Community Building Workshops

Annie delivers four or more workshops that begin with community inception and continue through the first six months after move in. These workshops teach the skills that will allow you to form, run, and live in a beautiful, fun-filled and robust community. During them, you will become acquainted with one another, build trust among members, overcome challenges and create the structure necessary to build a successful, well-planned neighborhood.

These face-to-face visits also serve to establish and deepen a solid connection with community members so Annie can help iron out particular problems that arise and continue to motivate the community during the journey. During each visit she also meets with the development team and one or more community teams.

A comprehensive package of services will be offered to your community based on your own special challenges and opportunity. Below are some of the workshops that can be offered. Other workshops tailored to your community might be developed.

Vision and Values and Consensus workshop

(1 day)

This workshop forms the basis for bringing together people who share a vision and hold common values. Defined by the original core group, this vision becomes the beacon for marketing your community to like-minded people and provides a basis for decision making.

Also included in this workshop are proven tenets of consensus and a process that will lead you to agreement. Many groups struggle for years trying to learn and use effective consensus decision making. This workshop points out the benefits and the pitfalls of using this decision method, the hallmark of most cohousing communities.

Intentional Communication: Getting What you REALLY Want

(1 day)

Often in daily life, people don't communicate clearly about what they really want or need. Unintended and mixed messages can send relationships down the wrong track. The effects of these miscommunications are amplified in cohousing communities, where so many relationships intersect. This workshop offers an interactive day of skill building that will help members learn to clarify intentions and communications in the community.

Finding Your New Neighbors

(0.5 to 1 day)

This workshop is aimed at getting the whole community on board with finding your new neighbors now, so you can keep your project on tract to getting built!

Avoid critical mistakes in marketing that turn people away who might otherwise make valuable and valued community members. Create a process for introducing people to your community that is engaging and effective.

Attract people to your community who share your vision and will work collaboratively with you to build your community. Learn how to recognize what buyers need to be able to commit and how to give it to them while maintaining the integrity of your community.

Welcome new members in a way that solidifies their commitment and helps them navigate the sometimes ambiguous environment of the developing community. Help them contribute their strengths to grow the community.

Facilitation and Community Building

(1.5 days)

This workshop focuses on the critical skills needed to plan, facilitate, and participate in effective meetings. Opportunities for members to practice are interspersed with specific tools and techniques that will make meetings run smoothly. Members will learn to create processes for their community that are engaging, lead to lively discussion and debate, and result in consensus.

Personality Styles and your Community

(1 day)

This workshop is a fun and interesting way for members to get to know each other at a deeper level and to understand the similarities and differences that make living in community the juicy experience that it is. Using Myers Briggs typology, each member will have an opportunity to complete a self assessment instrument before the workshop, and will then be able to voluntarily disclose their own preferences while learning more about the preferences of their neighbors. The tone of this workshop is light hearted and fun, while the underlying information is very powerful in building understanding and tolerance among the members.

Transforming Conflict

(1 day)

Even though conflict often feels uncomfortable and scary, especially with those you're closest to, it can also offer the opportunity to deepen relationships. There's a lot of energy in conflict, so the trick is to be able to harness that energy for problem solving and creativity. This one-day workshop offers a deeper understanding of conflict, helps members understand their own approaches to conflict, and sharpens their ability to work with those who have different styles or different opinions.

A Celebration and Updating your Processes, Procedures and Relationships

(1 day)

This workshop is scheduled for six months after move-in. Well, you've done it! We'll celebrate together and also make sure you have all the tools you need in your toolbox to continue your journey. This workshop will be planned by the Community Development Team and Annie to address the specific needs of the community at this time.

These workshops are carefully tailored to the needs of cohousing groups and then tailored again for the needs of each specific group. They are designed to leave the group with raised awareness, as well as very specific skills needed to live in and manage a cohousing community.