First, thanks to everyone who commented on the "What happens when you add new hours" post. Very helpful.
Scheduling Volunteers
We just had a Volunteer meeting and discussed the need to schedule, ahead of time, so that we can know how many people to expect on any given day. Right now we sometimes have 3 volunteers or as many as 10-12 show up for an open shop day...One day, too many; one day, not enough at all. 5-7 is our "comfort" range.
One of our more reliable volunteers sent me some questions and I'm curious how other shops deal with the specific issues mentioned. Thanks for taking time to respond.
1.) "How is it going to work if "too many" people sign up for a given day? Are the volunteers going to be asked to leave, or can they work on their own stuff, or what?"
2.) "how many is too many? Obviously if there are 2 kids there, 10 volunteers is overkill, but realistically, how many volunteers do you think you should hold to the schedule for an open shop night?"
3.) "What if a vol. can't make it when they're scheduled? Obviously, trying to get a hold of someone to cover the shift is necessary, but who's responsibility is it? Is it the shop's to try to get someone to come in, or the volunteer's, because they can't make it?"
4.) "What happens with a no call/no show? What happens if someone shows up 45 minutes late?"
Brian
Urban Bike Project of Wilmington -a 501(c)3 non-profit bike shop- 1908 N. Market Street (entrance is in the parking lot behind the building) Wilmington, DE 19801
Hours: Thursday 6:30-9:00 Saturday 1:00-4:00
Visit us online at http://urbanbikeproject.org