Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: A table clarifying "routine", "significant", and "major" decisions

[Fred H Olson (fholson]

Alan <peterpiper [at] riseup.net>
is the author of the message below.  It was posted by
Fred, the Cohousing-L list manager <fholson [at] cohousing.org>
after putting the "attachment" at
http://l.cohousing.org/Decision_Making_grid.doc

Cohousing-L does not distribute attachments, see
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--------------------  FORWARDED MESSAGE FOLLOWS --------------------

Hi Sharon,

That is a useful distinction we haven't yet made to our agreement.

The current community agreement has confused some people and not
everyone refers to the different decision types.

To clarify things a couple of us met up last week with a pair of
scissors and a copy of the existing Decision Making agreement. We've
turned the existing agreement into a grid, see attached. There is no new
information on there, nearly exactly the same words moved around.

Again, any comments gratefully received.

With good wishes,

Alan

Sharon Villines wrote:
>
>
> On Oct 6, 2012, at 10:49 AM, peterpiper [at] riseup.net wrote:
>
>> Our Decision Making Community Agreement catogrises decisions as routine,
>> significant, major, or emergency. NB. Largely inspired by
>> http://www.takomavillage.org/wordpress/documents/policies/decision-making-2007/
>
> I'm so glad this has been helpful to people. It has worked very well
>for us for 12 years. The examples for each kind of decision are
>partularly helpful to people here.

> The biggest confusion comes with the difference between routine and
>significant decisions. The CH Interiors Pod is responsible for items
>to make the CH look nice. The budget includes money for curtains, wall
>art, pillows, end tables, etc. Because the items are in the budget,
>they could be routine purchase decisions that only need to be noted in
>the minutes.

> However, because they change the use and appearance of the common
>house, they become significant decisions. An announcement and a
>picture have to be posted. If there are no objections, they can go
>ahead. If there are objections, they have to resolve them before they
>purchase.

> The objections might be to the source -- a company with bad
>environmental practices. Once a detail person chose a fabric for
>replacement of the slings on the piazza furniture. It was a nice
>floral pattern in off-white mesh and the 4 inch square sample looked
>very festive.

> But we have 12 big chairs and the effect would have been more like a
>lingerie display. When such decisions are posted, someone else can see
>the problems. Those of us with "big picture" vision can miss a lot of
>problematic operational details.

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