Collective Insight
Hi everybody. At the Community Bicycle Network (Toronto) we're looking at moving from a top-down management model (one co-ordinator, three paid staff) to a more collective-based model. Question is, who among you are collectives? How are you structured and organized? What advice would you have for me? Thanks Chloé
we're looking at moving from a top-down management model (one co-ordinator, three paid staff) to a more collective-based model.
that's exciting to hear, chloé!
our shop is run collectively, though our situation is quite different,
since we have always been collectively run and we have no paid staff.
we have about 30 active volunteers, about a dozen of which have decided
they'd like to be more actively involved and are on the collective.
being a collective member for us basically means going to a monthly
meeting, where any significant decisions about the shop are made.
decisions are made by consensus, and we rotate the meeting chair and
minute-taker. collective members are also usually on one or two
subcommittees, which carry out the day-to-day shop business. the
permanent committees are:
- volunteer coordination (scheduling, volunteer orientations,
appreciation, food for meetings)
- finance (paying rent, replacing parts & tools, keeping records)
- workshops (finding people to teach a free monthly workshop, announcing it)
- space (improving our slummy digs, lighting, parts storage, plumbing,
painting, murals, etc.)
- outreach (networking with other community groups, soliciting donations)
- triage (sorting through bikes no one's worked on for a while, sorting
through parts bins)
we rotate the subcommittee positions every 6 months to year, though a couple people prefer to stick to one thing.
my general advice would be:
- learn from other groups in your city with experience in holding
meetings and making decisions non-hierarchically. see if there is someone reputable to give a workshop on consensus, if that's how you've decided you'd like to make decisions.
- don't be afraid to assign people specific tasks for a given period of
time, even if they bestow a certain degree of power (scheduling, etc.).
don't switch them every week lest people get disoriented and frustrated,
but try to rotate them at least every year, so that power doesn't get
entrenched, and people get a chance to learn different skills, and have
an equal share in whatever are considered the more rewarding jobs and in
the less rewarding jobs of running the shop.
- make a commitment to work toward mutual empowerment. things work so
much better if people keep this in mind, though it's not something you can force on people.
- make a commitment to pro-active respectful conflict resolution. of
course this is easier said than done... it actually makes things easier when there is a boss around to decisively resolve conflicts between people, though it certainly doesn't make things more just. it's good, though, if people make a conscious effort to address problems constructively between each other when they can. if they can't, they should be able to approach any other collective member they trust about whatever is making them uncomfortable, to get support in working through it, and all collective members should be aware they can go to each other for that. it also really doesn't hurt to have plans in place so that a skilled mediator can come in when things get even more ugly. we've only had to do this once, when several people had really significant frustrations about things that were happening in the space, but it really held together the shop's social fabric.
i hope that helps. good luck! macho
On 20-Jan-09, at 5:05 PM, Chloé Rose wrote:
Hi everybody. At the Community Bicycle Network (Toronto) we're looking at moving
from a top-down management model (one co-ordinator, three paid
staff) to a more collective-based model. Question is, who among you are collectives? How are you structured
and organized? What advice would you have for me? Thanks Chloé
Hi Chloe,
I'd heard through a friend that CBN needs to make some changes, so
the best of luck with that.
Our group has always been a collective, though we do have one paid
staff (me, and I only get a monthly honourarium). My role only came
about because we have small team of core volunteers, all of who have
full-time jobs (we also have about 300 casual vols.). I work as a
musician and have a lot more time flexibility, so I can nip in here
and there and get stuff done. Most of our core group have been
involved for over five years, and quite a few beyond that.
(And their dedication is great. The other week, during our stupid
transit strike, one of our guys cycled in from his job 22km away to
make his shift. He had to leave work an hour early to do so, and his
commute took twice as long due to all the motor traffic. And this is
during an Ottawa winter!)
I'm not a boss by any means - I just try to keep the group on track.
I don't direct the group in terms of pushing it where I think it
should go, but more just reminding the group what we collectively
decided to do, and then pushing them towards that. ;) But I do not
consider myself an employee (maybe legally, but not emotionally).
We're a team, and everyone's voice is heard, and mine carries no
extra authority.
I did the job as a volunteer for four years before asking for a
little compensation. And the compensation was mainly because I also
do a lot of the work that the group either shies away from or ignores
(because of time constraints, or the task is just not enjoyable). As
I'm sure most will agree, there's a lot of stuff that needs to be
done to keep a place from getting chaotic, whether it's just a messy
shop, financial issues, ongoing problems with shop users, or liaising
with other community organizations. And these cannot be ignored,
otherwise the enterprise can fail and all that time and goodwill
spent building it up went for naught.
And our way works for us - last year we finally moved to a much
better space, formed a partnership with another org. (they use our
shop during the day for training purposes), and all of our numbers
(income, bikes processed, volunteers, etc.) have steadily gone up.
So we're doing something right. Ideally a group will deal with
everything without needing someone "at the helm". We started like
that, but could not remain like that and succeed.
The coord. of another local group once told me "you don't get the
position because everyone lifts you up to it - you get it because
everyone falls away". And he meant that in a non-derogatory way. We
tend to want to enjoy what we do with our volunteer time. And so
it's quite natural when an org. is growing for vols. to start finding
out about the essential but not necessarily fun tasks, and not
offering to do them. They hope "someone else" will take care of
those things. With our group, I became that someone else.
To give an example: one of our longest-serving volunteers (more than
ten years) recently had to relocate to another Canadian city. He
used to tease me a bit about being anal retentive in my requests to
the group to keep things organized and follow our policies. Then he
started helping out in that city's community bike shop, and sent me
an email saying "sorry that I ever teased you. The shop here has
lots of volunteers and some great people, but it's a physical and
organizational mess!"
If a group can keep itself together by having everyone take
responsibility then they have reached a truly remarkable place. I
hope your group can reach that place.
(Your email came at an interesting time. We're about to incorporate,
and I have to write out, but thankfully not justify, my role. Hence
a perhaps more lengthy response than I had originally intended.)
Cheers, Mark Rehder - Director re-Cycles Bicycle Co-op http://re-cycles.ca
during our stupid transit strike
wait, you're interested in collectives, but you think workers self-organizing in their industry is stupid? or maybe i'm misunderstanding and you're saying the city/management is stupid, or the way it inconveniences people, or bureaucratic unions..? still, it would be nice to see more solidarity between different forms of workplace democracy.
macho
I think he thinks being inconvenienced is stupid, but when you're
marketing transportation alternatives, a disruption to the status quo
in the transportation industry can be a great opportunity for your
cause. It wakes people up to how much they rely on public
transportation, but also provides an opportunity for those of us who
help empower individuals to take control of their transportation needs
in economically and environmentally sustainable ways. We need public
transit, and the people who work in transit deserve adequate
compensation, but we also need personal transit, and hopefully bikes
are starting to look a lot more appealing than cars to fill that need.
A transit strike at the very least provides an opportunity to have
that conversation.
On Jan 21, 2009, at 10:38 AM, Macho Philipovich wrote:
during our stupid transit strike
wait, you're interested in collectives, but you think workers self- organizing in their industry is stupid? or maybe i'm
misunderstanding and you're saying the city/management is stupid, or
the way it inconveniences people, or bureaucratic unions..? still,
it would be nice to see more solidarity between different forms of
workplace democracy.macho
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.o...
But not a transit strike when it's thirty below and snowy. If it's a challenge to get people on bikes in the spring and summer, winter increases the difficulties. Let alone the increased car traffic from people who feel that cars are now their only option! Chloé
. Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network
-----Original Message----- From: Matt mattface@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2009 10:54:59 To: The Think Tankthethinktank@bikecollectives.org Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Collective Insight
I think he thinks being inconvenienced is stupid, but when you're
marketing transportation alternatives, a disruption to the status quo
in the transportation industry can be a great opportunity for your
cause. It wakes people up to how much they rely on public
transportation, but also provides an opportunity for those of us who
help empower individuals to take control of their transportation needs
in economically and environmentally sustainable ways. We need public
transit, and the people who work in transit deserve adequate
compensation, but we also need personal transit, and hopefully bikes
are starting to look a lot more appealing than cars to fill that need.
A transit strike at the very least provides an opportunity to have
that conversation.
On Jan 21, 2009, at 10:38 AM, Macho Philipovich wrote:
during our stupid transit strike
wait, you're interested in collectives, but you think workers self- organizing in their industry is stupid? or maybe i'm
misunderstanding and you're saying the city/management is stupid, or
the way it inconveniences people, or bureaucratic unions..? still,
it would be nice to see more solidarity between different forms of
workplace democracy.macho
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.o...
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.o...
True. In our climate some are saying transit should be an essential
service. And many questions are being asked about how city council
views public transit. Is it a major, viable part of the city
transportation plan, or just disposable add-on?
Our shop has only seen a minor increase in bike sales due to the
strike. We've certainly had regular winter cyclists in maintaining
their bikes, but it looks like most 3-season cyclists are either just
riding their regular machines, or walking / driving / carpooling,
with non-cyclists just doing the latter.
I rarely use public transit, as I prefer to bike everywhere year-
round, including often towing a trailer (with stuff in it, not
kids). The strike's drawback for me is the excessive amount of motor
traffic, and motorists doing asinine, dangrous things like driving on
a separate, raised section of bike path to get around other traffic.
Mark (adding to the topic hijack)
On 21-Jan-09, at 10:58 AM, winter.snowy.rose@gmail.com wrote:
But not a transit strike when it's thirty below and snowy. If it's a challenge to get people on bikes in the spring and
summer, winter increases the difficulties. Let alone the increased
car traffic from people who feel that cars are now their only option! Chloé. Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network
-----Original Message----- From: Matt mattface@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2009 10:54:59 To: The Think Tankthethinktank@bikecollectives.org Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Collective Insight
I think he thinks being inconvenienced is stupid, but when you're marketing transportation alternatives, a disruption to the status quo in the transportation industry can be a great opportunity for your cause. It wakes people up to how much they rely on public transportation, but also provides an opportunity for those of us who help empower individuals to take control of their transportation needs in economically and environmentally sustainable ways. We need public transit, and the people who work in transit deserve adequate compensation, but we also need personal transit, and hopefully bikes are starting to look a lot more appealing than cars to fill that need. A transit strike at the very least provides an opportunity to have that conversation.
On Jan 21, 2009, at 10:38 AM, Macho Philipovich wrote:
during our stupid transit strike
wait, you're interested in collectives, but you think workers self- organizing in their industry is stupid? or maybe i'm misunderstanding and you're saying the city/management is stupid, or the way it inconveniences people, or bureaucratic unions..? still, it would be nice to see more solidarity between different forms of workplace democracy.
macho
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
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 _______________________________________________ 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
Just in case anyone was wondering http://isthebusstrikeoveryet.com
Chris Wells (Head Mechanic & Email Handler)
re-Cycles Bicycle Co-op 477 Bronson Ave. Ottawa
info@re-cycles.ca http://www.re-cycles.ca/
--- On Wed, 1/21/09, Mark Rehder mark@drumbent.com wrote:
From: Mark Rehder mark@drumbent.com Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Collective Insight To: "The Think Tank" thethinktank@bikecollectives.org Received: Wednesday, January 21, 2009, 1:53 PM True. In our climate some are saying transit should be an essential service. And many questions are being asked about how city council views public transit. Is it a major, viable part of the city transportation plan, or just disposable add-on?
Our shop has only seen a minor increase in bike sales due to the strike. We've certainly had regular winter cyclists in maintaining their bikes, but it looks like most 3-season cyclists are either just riding their regular machines, or walking / driving / carpooling, with non-cyclists just doing the latter.
I rarely use public transit, as I prefer to bike everywhere year-round, including often towing a trailer (with stuff in it, not kids). The strike's drawback for me is the excessive amount of motor traffic, and motorists doing asinine, dangrous things like driving on a separate, raised section of bike path to get around other traffic.
Mark (adding to the topic hijack)
On 21-Jan-09, at 10:58 AM, winter.snowy.rose@gmail.com wrote:
But not a transit strike when it's thirty below
and snowy.
If it's a challenge to get people on bikes in the
spring and summer, winter increases the difficulties. Let alone the increased car traffic from people who feel that cars are now their only option!
Chloé
On 21-Jan-09, at 10:38 AM, Macho Philipovich wrote:
during our stupid transit strike
wait, you're interested in collectives, but you think workers self- organizing in their industry is stupid? or maybe i'm
misunderstanding and you're saying the city/management is stupid,
or the way it inconveniences people, or bureaucratic unions..?
still, it would be nice to see more solidarity between different
forms of workplace democracy.macho
I have no issue with the strike in principle - it's a legal strike by
a certified union. In this one neither side is going to come out of
it looking good, the City in particular.
Mark
participants (6)
-
Chloé Rose -
Chris Wells -
Macho Philipovich -
Mark Rehder -
Matt -
winter.snowy.rose＠gmail.com