Joshua, as an MBA student and president of a nonprofit org, I find your management model very innovative and exciting. Would you mind if I ask you a few questions off-list?

Doug Franz

President, Coatesville Community Bike Works

LeBow College of Business class of 2010

From: thethinktank-bounces@bikecollectives.org [mailto:thethinktank-bounces@bikecollectives.org] On Behalf Of joshua muir
Sent: Wednesday, March 17, 2010 12:44 AM
To: The Think Tank
Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Suggestions for finding a good shop manager

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.

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

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Joshua Muir

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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

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--
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
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--
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