Hi Everyone,
Here are some of the possible solutions that were put together by participants during the Safe and Effective Shop Operations Workshop. Thank you for your patience with me getting these out while I finish my last Masters class.
These are based around the three categories of Volunteer Management, Capacity for Providing Services, and Safe operations. It considers what services can be offered, the activities involved, and the cultural context.
*VOLUNTEER MANAGEMENT*
*More emails for volunteers *
- Separate from full list
*Sending home bikes for repair with experienced volunteers*
- Distributive model: have "certified" volunteers who can do some
repairs/ bike distribution in their neighborhoods - Being okay doing less, but with more effort - Different volunteers have different comfort/saftey levels. Making sure the most vulnerable/concerned are protected - Tool Library
- *Assigned Contributions*
- People used to be able to choose where they wanted to contribute
but choices are limited due to health/safety and various concerns/needs around what health and safety is
*ORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITY FOR DELIVERING SERVICES*
- *Fixing bikes for people without fees* (fundraiser helped)
- No more than three mechanics opposed to 8. Fourth person is the
greeter or bouncer. - Limited advertising for fear of being overwhelmed
*Come back to mission statement for guidance or to pivot*
*Online live classes*
- Focus on certain aspects of bike such as derailleur adjustment,
etc. - Alternative to Zoom: Jitsi <- open source, Google Meet (These all have call-in function with regular phone) - Online is easy for people with means to reliable internet and smartphones / computer
- *"Zoom Shift" *
- Open q&a time for community members
- Podcast has a lower barrier to access than Zoom?
- concerns about equity - some ppl have more access and
understanding of online tools than others
*SAFE SHOP OPERATIONS*
- *Offering pay-for-service repairs rather than DIY*
- With transit shut down in some places, more people are biking.
- Dr & Nurses get a discounted rate.
- Cleaning in evening.
- Sanitizing rentals between customers. Or let them sit for a few
days. - repair service can be on sliding scale
*Only key volunteers allowed in shop*
- Not accepting new volunteers
*Programming changes*
- Summer camp canceled or reduced
People are worried about what's happening and what's going to happen in future / fall. Especially in the US. That's totally understandable. It might be best if your organization spent an hour or two building scenarios of what the future might look like to assist with planning. Here's an article talking about how to do it https://www.wired.com/1995/11/how-to-build-scenarios/. Please reach out if you have any questions.
Hang in there. You've all got this.