On the Topic of Role Ambiguity

Okay, since the other thread is locked, how about we discuss role ambiguity here?

For those that don't know what that means, or can't take apart the two individual words, it simply means "when a role is not properly defined".

Now, here at the TotJO, we have a entire page of the FAQ dedicated to the roles and their description. You'd think that would remove all role ambiguity. This person is in charge of this, this, and that, and that person is in charge of there, here, and over there. Easy, right?

Apparently not, so here we are having this discussion on role ambiguity.

If someone is in charge of something, especially volunteers (took an entire class on the subject of volunteer management this semester, and this was a huge part of it, establishing clear and defined roles). If a volunteer feels they have no real role, or they're confused as to their role, they will not stick around. And those that leave, in a volunteer setting, leave and won't come back to volunteer their time again.

This place seems to have some troubles as to establishing where people's volunteer jobs end and another person's begins. Leaves a lot of toes to end up being stepped on.

So, why does this place have trouble with reading through job descriptions and funnelling tasks related to the job to the person in charge of it? And how can we ensure that, in the future, this doesn't become a problem?

Thank you Arisaig for this discussion. It's a justified concern. I hope that your questions can lead to some good ideas.

I would just like to ask, apart from the librarian position, have there been any other positions that have had this to be concerned about?

I think the biggest cause of the recent issues is where jobs overlap. It happens in a few areas of the Temple. Mods overlap clergy. Admins overlap mods. I think if there is conflict between people regarding this overlap, the two involved should have a meet and figure out how they want to handle it. They are the concerning parties. If they want to propose new lines then the Council is always open to hear it.

Proteus wrote: I would just like to ask, apart from the librarian position, have there been any other positions that have had this to be concerned about?

As I'm only an Apprentice, there is a lot of this place I cannot see. So I cannot say with certainty. But if it can happen with one position, it can happen with any position. So, if I may, let me make a comparison.

What happens to those that start teaching people unofficially? They get in trouble. Slap on the hand, warning, maybe even banned. That is because we have a clear, defined role for the role of Teaching Master. The role of TM is, also, a volunteer position (as people keep reminding me). So when a similar infraction is made on another position, why is there no repercussions? TotJO just lost a volunteer from a very limited pool because people could overstep them without any problems.

JLSpinner wrote: I think the biggest cause of the recent issues is where jobs overlap. It happens in a few areas of the Temple. Mods overlap clergy. Admins overlap mods. I think if there is conflict between people regarding this overlap, the two involved should have a meet and figure out how they want to handle it. They are the concerning parties. If they want to propose new lines then the Council is always open to hear it.

I can understand some things overlap. Their jobs outline that both can do certain things (mods, security officers, ect, all have ability to, say, lock a thread). But when one job has something specific to it (ex, Librarian position is in charge of keeping the library up to date, putting new material there, ect), and someone oversteps into their job territory, the role loses meaning.

Arisaig wrote:

Proteus wrote: I would just like to ask, apart from the librarian position, have there been any other positions that have had this to be concerned about?

As I'm only an Apprentice, there is a lot of this place I cannot see. So I cannot say with certainty. But if it can happen with one position, it can happen with any position.

So then, apart from what happened with that one position, is this just a theoretical concern because of this instance?

If I could just ask others here who are in other offices that cant be seen: Do any of you have any concerns about this happening as well? Do you think this is something worth looking into? :dry:

I'm sorry for what happened. Clearly Zenchi took more offense to the situation than I understand. I wish it hadn't happened the way it did. He was a good volunteer. But I don't see how someone updating EDU articles invalidates him as a volunteer, a librarian, or as useful.
We do have a limited pool of volunteers here. That's very true. That's one of the reasons overlap is going to be hard to avoid. We are service oriented. We help each other out. I'm just sorry that helping and saving work can be seen as an offense of such a grotesque nature.

Proteus wrote:

Arisaig wrote:

Proteus wrote: I would just like to ask, apart from the librarian position, have there been any other positions that have had this to be concerned about?

As I'm only an Apprentice, there is a lot of this place I cannot see. So I cannot say with certainty. But if it can happen with one position, it can happen with any position.

So then, apart from what happened with that one position, is this just a theoretical concern because of this instance?

If I could just ask others here who are in other offices that cant be seen: Do any of you have any concerns about this happening as well? Do you think this is something worth looking into? :dry:

I gave an example of this happening in another role...

JLSpinner wrote: I'm sorry for what happened. Clearly Zenchi took more offense to the situation than I understand. I wish it hadn't happened the way it did. He was a good volunteer. But I don't see how someone updating EDU articles invalidates him as a volunteer, a librarian, or as useful.
We do have a limited pool of volunteers here. That's very true. That's one of the reasons overlap is going to be hard to avoid. We are service oriented. We help each other out. I'm just sorry that helping and saving work can be seen as an offense of such a grotesque nature.

That's not what happened, and you know it. Please don't talk down to me.

I also, previously in this thread, gave where the infraction happened, it's not a matter of overlap. Something that should be ONLY for the librarian was taken by another. This is not even the first time this has happened for that position alone. But this thread is not to debate what happened to Zen, this is to talk about Role Ambiguity.

I assure you I would never talk down to you Ari. What was the infraction? I've only been made aware of the Edu updates.