[EPIC] What Systems do we need to create?

[nelsonic]

In order to make the @home successful and avoid chaos, we need to define several systems.
The purpose of this issue is to serve as an Epic to list all the systems and link to sub-issues.
We need an ordered list of the systems and to ensure that all are captured. (please add to the list!)

• Member Application
• Security systems > https://github.com/dwyl/smart-home-security-system
  • (External) Security Video Monitoring > External Video Monitoring (Security System) #130
• Networking [Epic] Networking #133
• House plants!
• Kitchen
  • Drinking Glasses: Drinking Glass Shelf #259
  • Recycling Chore/Feat: Recycling Sorting/Collection Station ♻️  #226
  • Dishwasher Dishwasher System #265
  • Trash (our objective is to be "Zero Waste", see: Zero-Waste? phase-three#96 ...)
  • Composting
  • Meal availability and opting in for communal meals (lots of evolution here!)
• Laundry Laundry Room #240
  • Washing bed linen for each bed in the house
  • Washing towels
  • Individual laundry book-ins
• Cleaning
  • Kitchen(s)
  • Dining room
  • Bathrooms
    • Hand soap check
    • TP restock
    • Bin emptying
  • Windows
  • Bedrooms
    • Vacuum (daily)
    • Change bed linen (weekly?)
    • Check state of curtains (monthly)
    • Wash windows (fortnightly)
  • Communal areas
  • Checking stock of cleaning supplies (weekly)
  • Cleaning all the door handles (particularly bathroom and bedroom ones) daily
• Reporting issues (with lights that have blown, taps that are leaking or anything that has been broken)
• Supplies for the house
  • Buying TP
  • Buying Ingredients for soaps/detergents
  • Making/mixing cleaning supplies
• Pool maintenance
• Garden maintenance
• General house maintenance
  • Condition of flooring (dings in wood floors, cracks in tiles)
  • Condition of bathroom furnishings (ceramic sinks, check sinks, check taps, check showers & toilets + flushes are working as expected)
  • Condition of beds (check all power socks, drawers, curtains are running as expected, condition of mattresses, pillows and duvets, etc)
  • Condition of remaining furniture (desks, chairs, sofas, etc)
  • Lights
  • Condition of electronic equipment throughout the house
• Fish tank cleaning / maintenance. -> could this be done as a "practical life" activity?
• Library
• Work
  • Booking call pods
• Answering questions/writing blog posts for people interested in joining the community (everyone can do this)
• Admin
  • Month end processes (Bank reconciliation, review of bills for anomalies, review all transactions from guests have come through correctly)
  • End of month meter readings and submissions (so all our bills are accurate)
  • Cataloguing and tracking expenses
  • Processing physical receipts
  • Processing physical post
  • Payroll (when relevant)
  • Financial year end processes (to be established with accountants)
• Electrical appliance maintenance (such as filter changes for fridge and lint removal from dryer)
• General maintenance
  • Applying bio pest control ahead of 'ant season' (needs much more research)

Relevant Read:

• Thinking in Systems: https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Systems/dp/B005VSRFEA
• E-Myth Revisited: https://www.amazon.com/E-Myth-Revisited/dp/B000RO9VJK
• Tribes: https://www.amazon.com/Tribes-We-Need-You-To-Lead-Us/dp/B001FA0LAI

[iteles]

I've added a few above 👍 There are a lot! We'll come across a lot more as we go through.
I haven't added any admin processes like paying bills and dealing with physical post but those are worth noting.

[nelsonic]

@iteles those "admin processes" are exactly the kinds of things we need well-defined systems for.
Please add them and any others you think of to the list so we can begin to keep track of them. 👍

[iteles]

Added some more here @nelsonic! Will add more as I think of them.

[iteles]

In light of revised electricity bills from accurate meter readings lately, I've added meter readings to month-end processes here too.

[nelsonic]

@iteles we definitely want to have a system for monitoring our electricity consumption. 👍
IMO monthly meter readings is not enough frequency, we need to automate it and have it in real-time.

[iteles]

@nelsonic The idea of a system for monthly meter readings is around the submission of these to the electrical and water companies (which should only be done once a month). Evolving that into consumption tracking and optimisation is a separate topic 👍

[nelsonic]

Perhaps I did not communicate my thoughts effectively. A system can have many inputs and outputs.
One of the outputs of the Energy Monitoring System should be a monthly report including a photograph of the meter reading which is sent to the Energy company (if they don't install a smart meter, which I expect they will). If we do not have an appropriate and timely (ideally real-time) feedback mechanism for energy consumption someone could accidentally leave the heating on max for days with a window open for "fresh air" which is super wasteful. 🤦‍♂

[nelsonic]

One of the Systems I'm particularly keen on is having everything labeled so that we can keep track of and organise things. see: #135

[nelsonic]

@Stephanymtr yesterday morning in the kitchen (while you were making puffs),
we were discussing "systems" ... and how we currently have a dire lack of them implemented! 😢
Without all the systems in place - & pref a slick App to manage/track all - we will all be perpetually frustrated. 😖
If you want to help us develop any system [maybe after your AMI course is finished] please drop a comment below with which system you want to help with. 🙏

[Stephanymtr]

Hi @nelsonic Yes, I'd love to help, and I do have some ideas. The ideas above are great, but only having access to an organized space will allow you to complete those plans easily. We are constantly looking for things and given how big BMH is, a lot of time and effort is spent looking for stuff. (or worse, not utilizing the super cool things you guys own because it's 'stored' at the bottom of a box somewhere).

I generally feel that in order to implement anything new, there needs to be some sort of order. Therefore, my first and only idea (for now) is to implement (or more like 'get going' with) a system in which every single object will have its own space/home.

This is not a new idea/subject. We have talked about this before and have been trying multiple solutions (e.g. new cabinets downstairs, new shelving system in the piano room, new transparent containers etc). The way I see is that we are focused on how we will keep the the new system alive (which is great), but not as focused on how we are going to adapt to this new system. You see, we are all so busy, so many many many many many problems popping left and right that organizing your belongings never seem to get on our priority list.

I would suggest more drastic changes to be done in short-term, while making sure we are ALL on the same page. This or any idea should be agreed between ALL of us, and keep in mind that these organization/systematic ideas can only become part of our routines if everyone is actively doing their part. Jeez, so cheesy! lol

That was long intro. Let's keep going.

We shouldn't be discouraged if the ideas aren't working. This is a BIG house and quite a few people come in and out often, so explaining to them the new system is also important for decent results. I'm also fully aware that BMH doesn't have enough storage, so most items don't have a dedicated area that they can be contained/put away (YET). I know you guys have loads of plans and ideas for how and where to store things, but again, not how to get into the habit of doing that because life happens.

There is so much we can do in regards to adapting ourselves... I personally love rules, so we could set some rules. Examples:
a) Area under the stairs should be used to park the pram and A's little bicycle only/ no other items should be store there.
b) Mail and packages should be placed in Z location
c) all bags and backpack should go on G location
...

I'm happy to brainstorm more specific ideas that can be easily done by all of us, but some more 'drastic' changes should also be taken into consideration:
a) Consider unpacking all of your belongings. For ex, I can help you unpack and organise while A is with Gui during the week, or I can take him out of the house Saturday afternoon while you take 2-3hrs ish to work on that. Goals' examples : This could be done in two saturdays ? No more boxes in the first 3 floors of the house, only empty ones in attic for now ? and so on.
b) the next part is to really ask : Is all your items in the right rooms? we can place the items in the rooms you want them to be stored. This will be annoying at first, but should give you a great idea of how much stuff you actually have. This will allow you to sort out/visualise the items you have too much of/ too little of; which ones need to be sold/donated; Everything you have left should go into their respective rooms, so that Nelson has a good start on how much storage needs to be built for each room.
c)Given the new addition to the family coming soon, the nursery might be one of the rooms that need attention next, so organizing everything will be awesome to understand what kind of storage we will need for that room. Ex: little wardrobe at A's level ? more chest drawers? a 2nd storage place for diapers and clothes for new baby ? storage/space area for clean diapers/liners/inserts that need to be stuffed together (instead of being placed on top of the changing table/bed.)? etc etc etc

I'm happy to brainstorm and unfold this idea a bit more, but getting things situated asap will be a great start for you guys especially considering there is a new 👶 coming <3