Introduction
Makerspace is an amazing place to come and make friends and things.
Just like any other organisation it needs lots of energy, time and effort to make it work.
Volunteers are running inductions, cleaning the laser cutter, buying solder for the electronics bench, moderating the website, planning events, buying the loo roll and much much more…
In the last meeting it was suggested that we create a Jobs Page to advertise Jobs that need doing. It received a positive response from the members and directors in the room.
So, it’s probably worth us giving it a go…famous last words…
Why have a Job Page?
- We need a lot of help from members to keep the space going and improving.
- Members old and new don’t always know we need help or how to help
- People don’t always want to make a commitment of becoming a tech or don’t think they have the skills to take on such a big role
- People lead busy lives and maybe only have an hour or so to complete a simple task for the space.
- A tech may need help but not know who to ask.
- Sometimes Techs step down and need replacing
- We don’t always know what skills and time are on offer outside of the core group
- It’s all about communication!
What does the ‘job’ in ‘job page’ mean?
A ‘Job’ can refer to either a ‘role’ [like a Textiles Tech] or a ‘task’ [like changing a light bulb].
This is an opportunity to revitalise areas and think about ‘Jobs’ in a new way. For example, maybe we need to restart our Marketing Department? Does any one want to run our Instagram or Facebook accounts? Could we be doing other promotional work? Should they be organising open days? Do they need a Marketing Manager? Are there small one off tasks that need doing? Organising a movie night? Organising a “fix your toaster event” for local people to attend??
Example Roles (just examples):
- Marketing Manager
- Events Manager (Xmas party/ Spring Clean / Summer party / other event organiser)
- Data analyst
- Web Master
- Fixer
- Systems Manager
- Systems Support
- Inductions Researcher (Research how other makerspaces do this and report back to the community)
- Inductions Project Manager (Manage a project in an area and report back to directors)
- Pillar drill inductor (trained and approved by a tech / induct members on this tool)
- Social Media Manager
- Social Media Contributors
- Instagram Poster
Example Tasks (just examples):
- Clean the laser cutter on 1st Tuesday of the month
- Fix the electronic table draws
- Find a new contractor for waste disposal
- Order food and drinks for xyz event
- Clean the woodwork shop on the 1st of July every year
- buy vegan food for summer party
- Do the tax return
- Sharpen XYZ tools
- Write pillar drill risk assessment
- Write drill induction
Won’t it be an admin burden?
Maybe! But hopefully not. It’s supposed to help us communicate when things need doing, not add to our list of burdens. It’s about delegation - passing on the responsibility of day to day tasks to someone who has the time or an interest in sharing what they know or learning something new. You could learn / bring / share real skills that are transferable to the real world or your CV? Or maybe just get some satisfaction from helping out other members.
Will it work?
Who knows? Maybe? Is it worth a try? And if it doesn’t, we will at least have a list of areas where we need help and potentially have a better understanding of where issues lie. It probably won’t work perfectly right away, but we might learn some useful stuff along the way.
NEXT STEPS
1. Feedback wanted
So first step, let’s get some feedback from the wider community:
- Do you have any suggestions?
- Have you got a good example of this working somewhere else?
- Can you think of any Jobs that could be added?
- Have we missed anything?
Post away!
2. A fun project for someone
Secondly, we will shortly be posting SLMS’s first Job Ad - asking for a developer to work on this project. Starting as we mean to go on!