Comments on: How to Organize a “Working Party”

By: Sam

Sam — Tue, 26 May 2009 15:56:42 +0000

You absolutely read my mind on this one!
I recently moved into a house near my university with a pretty run down lawn: overrun by crab grass & dandelions and very little actual grass growing.
As anyone who’s tried to fix up a lawn knows, keeping weeds at bay (especially dandelions) is a tough job.
I suggested to some of my friends recently that they come spend a day helping me rip up weeds and laying down some grass seed if I keep burgers and drinks going for them. A lot of people were actually willing to help out!
Great post and I’m glad I wasn’t the first person to think of something like this!

By: DDFD at DivorcedDadFrugalDad

DDFD at DivorcedDadFrugalDad — Tue, 26 May 2009 10:49:11 +0000

Nice idea!

Reminds me of an Amish Barnraising . . .

By: Robert

Robert — Mon, 25 May 2009 03:24:47 +0000

Instead of working parties you could call them ‘Tom Sawyer parties’. : )

By: Jon

Jon — Mon, 25 May 2009 00:34:02 +0000

Our online resource-sharing software, has a project/events feature that was designed to help people organize working parties like this. One of my friends used it this weekend to invite me and a bunch of other guys to help clear brush at the home of a family we all know. You can check out the software at http://www.sharonimo.com.

Thanks for another great post, Trent!

By: Becky@FamilyandFinances

Becky@FamilyandFinances — Mon, 25 May 2009 00:19:50 +0000

My husband and I do this all of the time with our families, though he’s does better at offering his help than asking for it!

These “parties” usually work out REALLY well, but I do want to emphasize one point that Trent brought up. Make sure you have a plan in place and that you are ready to give everyone a job. My most frustrating experiences have been when I’ve shown up and either nothing is ready (for example, a moving party and nothing is packed up yet) or there are too many people to do the job. Proper planning is key!!!!

By: Ana

Ana — Sun, 24 May 2009 20:50:33 +0000

Good timing, we’re having a garage sale next weekend and all sorts of family friends volunteered to come help out (one even volunteered to make a big spaghetti dinner for everybody at the end of the day!). It’s always good to be reminded on ways to make sure they know their help is very appreciated.

By: clayton

clayton — Sun, 24 May 2009 19:38:43 +0000

Cool post!

As another commenter mentioned, moving can work like this. Myself and my friends graduated recently and we rent on year-long leases around Chicago. So when anyone moves we just send a group e-mail and its an instant crew! It only took us 40 minutes to get all my stuff into the truck.

Then the best part is the person moving takes everyone out to lunch, picks up a case of beer and we just chill the rest of the day. It’s a great feeling too — We all feel helpful and like we accomplished something. Beer always tastes best when you’ve earned it!

By: evd

evd — Sun, 24 May 2009 18:10:21 +0000

If you don’t have lots of friends who can do this kind of work (like me), maybe advertising for volunteers and creating a “pool” of helpers could work. As long as everyone fully participated in some kind of way, I think it would benefit everyone.

By: Devon T.

Devon T. — Sun, 24 May 2009 12:12:28 +0000

I just did this idea a couple weeks ago. Only two friends showed up, and not much work was accomplished at all because they were joking around all the time. I did everything on your list too. At the end of the day, I felt like I had more work to do instead of less.

By: Abhimanyu Ghoshal

Abhimanyu Ghoshal — Sun, 24 May 2009 06:31:17 +0000

it’s always interesting to read about DIY projects, especially since we just don’t have that culture here in urban India. You’ll be hard-pressed to find any home that has more than a hammer and a screwdriver around here. I guess that’s because labour is available in plenty and at nominal rates – most people in cities don’t venture beyond changing light bulbs here. So something like a working party would be extremely odd here.

By: indymoney

indymoney — Sun, 24 May 2009 04:23:12 +0000

I didn’t try this idea. But I’d like to try in the near future. First, I need to follow the ideas you’ve given to overcome the hesitation I have.

By: Seattle

Seattle — Sun, 24 May 2009 02:43:50 +0000

I miss Iowa so much!!!!! This doesn’t happen out here in Seattle – I have lived in my home three years and have only met one couple across the street – my attempts at friendship have met with cold stares.

Appreciate what you have there in the Midwest!!!

By: Anne KD

Anne KD — Sun, 24 May 2009 01:55:44 +0000

We had a big painting party the day after settlement on our house. We couldn’t stand the previous colors. It was a great way to get our family over to see our new house, we got three rooms and a hallway primed, one room painted. Us womenfolk broke off for a bit to get sandwiches made. My husband and I really like doing DIY parties- mainly because we get to be with friends/family, and we get to learn some stuff along the way.

By: Amy B.

Amy B. — Sun, 24 May 2009 01:21:15 +0000

I had a similar party when I had several small projects to complete before my house was ready to go on the market.

By: Sheila

Sheila — Sun, 24 May 2009 00:55:54 +0000

I approve of this idea in theory. But honestly, unless it was fun work (painting?), I would have no interest in doing this whatsoever. I once got invited to a paint-stripping party and I just laughed. No way do I consider paint stripping a party activity. Maybe it was the fact that this is the kind of thing that a certain rather selfish relative would like other people to do for her but she wouldn’t do for them, and it would be inconvenient to get there. I must also say that in addition to not wanting to fix a cracked driveway at all, if I had to listen to the radio blaring a baseball game I would be even more pissed off. It would keep people from talking to each other, which is my idea of the point of a party. And I freaking hate baseball. I wish I could get my mind wrapped around what a good idea this is, because I can understand how community-building and kind it would be. But in reality, I’d rather not!

By: Kevin WIlson

Kevin WIlson — Sat, 23 May 2009 21:47:05 +0000

I did this a couple of summers ago as a deck demolition party with about 12 people. It was supposed to be only removing the top surface (2 layers of rotten plywood) but the underlying structure turned out to be rotten too, so we took the whole thing down. My daughter cooked pizza in relays and there was lots of cold drinks. Everyone had fun ripping things apart.

By: Evangeline

Evangeline — Sat, 23 May 2009 21:26:12 +0000

Reminiscent of the old barn raising parties, it’s simply good friends and neighbors helping each other. Sometimes the old ways are the best ways.

By: almost there

almost there — Sat, 23 May 2009 20:56:18 +0000

I did this with a self move without hiring a moving company. Rented a truck, got the guys from the office to pitch in one Saturday and moved into my new condo. All it cost was beer and pizza with a few swear words thrown in when the hide-a-bed opened up on a couple guys while going up the stairs to the second floor.

By: Deborah

Deborah — Sat, 23 May 2009 20:36:25 +0000

It’s not quite the same scale, but I have a group of 3 other friends that do this kind of thing once or twice a year. Just last weekend, we emptied out my living and dining rooms and painted (the tray ceilings and bay window alone would have taken me as long as the whole project did with all of us working. Two years ago when one bought a house, we all pitched in and spent a Saturday pulling up bushes, bagging up leaves and preparing/planting flowerbeds.

Even though we’re always exhausted – and ready to swear off any more “HGTV Projects” for a few months – we have a GREAT time. And the fact that we’re spread out between 2 cities that are 190 miles apart has never been a hindrance – it’s a great reason to go visiting for the weekend. I usually make a big pan of lasagna a week ahead of time and freeze it. We’re always ready for a nice glass of wine at the end of the day!

By: Esty

Esty — Sat, 23 May 2009 20:24:45 +0000

I’m a member of a sort of theatrical group, and we very often have ‘work parties’, where everyone who’s free comes to the house of the guy in charge and works. Right now I think the project is painting a rusty trailer and putting new boards on the bottom.

Sometimes we have food and sometimes we order pizza, and we rarely have beverages other than water available, because we have no money and because we’re sometimes out there every day for a week in the summer (and because, for the most part, our members either don’t drink or are too young). But the bonds we’ve already built up mean that usually everyone contributes, regardless of how much food there is or isn’t.

If you’re a member of a group that has a lot of things that need doing but that you just never get around to, and if the members are pretty close, try having regular work parties. It just might work (pun unavoidable).