Getting the Work DoneA case study of Affinity Teams at Pioneer Valley Cohousing

© Kraus-Fitch Architects, Inc. 2006

Revised June 2009

KRAUS-FITCH ARCHITECTS, INC.Home – Community

This slide show was developed by Kraus-Fitch Architects to educate cohousing groups about getting the work done within your community AFTER move-in. It is Part 6 in a series of presentations, most of which are focused on programming and design of cohousing communities BEFORE move-in. These slide shows include:

KRAUS-FITCH ARCHITECTS, INC.Home - Community - Planet

Part 1 – What is Cohousing?Part 2 – Cohousing Site DesignPart 3 – Common House DesignPart 4 – Cohousing Unit DesignPart 5 – Cohousing & SustainabilityPart 6 – Getting the Work Done

The copyright of this slide show belongs to Kraus-Fitch Architects, Inc. Please do not modify this slide show without the written consent of Kraus-Fitch Architects, Inc.

© Kraus-Fitch Architects, Inc. 2006

Work is Love Made Visible

When we choose to live in a community there is an underlying assumption that we will participate in the care of each other and our common property.

Cohousing communities are usually self-managed and maintained.

They are places where people work together to enrich their lives and improve their environment.

Children in cohousing have many adult mentors from whom they can learn a variety of skills. Adults can learn from each other as well. Some people connect primarily through work – others through process.

Working together since 1994

The residents at Pioneer Valley Cohousing have been trying out new work systems, tweaking them, and aging together since 1994. We’d like to share the systems that work for us, and the reasons why others did not.

We hope that you look to other communities for their ideas as well!

History of Work Systemsat Pioneer Valley

Cohousing:Volunteer Sign-upMandatory Work Teams (with rotational tasks)Affinity TeamsAffinity Teams including Rotational Work TeamsIn addition to the everyday work, seasonal work and large one-time projects have always been handled with Work Days.

Volunteer Sign-upPioneer Valley Cohousing operated strictly by a volunteer system for the first year. Most of the work got done, but some things fell through the cracks. There was one particularly aggravating problem: inevitably there were not enough dishwashers for each community meal.And so there would be an announcement at the beginning of each meal and a moment of tension while we waited to see if enough people would sign up. This spoiled the ability of folks to just relax and enjoy the meal.

Rotational Work Teams - mandatory

To address an underlying issue about fairness of work load, and the aggravation of having work fall through the cracks, Pioneer Valley Cohousing decided to try out a mandatory team system.

5 teams of 10 adults had a rotation of jobs, with a different responsibility each week including: meal preparation, dishwashing, table setting, cleaning the Common House, special projects, quality of life items (e.g. stocking fire wood), social event planning, and time off.

It was the responsibility for the team to get the assigned work done, but there was flexibility within the teams to allow individuals to focus to some extent on the work they liked to do. Occasionally the teams were reassigned to increase the contact between different people.

Some problems with this mandatory system:

The small work teams provided accountability, and we managed to fill all of the cooking and cleaning slots, but there were serious flaws in the system.

Not everyone enjoyed the type of work that was emphasized in the rotations (primarily meals preparation and maintenance). In addition it took their energy away from the type of work they did like to do.

Also, there were other jobs that individuals in the community were taking on: publishing a newsletter, working on committees, and gardening. These were not given “credit” in the work system. Those who took these jobs on were not getting any reduction in other work load.

A number of folks envisioned something better. They believed that more work would actually get done if members had more choice in the type of work they would do, because it would give them “ownership” of the task. They also believed that more socializing (and a stronger sense of community) would develop between members doing work with others who had the same affinity. They put forth a proposal for “affinity teams”

Affinity TeamsThe Affinity Team System creates teams around a particular type of work – including those tasks that had previously remained uncounted. Each team monitors their type of work, and each community member is accountable to their team(s) of choice.

How did we make the transformation?By brainstorming all the types of tasks that needed doing and their approximate monthly time requirement, we were able to estimate a recommended time commitment for each adult member of the community - approximately 6.5 hours of work per person per month, plus 3-4 “work days” a year.A big sign-up chart was then filled in to see if there was the right relationship of personal affinities to the actual tasks. Everyone was surprised and delighted by the results – nearly all of the works slots were filled in.Each person was then required to actually sign up for one or more affinity teams. A detailed list of these teams follows this general description.

HubAfter a relatively successful one year trial period we made a few adjustments to this affinity system.We added two “multi-task teams” to address the feedback from some folks that they really like rotating through a variety of jobs.We structured the kitchen team with a set of master schedules and menus. The kitchen affinity team was just too big, the jobs too numerous and important to work without some serious structure.We created a “Hub” of 5 people to keep a general eye on the work systems.

•The “Hub”•Community Support•Steering Committee•Facilitators•Buildings & Grounds•Landscape•Garden•Common House•Kitchen & Meals•Kids•Finance•Membership•Design Review•Social•Communication•Workshop•Ad-Hoc: Retreat•Odd jobs•Clubs

The Affinity Teams and Committees:

In the first year, some things were still falling through the cracks and accountability of the 6.5 hour recommended commitment was questioned. The Hub was created to address this without “policing” what was designed to be a flexible system. The “Hub” consists of one chair and four work team coordinators. Each coordinator tracks about twenty community and associate members, making sure they are part of an affinity team, and helping rearrange schedules when empty slots need filling. They also help in the coordination of the 3-4 seasonal work days each year.Part of the success of this adjusted system comes from our yearly review. The “hub” asks each community member to list his/her regular, seasonal, and committee work and answer questions:•Are things falling through the cracks? •Are you having a hard time finding a way to contribute work to the community?•Do we need to bring the community together to readdress the work load?

The Hub

Community Support

The goal of our community support team is to provide the following “services” to maintain a healthy community environment:

• Support to members in crisis.

• On-going education on consensus, non-violent communication, etc.

• Listenings – sitting down to hear from members about their struggles.

• Conflict resolution

The Steering Committee is our latest (since 2007) iteration of a team of folks who help us make the “decisions” of the community. This was a very active team when we first moved in as lots of decisions needed to be made.Then we “cruised” on our successes for about 10 years, with fewer general meetings. Rather suddenly we were confronted with a need to re-invigorate our meetings as important and difficult decisions around aging and maintenance were coming on line.The goal of the Steering Committee is not to plan agendas for meetings nor facilitate them. Rather, it is to help individuals, groups, and the community as a whole decide the best process for making a decision. Here are some of the options:•Just go ahead and do that idea, it is not a “community issue”•This issue/idea should be discussed in a “salon” and then go to decision board•This issue/idea is unlikely to be well received by the community, perhaps you should not pursue it•This issue/idea should be discussed in a series of “salons” and then brought to general meeting for consensus•This issue/idea is very complex, and we suggest the following process…

Steering Committee

FacilitatorsThe steering committee calls on facilitators when the think a general meeting or salon is needed.

The facilitator(s) are then responsible for planning the meeting agenda.

In the meetings facilitators are responsible for keeping an eye on the process and working towards consensus in decision making.

Buildings & GroundsThe buildings & grounds committee takes care of the maintenance of the site and exterior shell of the buildings.It includes: garbage disposal, recycling, snow removal, grass mowing, painting the exterior of buildings, repairing decks and roofs, recommending capital improvements, etc.This committee has a large annual budget, which includes materials and labor to get small jobs done. When an unscheduled, big line item, or recommended change/repair comes up, the buildings and grounds committee is responsible for bringing the issue to meeting facilitators to address in a general meeting.Most large ticket items are paid for from “replacement reserves” on a scheduled basis.

The seasonal work of mowing and plowing is coordinated by the Buildings and Grounds committee. The work itself is done by a list of willing members.

LandscapeLandscape committee overlaps in some areas with buildings and grounds, but is primarily responsible for establishing and maintaining planted areas of the common land: reseeding damaged lawns, maintaining the orchard, replacing dying trees, planting new trees and shrubs, establishing and maintaining flower gardens.

This committee only meets a few times per year, but is very active in listing projects and buying materials for the Spring and Fall work days.

GardenThe garden committee is responsible for the yearly planting and maintaining of the vegetable garden beginning with the ordering of seeds, followed by the preparation of seedlings, the turning of soil, and weeding.

Much of the preparation of the garden beds is done on the Spring Work Day, when many neighbors chip in whether or not they typically work on the garden affiliation team.

Harvest is open to all community members, whether or not they are members of the garden affinity team.

Common HouseThe common house committee is responsible for the maintenance of the interior of the common house. Members of this committee do not necessarily do all of the cleaning, but are responsible for keeping a cleaning schedule, listing the tasks for clean-up, getting carpets cleaned, furniture replaced, and supplies stocked.Some projects, such as wall painting, are coordinated with the HUB on Work Days or hired out.

Rules around the scheduling of private events were created by the common house committee. The actual scheduling of events is done by simply reserving time on a calendar hanging in the common house.

Someone has to book the use of the guest room. This is a perfect job for someone not wanting to strain their back.

The laundry machines need periodic maintenance and repair.

Kitchen & Meals

The Kitchen & Meals affinity team is big. The work systems are complex and are addressed in more detail later in this presentation.

KidsThe kids’ room needs cleaning, and someone to keep an eye on supplies: art materials, first aid kit, and toys

Repairing the playground can be scheduled on a Spring Work Day.

Arranging child care for meetings, work days, and retreats is a job that benefits the whole community, not just parents.

FinanceNo community could survive without a finance committee, but this is work that is usually done alone and behind the scenes. It involves paying bills, reimbursing expenses, accounting and taxes, planning the yearly budget, and wisely investing the vast funds collected for replacement reserves.At Pioneer Valley Cohousing, the finance committee relies on other committees to provide some of the budget information. For example, the garden committee provides a budget proposal for the supplies they will need. Each year the process gets refined and improved so that very little meeting time is actually required to propose a new budget.

Design Review

Most of the changes have included the addition of larger front porches and/or mudrooms.

At Pioneer Valley Cohousing, there have been many changes and additions to our homes over time. The goal of the design review committee is to ensure that plans are developed, shared, and discussed well in advance of their implementation, giving time for neighborhood comment and suggested improvements. The culture is intentionally one of allowing change while ensuring communication and feedback.

MembershipMembership committee members maintain a waiting list of prospective home buyers, and a list of associate members. This committee helped the community define different levels of membership, their privileges, and obligations. Membership is responsible for educating prospective new members about our community, the consensus process, our work systems, etc.Associate membership is a category that was established for friends of members, and people in the larger neighborhood who participate fully in community life. An associate member can reserve the common house for private use. They can participate in meals without an invitation or sponsorship. In exchange they participate in the work system and pay a yearly fee – both of which are negotiated privately with the membership and finance committees.Membership also manages house sales.Because the membership committee does the work of finding potential

new home buyers, Pioneer Valley has considered (but never approved) that the 6% realtor’s fee (routinely paid in a house sale) be paid to the community itself. This money could be put into an “affordability fund” which could be loaned to new buyers to help make the initial down payment to secure a mortgage.

SocialEven organizing social events is work that should be recognized and included in your overall work budget.

Some of these events have become a regular part of our community culture

Costume Parades & Pumpkin Carving

Games nights on New Year’s EveGinger Bread Houses near winter solstice

CommunicationsOur communications committee is responsible for:

• Maintaining a phone and email list (constantly updating)• Maintaining connect@cohousing.com and the email connections for all the committees• Maintaining an up-to-date phone tree• Putting together and distributing a newsletter and events calendar (monthly)• Maintaining the bulletin boards

Workshop

A community workshop needs a committee to look after it, or it can rapidly fall into disorder. We typically have a workshop cleaning day at least once a year. This committee is also responsible for setting and enforcing policies around the safe and organized use of the shop, as well as the renting of storage space.

The annual retreat at Pioneer Valley Cohousing is a big deal and it takes a small committee a lot of work to pull it off.

Adhoc: Retreat planning

In short the retreat includes:A gathering ritualA slide show of the year in review featuring at least one picture of each member, and music (slide show subcommittee and photographers required!)Theme (e.g. conflict resolution skills, celebrating 10 years in cohousing, improving work systems)Group building exercisesFood (breakfast, lunch and dinner are served on both days to encourage us to spend the whole weekend together)Talent ShowGreat activities for kids (not just childcare)

Weekly recycling is more efficient if handled by one or two people. More households participate fully in recycling if they can rely on someone else to pick it up at their door.

Odd Jobs:Some jobs just don’t lend themselves well to committee work. They need one person with the right skills or dedication to just take them on. These tasks include, but are not limited to: Recycling, Repairing carts, stacking fire wood, maintaining and organizing the library, lost and found, and clothing exchange.

There are some tasks that may not interest the whole community. Why should everyone take on extra work, if they already feel stretched and the project doesn’t interest them. We found it was easier as a community to support “pet” projects such as raising chickens and maple sugaring, if the work was handled by a “club”. The “club” reaps all the harvest (or other rewards) while taking on all the work in addition to their affinity team commitments.

Clubs:

Clubs add richness to community life. In the case of our chicken club, only club members get a share of the eggs, but the community as a whole benefits by supporting other members’ aspirations.. For instance, people enjoy seeing the chickens, with no resentment about any work they might represent.

Work DaysA huge amount of work is accomplished in 3-4 annual workdays, and full participation of the membership can make this work a lot more fun, and a lot more productive.

Not everybody can or wants to do heavy physical labor…providing childcare or bringing hot cocoa to the work teams is just as valuable and appreciated

A typical Fall work day

and Spring clean up

Rural communities and winter climates inherently have more site maintenance

Undoing all the winter preparation workFixing lawn areasPruning shrubsWeeding flower gardensPicking up trash along neighboring roadsidesWashing and installing screens in Common House windows

Placing and filling sand barrelsAttaching plow blade and sander to truckAttaching snow blower to tractorInstalling snow stakes around drivewaysSending snow machines to shop for maintenanceRemoving screens from and washing Common House windows

But thankfully, these taper off after the initial plantings take hold.

There are usually a lot of landscaping tasks that need doing in the first years:Planting and watering trees and shrubsEstablishing flower gardensPutting in patio areas (laying bricks)

Composted manure to spreadGarden plots to turnCompost to processIrrigation systems to installSeedlings to plantMulch to spread

A typical late Spring garden work day

•Taking inventory of kitchen supplies•Cleaning the range hood•Organizing the kitchen shelves•Removing of accumulated stuff•Cleaning furniture•Painting walls

Yearly Common House and Kitchen Cleaning:

Dinner and drinks (and even play in the hay) complete a work day, and keep the spirits up.

More on…The Kitchen Team

Kitchen Committee

Set-up

Cooking

Clean-up

Kitchen CommitteeFor the coordination of so many tasks and workers, we found that we needed a lot of structure, with one or two people overseeing everything:

•Coordination of all work slots (working with the HUB)•Master menu planning and posting•Meal sign up•Payment for meals•Stocking dry goods•Replacing equipment and dishes•Repair of appliances•Sanitation training and review•Periodic review of all meal-related systems

Rotation of kitchen work teams

Pioneer Valley Cohousing discovered that it worked best to have a schedule of work teams set up for a year or so in advance.

After surveying availability and number of meal related work slots each member was willing or able to commit to, a two month “permanent” rotation schedule was developed.

For example, one member might head cook the third Monday of every odd month, and wash dishes the first Wednesday of every month.

Occasional schedule conflicts are handled by the individual worker, usually “swap request” posted on email. These are then noted on the Master Schedule for that month.

The Hub helps with coordinating more permanent changes that are inevitable as people’s life circumstances change.

Menu planning and Meal sign-upPioneer Valley Cohousing has developed a two month rotational menu, ensuring that all meals are posted well in advance, menus are appropriate for a crowd, and cooks are well supported.

Since ingredients are posted under each menu, it is easy to review if you have allergies.

Three versions of each meal are usually as follows: 1) main meal, 2) vegetarian alternative if meat included in main meal, and 3) child-friendly alternative (simple foods with little spice).

Payment for meals

Payment for meals has evolved into a really simple system that requires no billing:-Diners pre-pay: each box represents one adult meal at current cost, each half box is one meal for a child under 13.-Cooks cross off the number of meals each family signed up for (after the meal is served).-It is the diner’s responsibility to stay ahead of the meals eaten, but the cooks will occasionally remind folks who have fallen behind.

Set-upPioneer Valley Cohousing eats family-style, which means that we set the tables ahead of time and provide serving bowls to each table.

Set-up is a great job for including young children in the work of the meal.

It is also a way of staging a pleasant dining atmosphere; we use cloth napkins and often have candles on the tables and a fire in the fireplace.

CookingA typical cook team is one head cook with two assistants.

The head cook’s job is made easier by the rotational menu system. Cooks and their help prepare the same meal every other month. If the cooks have the inspiration to try something new, they can, but the default is simple and familiar.

The recipes have been typed out with measurements already calculated for 24, 36, and 48 diners.

Clean-upA typical Clean-up Crew consists of three people working at three stations: dishwasher, pots & pans, and general clean-up.

Is all this work daunting?

Well, yes! But it’s what built our community, and what keeps us going!

Now, get to work!

Kraus-Fitch Architects is nationally recognized as one of the most experienced firms working with cohousing.

Mary Kraus has been working with cohousing groups since 1990; Laura Fitch discovered her interest in cohousing during a trip to Denmark in 1980. We are both residents of Pioneer Valley Cohousing in Amherst Massachusetts. Our experience as members helps us to understand the issues facing other cohousing groups, and gives us unique insight into the underlying interpersonal and group dynamics that affect the design process.

Our inside knowledge combined with our professional experience with cohousing architecture creates an especially effective and comprehensive approach.

Cohousing is what we have chosen both personally and professionally and we bring great enthusiasm and inspiration to our work with communities.

KRAUS-FITCH ARCHITECTS, INC.

Home – Community - Planet

This slide show was produced by:

KRAUS-FITCH ARCHITECTS, INC.

Home – Community - Planet

To purchase additional cohousing slide presentations or find out about our cohousing design workshops tailored to your community, contact Kraus-Fitch Architects at:

110 Pulpit Hill Road Amherst, MA 01002 413-549-5799

www.krausfitch.comEmail- lfitch@krausfitch.com

This slide show was Part 6 in a series including:

Part 1 – What is Cohousing? Part 2 – Cohousing Site Design Part 3 – Common House Design Part 4 – Cohousing Unit Design Part 5 – Cohousing & SustainabilityPart 6 – Getting the Work Done

Photo Credits:Mike AprilJanice Doyama Rebecca Reid Laura Fitch Mary Kraus John FabelJen Luck

© Kraus-Fitch Architects, Inc. 2002

With special thanks to the hard workers at Pioneer Valley Cohousing who are featured throughout this show.