Thanks for your list! I think in a way you are kind of answering your own question.
I always had this idea (are you coming from here?) that a co-op or a collective, in order to be radically inclusive, has to find a place for anyone and everyone who wants one, and it is the organization's job to format itself correctly so that everyone can be plugged in and somehow "just get it" and harmony happens...
Live in the culture
..the magic environment that organically and holistically and naturally formats all behavior just right. Sometimes, this does happen when the place has around 6-20 people in attendance who are already formatted right - because new people sense the requirements socially. Critical social mass, peer pressure. Energy and osmosis. Convenient, intuitive, and natural. But it only works when that critical social mass is present. Pare your attendance down to 1-4 people, and this pathway breaks down badly.
After many years in these kinds of environments, I think that radical inclusion -of literally anyone who wants to commit to core reliability- can only work reliably if there is one or more people in an executive position always willing to coordinate and pick up slack and make rulings regarding inconsistencies and conflicts. That's a lot of centralization. In my experience, radically inclusive, take-them-all, fully collective consensus based volunteer organizations can only last for a few years. Without presidents and directors and boards and managers or such, they break down.
Assuming you want a more decentralized power structure, I think you have to be selective and use an interview process of some kind. After that you just train people like in any other job: "Here's what we do, learn it." and then we're back at the particulars of the excellent foci you yourself just posted, and training sessions for core people, which other people have pointed out. Whether it's a collective or a business, these are still positions, and people who want the position have to agree and train to fulfill those requirements.
As for particulars, we'll get our scripts up on Github along with everything else about our organization at some point. In the meantime, the only standout one I can offer is this: when considering new core people, ask "Is this person a good teacher?"
Honestly to me that has to be the best indicator.
may be better than lectured about it...
SORRY THIS WAS SO MUCH TEXT
N
On 2017-03-10 05:14, Josh Bisker wrote:
Jfc Angel it is all I can do to get my actual schoolwork done instead of
emailing the Think Tank ;)
Xoxoxox
On Thu, Mar 9, 2017 at 11:26 PM Angel York <aniola@gmail.com> wrote:
Have you considered doing a thesis? For real. I think you have the
makings of a phd thesis right there.
I would very much like to read that thesis plz.
On Thu, Mar 9, 2017 at 10:46 AM, Josh Bisker <jbisker@gmail.com> wrote:
This is all great, folks, thanks. That said, I want to hone my question
slightly, because most of these responses seem to address a different issue
than the one I intended.
Let's try this: how do people in your shop learn *how to run the shop? *I
mean the people who are your core bottom-liners, not the people who just
want to come in and help out for a day. How do your core bottom-liners
learn how to run the shop in a way that keeps everyone safe, learning,
respected, and supported? And do you have materials or approaches to share?
For example, how do the people who run your shop know how to do things
like:
- Greet drop-in patrons
- Work with them to diagnose and address mechanical issues, instead of
leaving patrons to their own devices
- Check in on patrons' levels of skill, and work with them
appropriately
- Balance putting-the-tools-in-their-hands to instructing them about
how to do repairs
- Balance granting them the freedom to fail while also guiding their
work
- Check out patrons' bikes for the ABCs of mechanical safety
- Check out patrons' bikes for the rest of things that can be wrong
- Intervene if unsafe bikes are about to roll out the door -- like
ones with no brakes connected
- Address issues of parts quality for recommending replacement versus
repair
- Embody anti-oppression ethics in their engagement with patrons
- Promote feminism in their engagement with patrons
Do we leave all this stuff to chance? We've all worked with mechanics in
community bike shops (sometimes in our own shops) who "don't get it" and it
sucks. What approaches do you have to help people learn how to "get it?" Or
do we all end up self-selecting for mechanically savvy, ethically woke,
naturally socially supportive young folks to bottom line our workshops? I'm
pretty confident that we have a better approach than leaving it to work
itself out -- so help me out: what do we got?
Josh
On Thu, Mar 9, 2017 at 8:08 AM, DancesWithCars <danceswithcars@gmail.com>
wrote:
send them to Bike!Bike! South East, even for the day.
Live in the culture may be better than lectured about it...
Hierarchy is difficult today get rid of, imnsho.
Differences between founders, board members,
paid staff, and volunteers isn't as much of a
coop as community shop.
Shared decision making,
not just ram thru an agenda
so that they can go drink.
Established places with history and traditions,
some written, is different from a startup.
Youth and other variations such as
mobile clinics at events like farmers markets,
tech supporting a group ride, etc give a
mini how it works, what's required, and
built in developing leading experience,
imnsho.
On Mar 8, 2017 8:34 PM, <cyclista@inventati.org> wrote:
I don't think we have the best system by far... But one thing I like about
our system is that we switch who gives volunteer orientation. It used to be
always the volunteer coordinator. That resulted in vital "how we work" info
consolidating in one person's head.
Great idea about switching around the orientation point person! I get a
little tired of always being the blurb-spewer (also very leary of being
seen as some kind of "owner" of the shop).
All of our volunteers are general shop/site helpers right now, so our
current orientation is pretty cursory: "Here's what we need today, and
here's what we need ongoing. Let us know where you're interested." We do
intend to create discrete positions in the near future though, so we'll
probably implement a list that interested people can choose from, and we'll
probably direct them to it at the end of introductions and let them get
back to us.
Ideally the list will have a lot of diversity in it to suit different
temperaments. Our emphasis at RIB (other than bicycles 9_9) is
empowerment/empathy/understanding through interaction/skill
sharing/education, so we tend to have a difficult time with volunteers who
lack, or lack an interest in, a strong set of interpersonal skills. One of
our ongoing challenges is to sort our workload, and in observance of
unavoidable diversity it is useful to do so with an eye toward the
volunteers inclined more toward solitude, who may prefer to quietly and
silently work on projects more or less asocially. You often only get things
done through volunteers - they are a huge part of your operation's
substance! It makes sense to design your machine with the nature of the
materials in mind.
I wonder if a program exchange or ambassador type thing would be something
to think about, for hands on insight and information exchange.
I'm for that. I remember old times when this sort of thing just kind of
happened accidentally, it was always great to exchange info. The main
obstacle here for us would be funding for travel; setting up some kind of
exchange fund for travel expenses would be the most important program IMHO.
Nicholas
co-director, Recycle Ithaca's Bicycles
Ithaca, NY
On 2017-03-08 17:54, Jean-François Caron wrote:
At the AMS Bike Co-op at the University of British Columbia we only
have formal materials for new board members. Our shop runs only with
paid mechanics, and non-board-member volunteers are not generally "in
charge" of the shop. At drop-in volunteer events the training is
ad-hoc, but for some volunteer events where we want more-qualified
volunteers we ask that they have been to a few drop-in nights first,
or have taken our cycling mechanics courses.
Our board member guide can be viewed here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dPiAsYuXLdoeuUlLBRTzevCw 7SUKjxvCP6qm71Q5xmg/edit?usp=s haring
<
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dPiAsYuXLdoeuUlLBRTzevCw 7SUKjxvCP6qm71Q5xmg/edit?usp=s haring
>
Additional links:
mechanical courses: http://www.bikecoop.ca/programs/workshops/
<http://www.bikecoop.ca/programs/workshops/ >
drop-in volunteer day:
http://www.bikecoop.ca/programs/wednesday-volunteer-day/
<http://www.bikecoop.ca/programs/wednesday-volunteer-day/ >
Disclaimer: I've been gone nearly a year, things may have changed
regarding volunteer training.
Jean-François
On Mar 8, 2017, at 11:43 , momoko saunders <analyst@bikefarm.org> wrote:
I don't think we have the best system by far... But one thing I like about
our system is that we switch who gives volunteer orientation. It used to be
always the volunteer coordinator. That resulted in vital "how we work" info
consolidating in one person's head. When we started sharing the
responsibility of orientation, it helped already core volunteers get a
refresher of the rules.
We also print out little info packs on how our org runs and basic things
one can do to volunteer.
Also, we read off our mission and safer space agreement at the beginning
of an orientation and talk about what that means in the shop.
-momoko
On Wed, Mar 8, 2017 at 6:35 AM, Andrew Shooner <ashooner@gmail.com
<mailto:ashooner@gmail.com>> wrote:
Nice! I was looking at your codebase, and saw the 'skills' it attaches to
volunteers. Cool idea. As we've grown, letting shift runners know who has
been checked out on what tasks (specifically mechanic and business-type
tasks) has been one of our challenges.
On Tue, Mar 7, 2017 at 4:12 PM, Matthew McMunn <matthew@therecyclery.org
<mailto:matthew@therecyclery.org >> wrote:
Andrew, Yes. We have a home made software system called VTracklery. In the
short term we will be adding features to the volunteer profiles to help us
with this. Our longer term goal is to get the whole system online. One of
our collective members has expressed interest in taking on this project as
her PHD research. I'll make sure she knows about this Think Tank
conversation.
On Tue, Mar 7, 2017 at 2:44 PM Andrew Shooner <ashooner@gmail.com <mailto:
ashooner@gmail.com>> wrote:
Matthew, that sounds great. Is there going to be a tracking/software
component to this pathway system?
Andy
Broke Spoke Community Bike Shop
Lexington, KY
On Tue, Mar 7, 2017 at 3:40 PM, Matthew McMunn <matthew@therecyclery.org
<mailto:matthew@therecyclery.org >> wrote:
The Recyclery in Chicago is working on "Developing Pathways for Volunteer
Success" this year. We are designing a "Volunteer Pathways" system. It
includes Volunteer Orientation, New Volunteer Training, "Choosing Your
Volunteer Pathway," and One on one mentorship to help a new person get
involved in their areas of interest. We are also working on developing a
"badge" system similar to this one: https://diy.org/skills <
https://diy.org/skills>.
On Tue, Mar 7, 2017 at 2:17 PM Tom Martin <tom@rosewoodbikes.org <mailto:
tom@rosewoodbikes.org>> wrote:
I'm interested in this as well.
So far, Rosewood Bikes has created Volunteer and paid staff positions
(guest mechanic; mechanic trainer; shop steward; social media; ride lead;
outreach/champion, etc.). Working on shop procedures and processes too.
Rosewood is developing a volunteer training initiative for the entire org,
and the community bike shop will need to have its own training.
I wonder if a program exchange or ambassador type thing would be something
to think about, for hands on insight and information exchange.
Tom Martin
Rosewood Bikes
Program Director
16126 SE Stark
Portland OR, 97233
Shop: 503-568-1938 <tel:(503)%20568-1938>
Personal: 510-996-8655 <tel:(510)%20996-8655>
On Tue, Mar 7, 2017 at 11:48 AM, Josh Bisker <jbisker@gmail.com <mailto:
jbisker@gmail.com>> wrote:
Give us your best shot: how do you train volunteers to work with patrons?
What's the foundation of the training, how's it go, and what makes your
approach sparkle?
Context: the Mechanical Gardens is building up momentum and I'm realizing
that our volunteer core has different levels of insight into how to help
and engage with patrons during open hours. The group has little-to-no
collective experience to draw from of what a community bike shop does and
how its staff or volunteers approach or conceive of their roles. I think
that a volunteer training might be a good way to establish a baseline of
expectations for working with patrons. In fact, I think we should have
someone else come and run it for us so it's not some weird hierarchy thing
where I'm telling everyone how to behave. (Anyone fancy a trip to NYC?) For
the meantime, we would benefit greatly from your collective wisdom about
shop roles and how to embody them.
xox - Josh
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