Staff Survey on More Hours

If we are to grow in size and time

Free Geek continues to grow. Sooner or later we will be unable to process the donations we receive. Theoretically we could respond in several ways. For instance, we could refuse to accept certain donations, we could move to a larger location, or we could open another branch.

But let's assume for the moment that we will do none of those things. Instead let us assume that we'll need to open for more hours. This would require more paid time on the schedule as well as more volunteer time.

This leads to several things that might need to change, affecting the overall character of Free Geek. This survey is an attempt to take a snapshot of what the current staff thinks about these options. It is not a formal decision, just a tool to gather information.

Most questions are prefaced with an introduction that we hope reflects the conversation so far. Feel free to add explanatory notes at the end of the survey. We will tabulate the results and publish them on the wiki.

Also, we're not asking where Free Geek should be in the very long run (though that is important to think about as background when you answer the questions). We are asking where Free Geek ought to go next (when we could afford to).

ALSO NOTE: The survey assumes something that we're not sure of, namely that if Free Geek grows we will be able to increase our income (and therefore our salaries) due to the economy of scale. This is something we are not at all certain of and further research is needed. (This survey is part of that research.)

Please read over the whole survey before answering the questions, since the scenarios affect each other.

-- C7, October 30, 2005

Your Name

Please write your name here: ________________________________

Open on an extra day?

In terms of cash income our peak days are Tuesdays and Saturdays. Saturdays is likely because of the weekend. Tuesdays is likely because we've been closed over the weekend and people who would have come in on Sunday and Monday are waiting until Tuesday. It is easier for many volunteers to come in on weekends. More people probably expect us to be open on Monday than on Sunday.

• If we were to open a 6th day, which one would be better?
  1. Sunday
  2. Monday
• Why? (be brief)

What would be open?

If Free Geek is open an extra day, we'd need to staff at least the basic necessities of the operation. Some example scenarios have been floated, but it seems likely we'd have to start out small and ramp up to full operations.

Remember that if we open for an extra day, it would not immediately pay for itself. It would take a while for people to even realize that we are open on the extra day. This means that the new day might initially be a fairly low stress day for the staff person on duty until the public catches on, giving us a little leeway in ramping up.

• Assuming we are incrementally working our way to the full operations scenario in three steps. Which programs should we staff first, second, and third? (Circle 1 for the things we should do first, 2 for the things we should do second, and 3 for the things that should wait until the end.)
  • 1 - 2 - 3 -- Adoption Classes
  • 1 - 2 - 3 -- Advanced Testing
  • 1 - 2 - 3 -- Build
  • 1 - 2 - 3 -- Front Desk
  • 1 - 2 - 3 -- Laptops
  • 1 - 2 - 3 -- Prebuild
  • 1 - 2 - 3 -- Printers
  • 1 - 2 - 3 -- Receiving
  • 1 - 2 - 3 -- Recycling
  • 1 - 2 - 3 -- Tech Support
  • 1 - 2 - 3 -- Thrift Store
  • 1 - 2 - 3 -- White Hole
  • 1 - 2 - 3 -- Other? ___________________________

More hours or longer days

Opening an extra day is not the only option for increasing our hours. We could also open earlier in the day. It might be more difficult to just open partially (i.e. just Build) earlier in the day than for an extra day. Opening two extra hours per day adds 10 extra hours per week. Opening one extra day adds 8 extra hours per week.

Current situation

Open 5 days a week 8 hours per day (total of 40 hours per week)

(Tue-Sat, 11-7)

• Which of the following options is better?

Longer Days option

Open 5 days a week 10 hours per day (total of 50 hours per week)

(Tue-Sat, 9-7, for example)

One more day a week

Open 6 days a week 8 hours per day (total of 48 hours per week)

(Mon-Sat, 11-7, for example)

• Why? (be brief)

What about holidays?

Free Geek currently is closed for many holidays. They are:

1. Days that most people expect us to be closed:
   • Thanksgiving Day
   • Christmas Day
   • New Years Day
   • Independence Day
2. Days the many people expect us to be open (especially if we're closed on the Saturday before the actual Monday holiday):
   • Martin Luther King Day
   • Presidents Day
   • May Day
   • Columbus Day
3. Days could arguably be put into either group 1 or group 2:
   • Labor Day
   • Memorial Day
   • Friday after Thanksgiving
   • Saturday after Thanksgiving

Rather than close on all holidays, many businesses remain open and pay their workers extra if they have to work on a holiday.

• On which, if any, of these holidays should Free Geek stay open, close down, or close early?
  1. Open - Close - Close Early -- New Years Day
  2. Open - Close - Close Early -- Martin Luther King Day
  3. Open - Close - Close Early -- Presidents Day
  4. Open - Close - Close Early -- May Day
  5. Open - Close - Close Early -- Memorial Day
  6. Open - Close - Close Early -- Independence Day
  7. Open - Close - Close Early -- Labor Day
  8. Open - Close - Close Early -- Columbus Day
  9. Open - Close - Close Early -- Thanksgiving Day
  10. Open - Close - Close Early -- Friday after Thanksgiving
  11. Open - Close - Close Early -- Saturday after Thanksgiving
  12. Open - Close - Close Early -- Christmas Eve
  13. Open - Close - Close Early -- Christmas Day
  14. Open - Close - Close Early -- New Years Eve

What about holiday pay?

• Assuming we can afford to do so and if Free Geek is open on some of the above holidays, should staff people who have to work that day be paid extra, and how much?
  1. No extra pay
  2. Time and a half
  3. Double time
  4. Other?

How much do you work?

Forget about how much you get paid for, how much is volunteer, and the oddball weeks where you work a whole lot or a very little.

• On a normal week, how many hours to you put in (on average)?
  • (write in number here): _____________

Maximum paid work week?

This is a complicated issue.

The Free Geek Staff Collective currently limits its workers to a maximum of 32 paid hours per week. (Most everyone on staff works more than that at some time or other, however.) Some staff people regularly work more than 32 hours a week, probably more like 40 (throwing in 8 hours per week of volunteer time). Other staff members stick fairly close to their paid hours (throwing in little volunteer time, except during major events, such as geek fair or the odd work party).

The Free Geek Staff Collective has an ideal of trying to keep the number of hours a person is required to work down to a more "sane" level than the 40 hours required by the mainstream work society. However, sometimes the "volunteer" work thrown in is necessary to the basic operations of Free Geek. This can create a situation where reality dictates that someone is put in (say) an additional 6-10 hours per week without getting paid for it.

If the Free Geek staff grows in number overhead becomes more of a cost. Two examples:

Health care benefits

Health care is a flat cost per person. The other costs are related to how many hours a person works. If we workers are paid for more time, their health care is still costing the same amount. Alternatively, if we hire a new person to work those extra hours, we have to pay another person's on health care benefits.

Communication

The more people there are on staff (at lower hours), the more people you need to communicate with via email, meetings, and face to face. The less people there are, the easier (and cheaper) communication becomes.

Alternatively, some things are probably easier with more people. Consider the example of filling a hole in the schedule. There are currently 12 people in the collective. If a quarter of them are sick or on vacation at once (3 people) then 9 remain, 7 of which are already on the floor doing something. That leaves the scheduler with only 2 people to fill a potential hole.

If people work less hours but there are more people, say 16 in the collective and one quarter are gone (4 people) that leaves 12 people available. We still only need 7 (or maybe 8) people on the floor leaving between 4 and 5 people available to fill the same schedule hole.

• If Free Geek were to pay for up to 40 hours per week (rather than the current 32) how many hours would you like to be paid for under current conditions?
  • (write in number here): _____________

• Assuming we had enough money to go around how many hours would you like to be paid for (no more than 40)?
  • (write in number here): _____________

Frequency of staff meetings

Full staff meetings currently happen once per week at Free Geek. Committee members involve less people and have been happening every two weeks (though the frequency is changing). If we were open an extra day (or more hours during the same five days) it would be more difficult to schedule a weekly time when we all could get together. This would mean that full staff meetings would have to happen less frequently and more autonomy would have to be given to the standing committees.

Less staff meetings and more focus on committee meetings doesn't necessarily mean more committee meetings. But it likely means that a few more people need to develop meeting facilitation and scribing skills.

• Assuming we are open for an extra day per week, which scenario do you think is best for Free Geek as we continue to grow?
  1. Weekly staff meetings. Someone has to come in on their day off each week.
  2. Staff meetings every other week. Someone has to come in on their day off two or three times per month.
  3. Monthly staff meetings. Someone has to come in on their day off one time per month with an occasonal extra meeting for hiring issues.
  4. Quarterly staff meetings. Someone has to come in on their day off four times per year with an occasonal extra meeting for hiring issues.

Additional comments

Add anything additional you have to say here.

Results: Staff Survey on More Hours Results