Staffing a makerspace really depends on the size and administrative model. A general rule of thumb is that the larger the space, the more staff required. Bolt, a Boston 10,000 SF makerspace, has 8 full-time staff. Maker Works a 30,000 SF makerspace has 2 full time staff, plus 8 part – time as well an executive management team. Some spaces like Hacker Dojo, require members to spend some time running and maintaining the facility and others like MakeIt Lab have only one staff member.
One type of staff member all makerspaces seem to have are instructors. Instructors can be paid between $30-150 per course. Some makerspaces offer members a discount if they are willing to teach a class, in lieu of paying instructors.
All makerspaces require someone to fill the following roles, whether they are performed by one person, specialists, contractors, volunteers or members. These are, in order of importance:
- CEO/Director – responsible for the company vision, organization and business strategy
- Financial Manager – aka accountant and tax specialist
- Facilities Manager -performs regular repairs and maintenance of the space and tools
- Development – brings new business and help grow the organization. May also be responsible for marketing
- Services Coordinator – responsible for greeting members, providing a point of contact, answer phones, email, social media; may also be responsible for volunteer coordination.
- Marketing Coordinator – responsible for marketing, website, promotion, social media publicity etc.
- Program Developer – design classes and curriculum
- Instructors – prepare and teach the classes
Discussion: If you were starting a makerspace, which functions would you consider vital and who would perform them? (Note: this may tie in to your administrative model and type of makerspace)
Discussion Summary: Based on the ETEC522 2013 Winter Term 1 cohort discussion regarding vital functions in a makerspace and who would perform them, the following points were raised:
- The scope and aim of the makerspace will in part determine which functions are vital
- The maturity (proximity to release date) of the products under development in the space will also impact the requirements.
- Specialist are always a valuable resource, such as specialists in areas of finance, management and staffing
Please view the cohort experience in the comments below. If you are accessing this OER after November 3, 2013, you are welcome to further contribute to the discussion.
| ←Last Page |
Much like the previous two questions, this one really depends on the scope and aim of the makerspace. A small space that is simply meant to be a communal workspace could survive without instructors of program developers, and could make due with a smaller multi-faceted team of administrators and managers. For a large makerspace such as some of the companies you have features, an entire team is really necessary. For-profit enterprises will want to focus especially on marketing and growth, so Financial mangers and services coordinators would be very important to the continued success of such a company.
I agree that scope and aim will be important factors in the size and expertise required for each makerspace. The maturity (proximity to release date) of the products under development in the space will also impact the requirements.
Specialist are always a valuable resource, regardless of the size of scope of the Makerspace. Having specialists in areas of finance, we design (web or otherwise), management and staffing are all necessities when wanting a run a successful venture.
As a follow-up to your comment on the web design requirements I’m interested in the group’s opinion on additionl technical specialists who could contribute to makerspace operations. An example could be supply chain management expertise. Any other thoughts?