Video conferencing seems here to stay and it’s a great tool for cohousing communities, especially for forming communities that do not yet live together.  Even established communities are finding they can get increased participation when attending from home is an option. This is particularly true for parents of young children and adults with physical conditions... Read More

Careful agenda-setting is an essential element in preparing for a good meeting, and often an area where a little effort can make big improvements in meetings and community relationships. Agenda creation includes two distinct parts: 1.       Choosing the topics to be discussed. 2.       Determining how those topics will be... Read More

Careful agenda-setting is an essential element in preparing for a good meeting, and often an area where a little effort can make big improvements in meetings and community relationships. Agenda creation includes two distinct parts: 1.       Choosing the topics to be discussed. 2.       Determining how those topics will be... Read More

Sharing the journey from Atlanta, GA to Anacortes, WA, engaging with community along the way.   Part 3 of 7 Cohousing Working Well As I made my way across the country, I paused for nearly a week at the half way mark, Boulder, Colorado, a mecca of cohousing. There I was welcomed by my CohoUS teammate... Read More

Laird Schaub joined us to share his experience and wisdom of how much to delegate and how to do it well.  See below for a summary. View the full WebChat here.   Plenary Worthy Whole group or plenary meetings are expensive, with many people committing precious time to be at the meeting. Many groups haven’t defined... Read More

Ted Rau joined us Wednesday for an in depth look at rounds, a core element of sociocracy and a useful tool for consensus or any type of small group meeting.  Ted explained that rounds help with equivalence, clarity in structure and saving time.   Ted suggests using rounds for small groups when people can contribute. Rounds... Read More

All of us have experienced meetings that bog down, get derailed, or run aground. Sometimesit’s pretty dramatic, and sometimes it’s just a more extreme version of business as usual; butregardless, it is demoralizing and generally makes it hard to accomplish the work you intendedto do. This can happen for many reasons, and it can be... Read More

Strong facilitation makes for effective and efficient meetings. One ticky part is the balance between the need for strong leadership and the need to be an equal member of the community. This is where contracting comes into play. A facilitator needs a clear agreement with the community about their roles in the meeting and what... Read More

Ted Rau, co-founder of Sociocracy for All presented our WebChat last week on Meeting Agendas and Minutes. Read the summary below and watch the full WebChat at this link: https://youtu.be/J7HrsF3PXhk Summary: A backlog tracks topics between meetings. It is a complete list of topics to be addressed by the committee or group. Keep this list... Read More