Discussion Topic: Split Operations into multiple roles?

[Moheeb Zara]

Theres been some conversation around making operations into multiple roles.

Generally its meant more as a role of delegation where operations shouldn't try to "do it all" but rather lean on community as much as possible but shoulder any responsibilities that aren't otherwise handled.

However the sentiment (and I am inclined to agree) is that the IT role of operations is in itself an undertaking. While as stated operations should rely on delegation and inspiring/enabling others to do the neccesary work, more often than not it does end up being a task thrust upon them. 

So it probably makes sense to split it into a dual position (in the same vein of Champion being two person role). I think this would also prevent operations from feeling like a nebulous role with varied scope. It would also prevent one person from becoming a bottleneck or causing them to take on so much because they could not effectively delegate. Not only would they share the load but keep eachother accountable where their responsibilities/concerns might be shared. 

Thoughts? Comments? Concerns? Memes? Redditor style pontifications? All manner of retort are acceptable, this is a discussion not a proposal 

[David Lang]

I agree that the role is too large for one person.

I tried to raise this issue several months ago

leaning on the community for assistance can be good, but it can also be a
problem if the community member becomes de-facto in change without being
selected by the community or the community having a way of replacing them
(especially in cases where a lot of the work ends up interating with outside
entities, vendors/landlord/etc)

authority and responsibility/accountability need to match

The skill sets needed for IT and for maintinance of the facilities are different
enough that a person having both sets is uncommon compared to the number of
people who are good in one or the other.

My question to everyone is if this is the right split of the work, or if it
needs to be split even more?

David Lang

[Cprossu]

I think it would be a giant step in the right direction just to separate IT from the rest of the responsibilities. Even delegating as much as I could during my stint in operations the best I could ever do was put out fires and keep the ones I couldn't put out from getting bigger. While I was not expecting to have time for any of my own personal projects, what I wasn't counting on was not having time to improve anything, enact plans I had to upgrade lab infrastructure, hardware, and centralizing software and linux deployment/dual boot visions while migrating legacy software to newer systems (and software if possible) I had prior to taking the role. There were far too many distractions!

[Darrell Wertz]

We have always wanted to do this but filling the positions was difficult due to lack of participation. If we can get the people to do it, I’m all in.

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[Malak Janus]

If we could split off IT/web/data I'd happy put my name in for that role. The prospect of shouldering the responsibility for building/maintenance as a part of operations has been a major dissuading factor for me in the past because I don't have the skillset for that. IT though? 😎

That said, I firmly don't believe that IT should be seated under Operations. They're just not the same thing. Within IT "technically" could also sit things like marketing, outreach, social media, event/volunteer coordination, everything related to data collection & sharing, card access, etc. There's some overlap with Operations, but also with literally every other seat. IT is a supportive role that should be answerable to not just "The Board" -- but also all of membership in general.

Malak

[Linda Krecker]

Well, what is currently in Operations?  Malik and others identified a wide variety or Operations jobs. 

In this discussion the following has been identified: IT/web/data, building/maintenance, marketing, outreach, social media, event/volunteer coordination, everything related to data collection & sharing, card access, etc. 

A lot of these really aren’t IT or maintenance but things a marketer might do. 

I agree a split is necessary and would be beneficial to the space but a clear idea of what each job entails would be helpful in making this happen. 

Linda S K Brett, Ph.D.

Artist  |  Educator

Designing Art Studio

The Art Doc 

Linkedin

botan...@gmail.com

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[David Lang]

Linda Krecker wrote:

> Well, what is currently in Operations?

from the bylaws:

Operations: The Office of Operations shall be responsible for the oversight of
HSL operations and delegation of operational tasks to HSL volunteers.

it seems to be viewed as being responsible for all HSL infrastructure

* building (power, water, AC, paint, doors, roof, windows, etc)

* all IT infrastructure (as mentioned above)

* if there is a station that has no champion, Operations ends up having to pick
it up to at least keep it from being a safety hazard

It's a huge amount of work.

David Lang

[Cprossu]

Back when the space was tiny, the interests were less varied, and there were fewer people involved day to day and in total, the old Operations position made a lot of sense. I feel that the size of the job and responsibilities have increased proportionately at least to the physical square footage we utilize since we were founded, if not more.