Community Building Workshop

Community Building Workshop (CBW) is a profound experience of an open group process without precepts, where participants can learn from their own experiences and come to their own responsibility for deep insights. They can experience what it means to communicate openly and authentically, to accept differences and to develop a deep understanding of other human beings and above all to themselves.

M. Scott Peck has developed the Community Building Workshop based on his experiences in group processes. The group process usually starts on friday evening and ends on Sunday afternoon. It can be a very intense and life-changing experience and is accompanied by specially trained and experienced facilitators.

Basic element of the CBW are the Community Building Guidelines:

Guidelines for Community Building

  1. Wear your name tag.
  2. Be on time for each session.
  3. Say your name before you speak.
  4. Speak personally and specifically, using “I”-statements.
  5. Speak when moved to speak; do not speak when not moved to speak.
  6. Include others and yourself; avoid exclusivity.
  7. Be emotionally present.
  8. Voice displeasure or any dislikes to the entire group.
  9. Commit to “hang in there.”
  10. Each person is responsible for the success of the group.
  11. Participation can be verbal or non-verbal.
  12. Maintain strict confidentiality.

The four stages of Community Building

During the workshop, the group passes four stages.

1. Stage: Pseudo-Community

This stage is characterized by politeness, surface discussion, conflict avoidance, pretense, generalities and general “we” statements; differences are ignored and circumvented. A common communication in modern life. The interpersonal contact is “nice” and rather superficial.

2. Stage: Chaos

Differences occur, attempts to align, well intended but misguided attempts to heal, to reconcile, to convert, loud, uncreative and unconstructive, subgroups form, “do it my way ..”, try to organize, focus on “the other”, you / your statements. Conflict situations that are commonplace in life are characterized by this phase and usually conflicts are stuck here. Usually a large part of the group is in this stage during Saturday.

3. Stage: Emptiness

There is more thoughtfulness, vulnerability, openness in this phase. It is the most dreaded stage of a group characterized by “I-” statements, more silence, risk, deep listening. Empty (letting go) of expectations, prejudices, ideologies, solutions, the need to “fix” or “to heal”, to give advice, to need control. Pain, sadness, personal stories. In the emptiness there is space for the spirit of the community.

4. Stage: Community

Gentle calm, peace, openness, acceptance, appreciation of differences, security, pain and joy, dynamic leadership, productivity, noticeable sense of spirit, playfulness, graceful “fighting”.

Facilitation

A Community Building Workshop is usually accompanied by at least two or more specially trained and experienced facilitators. During the process, the facilitators do not specify any structures, do not give any tasks, do not make any specifications or give topics. Facilitators are ususally in silence and thus the participants pass the process in self-responsability with the chance to become a “Group of All Leaders”.

Can tell you about the process

  1. There are usually four stages
  2. Silence will be used now and there
  3. It is an adventure into the unknown
  4. Discover what it means to be MOVED to speak
  5. You are encouraged to experiment, discover, learn
  6. Facilitators are guides only

Cannot tell you about the process

  1. How to do it
  2. About the unknown
  3. What this Community may be
  4. The mystery about how it works
  5. How the “Spirit” imparts the gift of Community

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