Framework

The Relational OS

A modular, bespoke architecture of practices, protocols and social structures, designed to give any community, residency or organisation the relational foundations it needs to genuinely thrive.

Bring it to your group

The Problem

Groups fail relationally before they fail strategically

Most communities, residencies and organisations invest heavily in vision, logistics, and programming, and relatively little in the relational infrastructure that determines whether people actually feel safe, heard, and genuinely connected.

The result is predictable: unspoken tensions accumulate, collaboration stalls, and the potential of the group goes unrealised. The Relational OS is an attempt to solve this systemically: not with a single workshop, but with a layered set of practices embedded into the rhythm of how a group lives and works together.

How It Works

Bespoke, not off-the-shelf

1
Discovery
Understanding the group's context, duration, existing culture, and what they most need from a relational architecture.
2
Bespoke design
Selecting and adapting the components most relevant to this specific group and their rhythm.
3
Embedding & facilitation
Running the practices with the group and training members to hold them independently over time. Building a version the group genuinely owns.
4
Reflection & iteration
Gathering feedback and refining as the group evolves.

The Six Components

A full-stack approach to relational culture

Each component addresses a different dimension of group life. Together they form a complete architecture, though any group can start with the components most relevant to their context.

01
Arrival & Belonging
Welcome circles, onboarding rituals and relational agreements that create the conditions for people to arrive as themselves. Cohesion and safety emerge quickly, supporting individual and collective flourishing from day one.
02
Ongoing Attunement
Sharing circles, regular check-ins, and structured space for people to voice what's alive for them. Relational health needs a rhythm. These attunement processes reduce the risk of unspoken tensions quietly eroding the group culture.
03
Conflict & Repair
Clear, lightweight protocols for working through relational difficulty before it becomes rupture. Drawing from restorative practice, NVC and facilitated dialogue, designed to make conflict feel navigable rather than threatening.
04
Contribution & Synergy
Sessions and structures that surface individual skills, talents, needs and offers, creating genuine conditions for unexpected collaboration. Lightning talks, skills mapping, offer and request circles.
05
Governance & Voice
Lightweight decision-making structures and feedback mechanisms that make people feel genuinely heard. Includes participatory models for giving community members a real stake in shaping the system they live within.
06
Closure & Continuity
Goodbye circles, appreciation practices and handover rituals that honour what was built and create continuity for what comes next. Endings done well honour relationships and set the ground for what comes next.

The Relational OS is designed to be bespoke. No two implementations are identical. If you're building a community, running a residency, or want to bring this into your organisation, I'd love to talk.

Who It's For

Built for real groups

Residencies & Colivings
Groups sharing space for weeks or months, where the relational quality of daily life determines everything. Digital nomad retreats, web3 pop-ups, and similar contexts.
Retreats & Intensives
Shorter, concentrated experiences where depth of connection matters more than duration. The OS can be fully scoped for a single week.
Purpose-Driven Organisations
Teams and startups that understand culture is infrastructure, and want to build the relational foundations for genuine psychological safety.