance structure.  We're working on conflict
resolution and on refining our consensus guidelines, but the part I'm
looking into is how to create structures to use when one or more members
have concerns that can't be properly addressed with conflict resolution.

What sort of structure could we put in place to use if someone had
concerns that one or more members' actions were harmful to the group as a
whole, or contrary to our values?

I'm worried that using conflict resolution in a situation like that would
put the burden of taking care of the group's needs on the person who stood
up and made a fuss, and it would be easy for the more passive -- or conflict
averse -- people to write it off an interpersonal conflict, or even blame
the messenger.

I would find security in knowing that there was a step-by-step mechanism to
use to address problems, if the need arose; a process where everyone could
feel heard and supported by the community.

As someone recently posted, it's good to have systems in place before you
need them.

Jenny Guy
North Oakland Cohousing
Oakland, CA