ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
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Hello Preeti,

Maybe these folks are just being 'thoughtful,' allowing visitors time to 
gather around before beginning a demonstration. I don't think I've ever 
seen an ASTC session that started on time - even my own. We always give 
the stragglers a few minutes to settle in.

Or maybe, that as 'casual' employees, they're doing their jobs as 
described - casually. In a way it's comforting for me to see that people 
can act like people and not like machines. But, you may not like this 
slowly slipping schedule, which can admittedly cause chaos down the 
line. I assume firing is not an option because these people perform 
important tasks through out the museum and you need them. Let me tell 
you of a very important lesson I learned from one of my employees when I 
was a supervisor at your very same New York Hall of Science.

This guy was a talented craftsman and he did beautiful work, when he had 
worthwhile work to do.  But when he had crappie little filler projects 
assigned to him he wouldn't show up for days at a time, sometimes 
without even a phone call. When I asked him about it, he told me he had 
a little balance scale in his head. When the benefits of coming to work 
favored him, he came in. When the balance did not favor him, he did 
something else.

I realized I also had a balance in my head. In his case, the quality of 
the work he did for the Hall when he did come in outweighed the loss of 
work when he didn't. This was a brilliant revelation for me. I think the 
guy deserves a Noble Prize in economics. Isn't it like that for all of 
us? The sum of the benefits of doing a job have got to outweigh the 
negative aspects or we wouldn't show up. And it is the same with these 
casual employees

Obviously, the two sides have found a balance point. You're annoyed by 
their tardiness but not quite annoyed enough to fire them. They tolerate 
the work but don't love it quite enough to be worried by being fired or 
being on time

The solution to me seems obvious. You have to increase the benefits of 
being employed to the point where they will care about being let go. 
Benefits could include higher pay, but that's not the only benefit you 
have to offer. You could also offer them more responsibility, greater 
respect and more interesting assignments. Find a way of making the job 
more valuable to them and they will likely do a better job for you.

These people are your institution's interface with visitors. Though 
often the lowest paying position on staff they are likely to have the 
biggest impact on the visitor experience, perhaps more so than the 
exhibits they help interpret or the demonstrations they perform. 
Personally, I think it takes a very special person to do this kind of 
job well. Think of it, a director or a couple of department heads can be 
'no-shows' for days on end and that doesn't affect the visitor at all. 
Have a few floor staff call in sick and it's a nightmare on 111th Street.


Joe R.



Preeti Gupta wrote:

> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related 
> institutions.
> ***************************************************************************** 
> 
> 
> Hi everyone,
> 
> We are experiencing a problem getting our casual staff to start their  
> demos on time. Sometimes they are running from one post to another,  but 
> other times, they have a warped sense of what it means to start a  demo 
> on time. They have been clearly instructed that they must report  to 
> their post 10 minutes before its scheduled start time, but they  just 
> don't care. I have tried discipline, positive reinforcements,  morale 
> boosting talks, responsibility talks, it looks bad on "me"  talks, and 
> staff will shape up for a day or two, but then it reverts  back to old 
> ways.
> 
> Does anyone have any advice on how to get about 150 college students  to 
> get to their posts 10 minutes early? (Assume they are not running  from 
> a different post.)
> 
> 
> Preeti Gupta
> Vice President for Education
> New York Hall of Science
> 47-01 111 Street
> Queens, NY 11368
> P. 718.699.0005 ext. 349
> F. 718.699.5227
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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> More information about the Informal Science Education Network and the
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-- 
ÐÏࡱá

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