I wanted to share a quick update about the Woodshop Steward on Duty (SOD) program.
In the new year, the woodshop leads (@Johnvaughn and @Glory2God) and myself will be taking time to rethink and revamp how SOD works. The original goal of the program was to support newer woodworkers with equipment questions and general project guidance. In practice, however, SOD hours have largely become focused on tool maintenance, and since those times often overlap with peak woodshop use, the current format isn’t serving members as well as we’d like.
Because of this, we’ll be pausing Woodshop SOD times while we work on a version of the program that better meets members’ needs, but our volunteer stewards will still be around (and may even post when they’ll be available in the shop)!
Reminder that anyone can be a part of the volunteer program, no matter what your experience level, and that woodshop volunteers are absolutely crucial to keeping the space up and running.
Even if you aren’t an official volunteer, we always appreciate when people go above and beyond to help maintain our tools and do some extra cleaning (especially giving the dust collector a good shake out!). If you’re interested in helping out, a good place to start is the monthly Woodshop Volunteer Day. @Glory2God is there to lead the way and let you know what needs doing.
We’ll share updates once the revised SOD program is ready, but until then we’ll see you in the shop!
I’m definitely one of the people in reference here who spends volunteer time maintaining machines or building things for the shop rather than helping newer makers. I hope that doesn’t mean I’m part of a problem!
Does this mean that, for the time being, we should log our volunteer hours differently or not at all if we are doing maintenance on woodshop machines?
Nothing changes re:logging hours. The Woodshop SOD program was a specific weekly event intended to support newer members. It required volunteers to sign up and commit to a regular Saturday schedule, and over time it became increasingly difficult to reliably staff. That, along with the work being done during SOD hours not aligning with the original goals, is why we’ve decided to pause the program.
Maintenance is still welcome and encouraged at any time for anyone who has been given the go-ahead by staff and/or leadership.
In the new year, we’re hoping to develop a better approach that accomplishes two main goals:
Providing guidance and supervision for newer members in the woodshop
Keeping our equipment well maintained and safe to use
If anyone is interested in helping us achieve these goals, or is willing to provide feedback about the previous iteration of the program, please reach out!
The only reason I do maintenance during my SOD time is that I don’t want to be standing around until someone needs help. Even though I’ve had more interaction with members today than usual, those only last a few minutes each time. I’ll gladly pause any maintenance activity I’m in the middle of to help someone.
Which is exactly what we intended @sneezix! We just thought that it would be 80% member help and 20% maintenance. In reality it seems to be more like 90% maintenance and 10% member help, so something isn’t connecting.
The program originally grew out of a year of questions from newer members asking whether there was supervised shop time or someone specific they could reach out to for woodshop help. The SOD program hasn’t consistently reached those folks in the way we intended. Because of that, we’re planning to separate these goals into two distinct programs next year.
Maintenance
Maintenance can still be done at any time, and the shift-style model has clearly helped motivate folks to come in more regularly, which we really appreciate. Going forward, the plan is to offer more opportunities to sign up for maintenance shifts, along with additional training for members who want to help maintain the shop on a regular basis.
Member Support
This part is trickier, but we have some good ideas floating around. One option we’re exploring is monthly Woodshop Office Hours
The first half would function like a SIG, meeting in the MPR to talk shop and share knowledge.
The second half would be dedicated shop time, where members could book in the woodshop knowing a steward is available for guidance.
As with many programs at Asmbly, the challenges are familiar:
We need consistent volunteers
We need someone with the capacity to help develop and refine the program
And we need to communicate clearly and repeatedly that the resource exists
Despite sharing information through our event calendar, Discourse, newsletter, social media, orientation, and signage in the shop, we still often hear that members who didn’t know a program or resource existed.
TLDR: If any of this sounds like a fun, juicy problem to help solve, please talk to me. We’re always happy to have help, and I’m very down to throw spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks.
And in general THANK YOU for all that you do y’all!
I’m new to the wood shop and have been able to use the SOD resource once so far (and it was extremely helpful!) but it’s been tricky to schedule woodshop time during SOD hours due to high table demand on Saturdays. It might be easier to have sign a up for SOD assistance where one table is reservered specifically for that purpose during certain hours? I’m happy to provide feedback on accessing this resource if that’s helpful
That’s a good idea. Would there be a way to allow multiple people to sign up for the same table during the same hour? As well as a steward, so that they’ll know one will be available.
Right now, @Bees it sounds like your main challenge is access to SOD support during peak woodshop hours.
Would shifting SOD hours to a non-peak time (for example, Monday evenings) solve that problem? Or is there something else we’re missing? One ongoing constraint is volunteer availability. We don’t currently have a large pool of folks who can commit to regular SOD shifts.
While I have you here, I’m curious which of the following options you’d be most likely to use:
Buddy System
Get paired with a woodshop volunteer via Discourse who you can message with questions and occasionally coordinate in-person shop time, one-on-one.
Woodshop Office Hours
A monthly SIG for woodworkers to connect with each other, share their work, and help troubleshoot problems in a group setting. No scheduled shop time, but could naturally flow into the shop depending on discussion.
SOD (Reworked)
A version of the existing SOD program held during off-peak hours, potentially biweekly depending on volunteer interest and availability.
Or have I missed the point of your post completely?
An aside: I have been happy to assist people with the Small and Large CNCs via the Buddy System. I like meeting new people and assisting them with their first project on these tools after they have taken the class. I use the phrase “I backseat drive”, that is, they are hands on with the CNC controller and I am secondary as we talk through the steps together and they run the machine for their personal project.
I’d definitely use a buddy system. A reworked SOD with off peak hours would really depend on the hours, for example I’m not available after 4pm most days so an evening SOD wouldn’t work for me but probably would for others who work a 9-5. I wouldn’t attend a woodworkers SIG as that seems less one-on-one and more advanced than what I’m looking for.
Background on how I want to use the woodshop; right now my main focus is laser cutting but I’d like to become comfortable using some of the woodshop tools that compliment laser cutting such as spindle sander, router, table and band saw (I’d also really love to learn the CNC but can’t do evening classes).
I like the idea of a buddy system. Most of the time, people just need a quick 5-minute pointer to get unstuck.
I’m proposing we set up a designated “Steward Table” (maybe over by the new storage. ). if a Steward is working at that table, it’s a green light for anyone to stop by and ask a quick question. There would be clear signage and messaging on the table.
It would be unscheduled and informal but I have a feeling that lots of people would want to make themselves available, I know I would. We can make a slot in skedda for it. The stewards can still focus on your own projects and they would not log hours—you’re just making yourself available to the community while you work.
Ps. I know we don’t want to add skedda slots. It seems like we could simply some booking in other spaces. For example the industrial doesn’t need it’s own slot, it could be part of the general textile slots. That’s just one example.
What if instead of a dedicated table, we have a big sign that people are free to add to their workbench? Like the Asmbly sandwich board we use for the community social.
The reason being that I think the steward table will get filled by members looking for workspace. Sort of like how the artisan workbench becomes everyone’s auxillary space when the rest of the woodshop tables are occupied. Not saying that should happen, but I often see it being used that way.
We used to have a skedda slot for stewards, but no one used it and it wasn’t inuitive for members seeking help to look for that slot on the schedule. We could try again, but I feel like we will run into the same issue. @Kasper In this scenario, do you see yourself booking steward time in advance to give people notice?
I like the idea of a two pronged approach. Having the sign available so anyone can take up the steward mantle with ease, no extra tables or notice needed. Plus having a more formalized buddy system where we can pair up new folks seeking help with a go to member.
I’m not @Kasper , but I’d book time. I don’t spend much time at the tables (I’m usually at the CNC, machines, or glue-up table), but I would wear the STEWARD apron to differentiate myself.
I love the sandwich board idea! I would use it. What do we want it to say?
“Steward
Have questions? Ask me.”
This seems like very easy lift. I will see if anyone at the cnc sig wants to make it. If not I will.
Of course, it doesn’t solve the pre-scheduling piece.
​I usually book my slots a few hours to a half-day in advance because I like to jump between spaces and I want to avoid overbooking spaces I’m not using. However, if we had a designated Steward Slot, I could commit to that for my entire session 12+ hours ahead. Even if I’m working over at the CNC, I’m still available to answer questions.
​Is a 12-to-24-hour window enough lead time? No idea.
Plus, adding that extra slot in Skedda could have a sneaky side benefit of effectively increases the bookable capacity in the woodshop. It depends on what policys we put in place.
One idea I’ve had to help identify the SOD is to make an Asmbly logo T-Shirt with large SOD on the back of the shirt. I think will be more comfortable than a vest, and makes it easy to identify who’s on duty, or they just want to make themselves available while at Asmbly.
I think these ideas are moving in the right direction. I think people may not have taken advantage of the SOD program because they didn’t know about it, didn’t know what the yellow vest meant, and were hesitant to approach them. I’ve found people are hesitant to interrupt people in general, but are often even more reluctant to bother someone who is obviously doing some serious equipment maintenance, which is what the SOD’s usually defaulted to doing when no one approached them. So we need something that screams out “I am here to help you if you need it.” with an emphasis on “Yes, you can interrupt me!”.
