We’ve replaced our House Rules with a Community Culture statement that includes a Code of Conduct. We listened to your thoughts and needs, and translated them into a description of our common culture and a set of values that are supported by members, not policed or enforced by management.

our values

The worldwide coworking movement has five core values, which we also embrace: comm­unity, open­ness, collaboration, sus­tain­ability, and accessibility.

In our first town hall of 2018, when we asked the community “why are you here”, the answers were not about internet speed or productivity; they were all about community and connection. Building upon the core coworking values, and recognizing the connection-drive reasons behind why our House community continues to gather, we’ve redefined our purpose as founders of the House as:

Supporting a collaborative environment for like-minded creatives by encouraging meaningful relationships, supporting creative entrepreneurship, and encouraging work/life balance.

the house crew

With this new alignment of purpose and culture, we no longer view ourselves as having staff, or employees, or managers, or owners; we’re all in this together. We refer to the employed team members as the House Crew, with Laura and Eric as founders, and crew team members as community builders. Steering and leadership will be shared with the Member Council. We are all Housemates and a part of this community.

community expectations

as housemates, we take care of each other, our space, and our wider community

We are kind, respectful, and considerate of our fellow Housemates. We treat each other as we would like to be treated. We clean up after ourselves, lend others a hand, and make an effort to keep our space beautiful and ready to be enjoyed by others. We are open to collaboration and connection. We encourage others to grow, are thoughtful about how we can help them, cheer their wins and support them during their setbacks. Together, we create a place for our community to belong, be inspired, and to flourish.

being a good housemate

Overall, we found agreement that common-sense, good neighbor behaviors should be something that all members follow. While there will sometimes be those that don’t, the house crew should not be policing them: a community will take care of its own. Moving forward, our community culture & conduct will reflect this shift, and focus on guidelines for what the community as a whole feels are acceptable and reasonable, and agree to abide by when joining.

Consensus within our community about phone calls and meetings in shared/open areas:

  • Short, quiet, and occasional phone calls are welcomed. If a quick call turns into a longer/louder one, consider what’s happening around you and move outside or to a more talkative area.
  • Volume has sometimes been an issue; be aware of your level and keep it at 2 or 3 out of 10.
  • Speaker phone calls are not okay in shared areas, and need to be held behind closed doors.
  • In consideration of others, and because you have notice and can manage them, longer, scheduled calls should also be held behind closed doors.
  • Collaborative meetings are okay in the shared areas, if they are also quiet and occasional.

The main House shared area also tends to have quiet (in the back) and social (in the front) zones and effort to respect them is appreciated. A white noise machine on the shelf wall assists with this – feel free to turn it on when you like.

While the meeting room always needs to be booked, any unoccupied offices can be used unbooked as phone rooms when available. Housemates agreed that expected behavior for these instances includes:

  • Not camping out in the rooms, and only using them for unscheduled, brief calls
  • Leaving the room when your call is complete so that others may use it
  • Being considerate of others needs and accepting a polite knock/request for you to leave
  • Not asking or expecting House Crew to police the use of the rooms

While House Crew will continue to do helpful things when they can, like make coffee, help with bookings, greet guests, and run the dishwasher, members can and will step in to keep things running smoothly, and will generally see to their own needs and those of their Housemates when needed and able.