We also changed our model from having one shop manager to creating multiple job positions with defined descriptions.  We have two paid mechanics and a volunteer coordinator and a youth coordinator.  We also have set up teams with different responsibilities that can be shared with volunteers.  This also leads the way to having a more community run organization.  We are still working on it, but our new model is proving more successful in eliminating bottlenecks, staff overload and getting more volunteers involved.
John
http://www.sibleybikedepot.org
St. Paul, MN


On Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 11:47 PM, <thethinktank-request@bikecollectives.org> wrote:
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Today's Topics:

  1. Re: Suggestions for finding a good shop manager (joshua muir)
  2. Re: Suggestions for finding a good shop manager (andrew lynn)
  3. Re: Suggestions for finding a good shop manager (joshua muir)


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2010 20:40:04 -0700
From: joshua muir <muirjoshua@gmail.com>
To: The Think Tank <thethinktank@bikecollectives.org>
Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Suggestions for finding a good shop
       manager
Message-ID:
       <8ab5b3a81003162040w50e95f65q3c73ffef72813c1e@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

>From the collective perspective, I say "open up".  Give collective members
responsibilities, understand that sometimes you'll all have to take up some
slack, and find managers within your community and organization.  Coming
from the Bike Church in Santa Cruz with the clerkship model, that's where my
heart lies.  management jobs are open to the whole collective and they
rotate.  If you truly give the responsibilities over, the folks who love
your org will take it on as their own and really come through.  I know,
sounds hard to believe, but it works.

And it works in a way that creates a shop space that actually represents the
collective personalities (yes this includes faults as well as excellences).

This model also takes time to develop the job descriptions (clerkships) in a
way that is acccessible to more than one individual (so that they can
rotate, and still be performed well.)

It sounds like this might be a large leap for some other shops, but it has
many benefits.

And if you need qualified mechanics, offer a series of master mechanics
classes to your volunteers and go thru some manuals start to finish.  In my
mind the point of the community bike project is to dispell the myth that you
have to hire out to find someone knowledgable enough to do the job.

best of luck

josh

On Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 9:02 AM, Rich Points <rich@communitycycles.org>wrote:

> Hey All,
> We've started looking for a new shop manager.  After a week or so of resume
> submissions nothing stands out.  We had the same experience last time we
> hired a shop manager.
> I wanted to ask the shops who've sought out and hired a shop manager what
> their experience has been like.  Do you have any suggestions about where to
> find qualified bike mechanics with non profit backgrounds?
> Ride On!
>
> --
> Rich Points
> Community Cycles Executive Director
> http://CommunityCycles.org
> Rich@CommunityCycles.org
> 720-565-6019 (W)
> 303-589-0597 (C)
> Donate your old car to Community Cycles
> http://communitycycles.org/get-involved/donatecar.html
>
> _______________________________________________
> Thethinktank mailing list
> Thethinktank@bikecollectives.org
> To unsubscribe, send a blank email to
> TheThinkTank-leave@bikecollectives.org
> To manage your subscription, plase visit:
>
> http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.org
>



--
Joshua Muir
muirjoshua@gmail.com

Frances Cycles  --  www.francescycles.com
Handbuilt cycling framesets
Touring, Track, Road,Cross, and Cycletrucks for hauling any distance
(831) 469-3369

The Bicycle Church Collective
Community Self-Service Cycle Repair
3pm to 7pm everyday except Sunday
703 Pacific Ave  (enter on Spruce St)
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
(831) 425-2453
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------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2010 23:45:46 -0400
From: andrew lynn <anyone@breathingplanet.net>
To: The Think Tank <thethinktank@bikecollectives.org>
Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Suggestions for finding a good shop
       manager
Message-ID: <4BA0506A.40204@breathingplanet.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

josh,
can we get a brief description of how the clerkship model and the
rotation works.  I have a feeling we are a smaller operation, but i am
intrigued.  andrew

joshua muir wrote:
>  >From the collective perspective, I say "open up".  Give collective
> members responsibilities, understand that sometimes you'll all have to
> take up some slack, and find managers within your community and
> organization.  Coming from the Bike Church in Santa Cruz with the
> clerkship model, that's where my heart lies.  management jobs are open
> to the whole collective and they rotate.  If you truly give the
> responsibilities over, the folks who love your org will take it on as
> their own and really come through.  I know, sounds hard to believe, but
> it works.
>
> And it works in a way that creates a shop space that actually represents
> the collective personalities (yes this includes faults as well as
> excellences).
>
> This model also takes time to develop the job descriptions (clerkships)
> in a way that is acccessible to more than one individual (so that they
> can rotate, and still be performed well.)
>
> It sounds like this might be a large leap for some other shops, but it
> has many benefits.
>
> And if you need qualified mechanics, offer a series of master mechanics
> classes to your volunteers and go thru some manuals start to finish.  In
> my mind the point of the community bike project is to dispell the myth
> that you have to hire out to find someone knowledgable enough to do the job.
>
> best of luck
>
> josh
>
> On Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 9:02 AM, Rich Points <rich@communitycycles.org
> <mailto:rich@communitycycles.org>> wrote:
>
>     Hey All,
>     We've started looking for a new shop manager.  After a week or so of
>     resume submissions nothing stands out.  We had the same experience
>     last time we hired a shop manager.
>     I wanted to ask the shops who've sought out and hired a shop manager
>     what their experience has been like.  Do you have any suggestions
>     about where to find qualified bike mechanics with non profit
>     backgrounds?
>     Ride On!
>
>     --
>     Rich Points
>     Community Cycles Executive Director
>     http://CommunityCycles.org
>     Rich@CommunityCycles.org
>     720-565-6019 (W)
>     303-589-0597 (C)
>     Donate your old car to Community Cycles
>     http://communitycycles.org/get-involved/donatecar.html
>
>     _______________________________________________
>     Thethinktank mailing list
>     Thethinktank@bikecollectives.org
>     <mailto:Thethinktank@bikecollectives.org>
>     To unsubscribe, send a blank email to
>     TheThinkTank-leave@bikecollectives.org
>     <mailto:TheThinkTank-leave@bikecollectives.org>
>     To manage your subscription, plase visit:
>     http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.org
>
>
>
>
> --
> Joshua Muir
> muirjoshua@gmail.com <mailto:muirjoshua@gmail.com>
>
> Frances Cycles  --  www.francescycles.com <http://www.francescycles.com>
> Handbuilt cycling framesets
> Touring, Track, Road,Cross, and Cycletrucks for hauling any distance
> (831) 469-3369
>
> The Bicycle Church Collective
> Community Self-Service Cycle Repair
> 3pm to 7pm everyday except Sunday
> 703 Pacific Ave  (enter on Spruce St)
> Santa Cruz, CA 95060
> (831) 425-2453
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
> Thethinktank mailing list
> Thethinktank@bikecollectives.org
> To unsubscribe, send a blank email to TheThinkTank-leave@bikecollectives.org
> To manage your subscription, plase visit:
> http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.org

--
andrew lynn | 518-573-7947 | troy, ny
digital media | bike repair | tree work

http://www.breathingplanet.net
http://www.troybikerescue.org
http://www.mediasanctuary.org
http://flickr.com/photos/breathingplanet



------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2010 21:44:14 -0700
From: joshua muir <muirjoshua@gmail.com>
To: The Think Tank <thethinktank@bikecollectives.org>
Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Suggestions for finding a good shop
       manager
Message-ID:
       <8ab5b3a81003162144g122acc11v9be0f44f7d88ecc@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Hi Andrew-

The clerkship model is simply defining the jobs that need to be done and
offering them up to the collective as a whole.  They are paid positions if
the organization has money for it.  We try to rotate the jobs every 6 mo to
a year.  sometimes, not all the jobs get filled, but they're there like a
wish list.  There are some key jobs that we can't let go unfilled because
the shop either would not function or we wouldn't be living up to our goals
as a shop (ie: finances/accounting, ordering, facilities (cleaning and
organizing) etc.)  You can find some basic structure in the Bike church
handbook.<http://www.bikecollectives.org/wiki/index.php?title=Bicycle_Church_Handbook>

I don't think the wiki version of the handbook has been updated recently,
but it gets the point across i think.  We've been adding some clerkships,
fleshing out our concensus process etc in more recent versions.

josh

On Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 8:45 PM, andrew lynn <anyone@breathingplanet.net>wrote:

> josh,
> can we get a brief description of how the clerkship model and the rotation
> works.  I have a feeling we are a smaller operation, but i am intrigued.
>  andrew
>
> joshua muir wrote:
>
>>  >From the collective perspective, I say "open up".  Give collective
>> members responsibilities, understand that sometimes you'll all have to take
>> up some slack, and find managers within your community and organization.
>>  Coming from the Bike Church in Santa Cruz with the clerkship model, that's
>> where my heart lies.  management jobs are open to the whole collective and
>> they rotate.  If you truly give the responsibilities over, the folks who
>> love your org will take it on as their own and really come through.  I know,
>> sounds hard to believe, but it works.
>>
>> And it works in a way that creates a shop space that actually represents
>> the collective personalities (yes this includes faults as well as
>> excellences).
>>
>> This model also takes time to develop the job descriptions (clerkships) in
>> a way that is acccessible to more than one individual (so that they can
>> rotate, and still be performed well.)
>>
>> It sounds like this might be a large leap for some other shops, but it has
>> many benefits.
>>
>> And if you need qualified mechanics, offer a series of master mechanics
>> classes to your volunteers and go thru some manuals start to finish.  In my
>> mind the point of the community bike project is to dispell the myth that you
>> have to hire out to find someone knowledgable enough to do the job.
>>
>> best of luck
>>
>> josh
>>
>> On Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 9:02 AM, Rich Points <rich@communitycycles.org<mailto:
>> rich@communitycycles.org>> wrote:
>>
>>    Hey All,
>>    We've started looking for a new shop manager.  After a week or so of
>>    resume submissions nothing stands out.  We had the same experience
>>    last time we hired a shop manager.
>>    I wanted to ask the shops who've sought out and hired a shop manager
>>    what their experience has been like.  Do you have any suggestions
>>    about where to find qualified bike mechanics with non profit
>>    backgrounds?
>>    Ride On!
>>
>>    --     Rich Points
>>    Community Cycles Executive Director
>>    http://CommunityCycles.org
>>    Rich@CommunityCycles.org
>>    720-565-6019 (W)
>>    303-589-0597 (C)
>>    Donate your old car to Community Cycles
>>    http://communitycycles.org/get-involved/donatecar.html
>>
>>    _______________________________________________
>>    Thethinktank mailing list
>>    Thethinktank@bikecollectives.org
>>    <mailto:Thethinktank@bikecollectives.org>
>>
>>    To unsubscribe, send a blank email to
>>    TheThinkTank-leave@bikecollectives.org
>>    <mailto:TheThinkTank-leave@bikecollectives.org>
>>
>>    To manage your subscription, plase visit:
>>
>> http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.org
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Joshua Muir
>> muirjoshua@gmail.com <mailto:muirjoshua@gmail.com>
>>
>> Frances Cycles  --  www.francescycles.com <http://www.francescycles.com>
>>
>> Handbuilt cycling framesets
>> Touring, Track, Road,Cross, and Cycletrucks for hauling any distance
>> (831) 469-3369
>>
>> The Bicycle Church Collective
>> Community Self-Service Cycle Repair
>> 3pm to 7pm everyday except Sunday
>> 703 Pacific Ave  (enter on Spruce St)
>> Santa Cruz, CA 95060
>> (831) 425-2453
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Thethinktank mailing list
>> Thethinktank@bikecollectives.org
>> To unsubscribe, send a blank email to
>> TheThinkTank-leave@bikecollectives.org
>> To manage your subscription, plase visit:
>>
>> http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.org
>>
>
> --
> andrew lynn | 518-573-7947 | troy, ny
> digital media | bike repair | tree work
>
> http://www.breathingplanet.net
> http://www.troybikerescue.org
> http://www.mediasanctuary.org
> http://flickr.com/photos/breathingplanet
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Thethinktank mailing list
> Thethinktank@bikecollectives.org
> To unsubscribe, send a blank email to
> TheThinkTank-leave@bikecollectives.org
> To manage your subscription, plase visit:
>
> http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.org
>



--
Joshua Muir
muirjoshua@gmail.com

Frances Cycles  --  www.francescycles.com
Handbuilt cycling framesets
Touring, Track, Road,Cross, and Cycletrucks for hauling any distance
(831) 469-3369

The Bicycle Church Collective
Community Self-Service Cycle Repair
3pm to 7pm everyday except Sunday
703 Pacific Ave  (enter on Spruce St)
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
(831) 425-2453
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End of Thethinktank Digest, Vol 43, Issue 10
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