Coordinator Liaison

Page last edited 2,443 days ago
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What is the Role?

This role is an overview position responsible for maintaining a functioning coordinating collective. This means making sure we have a full team of coordinators that are able to do their roles, both in the short term, from week to week, and in the long term from semester to semester. Additionally, it involves being a contact point between Directors and Coordinators.

There is no shop shift required for this role, as it is more involved and time intensive than many other coordinator roles. It is important, however, that the person has regular contact with the store. Two hours a week (optimally on Thursday), plus contact as needed, is a minimum.


Why is this role important?

The role of coordinator liaison is integral to the health of Thoughtful Foods. It helps make sure that we have a complete and functioning team of coordinators that are able to operate effectively from week to week, and it also helps make sure that the co-op's aims are met over the long term. It is important in ensuring coordinators feel confident, capable, and supported in what they are doing.


Timeline: Crucial dates throughout the year

The basic timeline for recruitment and training is below:


Semester One

  • For the first two weeks run check-ins with new coordinators to make sure they are settling into their role.
  • Start looking for potential coordinators for the following semester
  • Run coordinator check-ins for coordinators (with the help of directors) around week 10


Winter Break

  • Run training session for new coordinators (invite directors) – should schedule for end of Sem 1?


Semester Two

  • For the first two weeks run check-ins with new coordinators to make sure they are settling into their role.
  • Start looking for potential coordinators for the following semester
  • Run coordinator check-ins for coordinators (with the help of directors) around week 10


Summer Break

  • Run training sessions for new coordinators (invite directors) should schedule for end of Sem 1?


Tasks

Daily

  • Read and answer emails: info@thoughtfulfoods.org.au


Weekly

  • Attend the coordinator meeting.
  • Read all emails going through the management e-list,
  • Ensure the shop shift roster for the coming week is filled
  • Keep an eye on coordinator activity (both in-store, and in the time they commit to roles),
  • Quickly respond to and resolving any issues with coordinators performing their role effectively
  • Approach and give positive feedback to coordinators doing well as needed.
  • Check for and collect written mail weekly from ARC office & UNSW Mail Centre
  • Check Nationbuilder for potential volunteers to contact & follow up with. (This may be a Volunteers coordinator role)


Monthly

  • Attend the monthly Directors' meeting – raise issues from coordinating collective and then report back on directors meeting to the coordinating collective.


Each Semester

  • Run initial training, and oversee role handover,
  • Fill in coordinator training checklist & coordinator info forms
  • Create a roster for shop shifts for the semester
  • Update hard copy of coordinator emergency contacts to keep in the first aid kit.
  • Update hard copy of coordinator & director contacts in store
  • Help new coordinators settle in their positions.
  • Run check-ins.


Ongoing Responsibilities


Monitoring coordinators:

  • Being available to coordinators for support with concerns they have about their role.
  • Ensuring coordinators are adequately trained & organising additional training on request (and/or when needed)
  • Keeping in touch with directors, responding to director decisions and passing on relevant information to coordinators
  • Ensuring meetings are running smoothly – people are attending, performing meeting roles adequately, completing action items in a timely manner
  • Having conversations with individual coordinators about what their role needs to achieve over the long term, making sure they understand the importance of their role, monitoring their progress in meeting agreed goals.
  • Making sure that coordinators are working sustainably so that long term goals aren't sacrificed because people burn out too early.
  • Ensure that coordinators are keeping their respective role description up to date.
  • Manage key register - keep track of who has keys for the shop and make sure only people who need keys have them.


Recruitment related:

  • Planning ahead to ensure we will have a full coordinating team in the coming months and semester.
  • Organising recruitment drives to find replacement coordinators when a vacancy is forseen (whether it be next week or next semester). NOTE - Recruit as solidly as possible. Quality over quantity matters. Try and find people suited to key roles, and make sure they are willing to take on the responsibility in the long-term. (This may require several conversations.)
  • Ensuring adequate role handover between outgoing and incoming (replacement) coordinators


Other:

  • Ensure shop has adequate stationery, paper, cleaning products, tea towels & other general supplies required to keep the shop running smoothly


Further detail and advise on performing this role effectively

The role falls into two broad categories:

It is reactive in that it involves reacting to problems as they arise. Troubleshooting things like roster issues, systemic issues (i.e. if communication isn't effective throughout the week, what can be done to fix it?), and dealing with any people problems (i.e. picking up when coordinators are dropping the ball and trying to find a cause for the issue and a solution that is workable. This might mean having a conversation about capacity, reminding the coordinator of their responsibilities, or perhaps even discussing if the coordinator is able to continue with the coordinator workload).


It is proactive in that it involves making sure the foundations are in place for coordinators to work effectively throughout the year. On a very basic level this means keeping the store well stocked in basic equipment during the year. It also means making sure up-front training is effective, comprehensive and done when needed. It is also about conducting check-ins with coordinators in a timely manner (generally once a week for a few weeks at the start of a new semester, and perhaps more frequently, or for longer, if they are new). This ties into the fact that it is also the coordinator liaison's responsibility to understand the wider context of what is happening at the store as much as possible, so that potential problems can be dealt with before they arise.


It is also proactive in that it is about making sure that the bigger picture timeline is remembered. This means having a clear idea of the co-op's aims for the year, where there is room for improvement, and formulating a plan for helping the coordinators and volunteers achieve everything that needs to be achieved. This is why director contact is so important for this role. The larger context for the cooperative's goals needs to come from them, and so having clear and coherent communication happening between directors and the coordinator liaison is vital.


The coop is an expression of the community that runs it. The person in this role should empower the coops membership to execute and deliver on the change that they seek. Person in this role needs to embody the values of the cooperative, use them as guiding principles and use them to facilitate agreement between the other coordinators.


Wiki editing responsibility

The CL coordinator is responsible for keeping this role description & the pages under category:Coordinator Liaison up to date. See the link below.