What challenge inspired this recipe?
This topic was shared by volunteers at our monthly meeting. Conflicts between flat mates can arise due to various reasons like cleaning and chores, noise levels, guest and visitors, finances and overall differences in lifestyles. It was discussed that establishing house rules is the best way to provide clarity on what behavior is expected from all flat mates which helps to avoid misunderstandings and ensure that everyone participates equally in maintaining the living space.
Ingredients :
paper and pen, quite space, calendar, organizing skills
Step by step guide
To establish house rules, hold a meeting with all flatmates to discuss and agree upon essential house rules. This can include: quiet hours, cleaning schedules, guest policies, rules for shared items and spaces, shared expenses, and respect for personal space.
Another idea is to assign specific responsibilities to each flatmate to keep the common areas clean and organized. A chore chart or a rotating schedule can help ensure that everyone contributes fairly.
The established house rules can be hung somewhere in the common area as a reminder.
Important to highlight!Many of our volunteers agreed that establishing house rules at the beginning of living together with other people is helpful and helps to create the experience of living together a better experience for the volunteers by reducing possible conflicts. |
Before you start cooking, keep in mind…
Constraints of implementing this best practice include for example not finding a suitable time for the meeting. In addition, people may have differences in motivation for creating the house rules, i.e. some people may not feel as great of a need for house rules or feel that they are too restricting.
