[Themaintainers] Big question - but looking for practical solution

[Erin Richardson]

Thank you to everyone for these fantastic suggestions!

This organization (it's a public observatory structured as a membership
organization) does a lot of public programs and they're really
overwhelmed with their tech boneyard. Maintenance is really the absolute
last priority for these very enthusiastic people Their basement is full of
telescopes, mounts, lenses, CPUs, tools, spare parts, a retired and
dismantled photography darkroom, and other parts and its
completely disorganized to the point where if they encountered a functional
problem with one of their telescopes-in-use, they couldn't even find a
replacement in their basement.

Members bring in personal equipment that just never goes home, or they
leave it there thinking that the organization will eventually use it for
something. They are NOT a museum - NYS has one of the only "regulatory
environments" for museums in the country and they really should not get
into the business of preserving this equipment - it should be transferred
to a more appropriate repository for use or preservation. Basically, I
don't think they understand that they're giving up a huge amount of usable
square footage to storage of equipment that will never have a purpose other
than occupying the space vacuum. I'm recommending that they:
1) Create and implement an equipment management and maintenance plan
(including an asset, out of service, and "scrap" tagging system)
2) Create and implement a "member personal property" agreement that allows
members to store items at the property only if the organization agrees -the
agreement must be renewed annually to ensure that the member is in good
standing and still wishes to store their stuff.

I love Varun's idea of Maintenance Days on a regular schedule - I can see
the organization really getting behind that.

And, I looked up the quote referenced by Joe its “You cannot overestimate
the unimportance of practically everything.” ― John Maxwell.

Thanks everyone for your great ideas!

Erin

 Erin Richardson, PhD
* Founder and Principal*
  C — 518.577.0186 | FrankAndGlory.com <http://frankandglory.com/>
(formerly Erin Richardson Consulting)
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ᐧ

On Mon, Apr 19, 2021 at 8:27 PM Varun Adibhatla (ARGO) <varun at argolabs.org>
wrote:

> Erin,
>
> My suggestion is to replace the "ad-hoc" culture of maintenance with a
> regular cadence of upkeep but also MAKING IT FUN!!!
> Maybe every Friday is Maintenance Day! where the scientists can take a
> break from their routines and socialize around maintaining the machines
> that serve them.
> Maybe they could extend the theme so that every Friday, they invite a
> Maintainer to teach them how to repair and maintain all sorts of stuff?
> (machines, body, mind)
> In the absence of local maintenance talent, maybe they can binge on some
> youtube videos that show how to repair and maintain all sorts of
> stuff? (machines, body, mind)
>
> I'd be happy to make a maintenance oriented youtube playlist for your
> mysterious science people working with what appears to be interesting
> equipment :)
>
> Hope this helps,
> Varun
>
> On Sat, Apr 17, 2021 at 2:43 PM Erin Richardson <erin at frankandglory.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Hello, maintainers!
>>
>> I normally work in the museum space where I work with maintenance and
>> preservation of cultural objects and associated metadata and systems.
>>
>> This time I have a project that involves equipment in use (or supposed to
>> be in use) and I'm looking for a maintenance plan framework for a very
>> small nonprofit organization without any kind of maintenance plan for
>> their equipment. They do "ad-hoc" maintenance and are very loathe to
>> officially retire anything because someone might be able to fix it some
>> day.
>>
>> However, their boneyard is impinging on their ability to fulfill their
>> public mission - a whole lot of square footage is consumed with broken
>> equipment, much of which has been in purgatory so long that it wouldn't be
>> redeployed even if repaired because it has been superceded by something
>> better.
>>
>> So, I'd like to direct them to some philosophy about maintenance that
>> focuses on planning and resource allocation for preventative maintenance
>> and repair, but also something that will help them know when it is ok to
>> enter equipment into hospice and let it die. These are science people, but
>> I'd prefer something not-too-technical. They're a fun and very smart bunch
>> with a basement full of what can only be described as recyclables at this
>> point.  Help please?
>>
>> Thank you!
>> Erin
>>
>>
>>  Erin Richardson, PhD
>> * Founder and Principal*
>>   C — 518.577.0186 | FrankAndGlory.com <http://frankandglory.com/>
>> (formerly Erin Richardson Consulting)
>>   —————
>>   Follow us on Linked In <https://www.linkedin.com/company/frank-glory/>
>>   Download my Contact Card
>>
>> <https://www.dropbox.com/s/dbj1inhmg27822n/ErinRichardson-FrankandGlory-vcard.vcf?dl=0>
>> ᐧ
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>>
>
>
> --
> Thank You,
> Varun Adibhatla
> Applied Research in Government Operations - argolabs.org
> 347-815-3383
>
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