Community Work
11/20/00
There are two aspects of community work: the Management Strategy and the Work Strategy. The Management Strategy addresses managing the various areas of community responsibility. The Work Strategy involves the actual hands-on work.
Members are likely to have management responsibility in some area and also pitch in with hands-on work in many areas. Despite members having specific management and work responsibilities, we recognize that we all share responsibility for the work of the community and we take action when we see something that needs to be done.
Management Strategy
The various areas of community responsibility are divided up amongst our teams. See our Teams agreement.
Work Strategy
The community maintains a Work Plan in order to get the necessary work of the community done (see below). Work related to various hobbies or private enterprises that members may choose to participate in is not covered by the Work Plan.
Work Expectation
All members (including minors) are expected to do their fair share of work towards the creation and the betterment of our community in accordance with their abilities. We do not assign work quotas, but we may choose to establish job rotations or other systems of work allocation when practical. People only participate in such work allocations if they choose to. We rely upon a person’s individual sense of responsibility to get the necessary work done. We recognize that not all people are able to contribute at the same level all of the time.
Once a member volunteers for a job, they are expected to get the job done. They are free, however, to find someone else to do the job and they are free to make whatever arrangements with that person they agree upon. If the volunteer can’t perform the work and can’t find someone else to do it, they’re expected to inform the person or team in charge of the work at the earliest opportunity.
Hiring Members
The community may choose to hire a member to get work done. In general, the member is paid no more than what the community could pay to someone hired from outside the community. The decision to hire a member must be made by the community (not a team) and must be made prior to when the work is done.
Hiring from Outside the Community
A team may choose to get work done by hiring someone from outside of the community in the case of one or more of the following:
• The work requires expertise not available within the community.
• No member is willing to do the work at less or equal cost than is available from an outsider.
• Hiring an outsider is more cost effective in terms of labor and money.
Work Plan Criteria
A successful Work Plan is one that:
• Gets the work done.
• Is simple and clear — easy to administer and participate in.
• Is cost effective in terms of labor and money.
• Values all jobs equally.
• Encourages fun and joy.
• Achieves fairness (as outlined in “Work Expectations” above).
• Clearly defines the expected results of a job — ‘a job well done’.
• Allows for schedule flexibility and spontaneity.
• Ensures a variety of jobs suitable to various abilities.
• Allows for individual work needs, styles, and interests.
Work Plan
Participation
The Work Plan relies on 4 opportunities for voluntary labor. Regardless of the format, we strive to keep the work fun and joyful. We also make a conscious effort to create a variety of jobs suitable to various abilities. The 4 work formats are:
• Periodic work parties organized by teams.
• Spontaneous outbursts of work by members with a whim.
• Teams doing hands-on work within their area of responsibility.
• Kitchen and/or Community Jobs Rotation (described below).
Teams
Teams determine what work needs to be done within their areas of responsibility. They may choose amongst several alternatives to get the work done:
• Organize a work party to get it done.
• Do the work themselves.
• Hire it out to members (see “Hiring Members” above).
• Hire it out to outsiders (see “Hiring from Outside the Community” above).
• Use community volunteers within the Kitchen or Community Jobs Rotations.
Kitchen and Community Jobs Rotations
Kitchen work (cooking and cleaning) is scheduled using a work rotation (Kitchen Rotation). Other community work is scheduled in a separate rotation (Community Jobs Rotation). It is the responsibility of the Common House team to create and administer the Kitchen Rotation. It is the responsibility of the Steering team to create and administer the Community Jobs Rotation. Each time one of these teams creates a new conceptual rotation plan, that conceptual plan must be approved by the community. Minor tweaking of an existing plan does not need to be approved. Both rotations are set up once every 2 – 6 months.
Each team other than the Common House team gives a list of jobs to the Steering team to be included in the Community Jobs Rotation. These are the jobs that need to be done on a regular basis. The list indicates the duration of the rotation, the expected time needed to complete the job, and the priority of the job. Each team also submits a description of how each job is to be done and how frequently the job is to be done. The Steering team uses this information to create the Community Jobs Rotation.
In order to prioritize the jobs, the Steering team creates standard prioritization classifications (high to low). The teams prioritize their jobs using these standard classifications. The Steering team coordinates the prioritizations between the teams to make sure that the community’s top priority jobs get done.