Course description and syllabus

Failure to prepare for conflict is one of the big reasons intentional communities struggle and eventually fail. Most groups don’t explicitly discuss how they want to work with reactivity and the expression of strong feelings. Lacking a common understanding about how to handle these moments, most groups are paralyzed by their occurrence and bad things happen (work gets stopped, feelings get suppressed, fights break out, and relationships are damaged). It’s not pretty..

But there is no reason for your group to break down in the face of conflict. Get prepared and skilled up to handle whatever is coming your way. In Working with Conflict in Community, you will learn the tools and techniques that can support you and your members in moving through conflict.

Distilled from more than three decades of working as a professional facilitator and trainer for cooperative groups, Laird Schaub will cover what you need to know to move through conflict with as much grace as possible. And come out the other side stronger than before.

Live classes are hosted on Zoom. All classes are recorded and available on our learning platform within 24 hours after each class ends and through 30 days after the last class. 

Classes and topics in the Working with Conflict in Community syllabus include:

1st Class: Why working with conflict is awkward, yet needs to be done

• working with feelings
• emotions and how they relate to conflict

2nd Class: How relationship damage intersects with problem solving

• distress and distortion
• clearing the air
• intersections of diversity, ambiguity, leadership and conflict

3rd Class: How and when to work with conflict

• working a dyad
• working conflict in plenary

4th Class: The case for establishing a care team and how to do it

• recommended care team mandate

5th Class: Necessary conversations that you can anticipate conflict in

• limits of diversity
• accountability and critical feedback
• personal choice and participation

Course schedule

• 1st Class – October 24, 2023
• 2nd Class – October 31, 2023
• 3rd Class – November 7, 2023
• 4th Class – November 14, 2023
• 5th Class – November 21, 2023

All Working with Conflict in Community classes are from 10:00am-12:00pm Central on Tuedays. View your local time here.

Your instructor

Laird Schaub

Laird’s specialty is up-tempo inclusive meetings that engage the full range of human input, teaching groups to work creatively with conflict and diversity—all the while being ruthless about capturing as much product as possible. He lived for four decades at Sandhill Farm, an income-sharing rural community that he helped found.
Laird also helped found the Foundation for Intentional Community, where he served as the main administrator for 28 years. In 1987, he created a self-insurance fund for healthcare among income-sharing communities called PEACH (Preservation of Equity Accessible for Community Health) that he ran for 22 years.
In addition to his expertise in community living, he’s parlayed his passion for good process into a consulting business focused on cooperative group dynamics, styled CANBRIDGE (Consensus And Network Building for Resolving Impasse and Developing Group Effectiveness), since 1987.

Read his blog Laird’s Commentary on Community and Consensus

Testimonials

“Laird is an amazing resource in terms of experience, presentation and facilitation style, and ability to effectively connect with individuals under challenging circumstances. This is a great opportunity for thinking about how to handle conflict in community. Laird offered very practical suggestions for the kind of agreements that need to be in place for a community to tackle this in a way that ensures both accountability and safety for all members. Talking about conflict can sound scary, but having it organized into concrete steps made it seem not only possible, but absolutely worth doing.”

-Leslie Thomsen

“Laird’s style is no-nonsense, to the point and obviously comes from a place of years of experience. I really like his teaching style – he is accessible and super knowledgable. The class covered tons of excellent topics and content with many examples. Overall I learned a lot!”

-Alaya Vautier

“Laird brings a wealth of practical examples, well-considered guidance, passion, and energy when he runs a training. He made sure to give us a range of ways to engage, from written materials to review ahead, to presentation and discussion, and roleplays with debrief. If you want to be both informed about the dangers (and ways to address them) and also inspired by the possibilities, this is a great course.”

-Georgia Handforth

“This course is for any community that finds itself confounded by conflict. Laird presents a different way of defining conflict, demonstrates how to work constructively when conflict arises in a group setting, and provides participants with tools for equipping a community to meet conflict without fear, and move forward restoring broken relationships. Time well spent with a teacher who has an incredible amount of wisdom and experience to share!”

-Susan Clark

You might also be interested in

• Navigating Conflict and Restoring Connection (Inside Community Podcast episode with Alyson Ewald)
• Governance and Decision Making (Inside Community Podcast episode with Diana Leafe Christian)
• Consensus for Communities (10-hour pre-recorded course)