Hands-off Assisting Approach
Iowa City Bike Library
2019
Compiled knowledge from various community bike shops for administering empowering guidance in bike repair and care to each other, patrons, and community.
At the Bike Library there are hundreds of micro interactions that happen each shift between volunteers and patrons. During program hours, and at Rent-a-Bench especially, we are called upon by our peers and patrons to assist in providing nuggets of education that build our knowledge of the beautiful art of bicycle maintenance and repair. A Hands-off Assisting Approach means that the person giving guidance is not doing any sort of repair, and the person who’s bike is in question is doing all the hand-on wrenching.
Each interaction is an opportunity to empower our patrons and other volunteers! They want to learn how to repair their bike; you can teach them how. While using a hands-off approach to help someone learn a new skill can be challenging, it benefits both parties, and is a good way to meet our shared goal of empowerment through education. It helps us learn to pause. Reflect. Hunt for the best words to describe the anatomy/process/tool/task. Describe the tools, the turns, use a pointer, and, especially, clear words. We are challenged to talk people through actions. The hands doing the repair should be the volunteer or patron who’s bike is being wrenched on. It is not about demonstrating how skilled you are, but rather to best pass that skill on to another. And we can learn so much about ourselves from exchanging knowledge this way.
It starts out, “Hey, have you seen this before?”; “I’m not sure how to do this.”; “Could you help me figure this out?” Although it is tempting to reach in and do it for them, this is not how our patrons learn. We can avoid disheartening effects of doing even micro repairs for others by prioritizing the ways in which we assist/educate: use a hands-off approach; demo the process on a different bike; demo a process on the bike in question but, reverse it completely, putting all the tools away and leaving the person to self-pilot. Sometimes this requires us to ask the person to describe what’s going on and then listen to what they want to do and have maybe tried already.
We are proud to offer this kind of hands-off guidance as we strive toward creating a space in which all who want a bicycle, who want to learn how to ride, and/or want to learn bicycle repair are welcome. Our goal is to foster an atmosphere that accommodates bicycle users of all skill and experience levels.
Although bicycle repair is a set of specialized skills, we believe that anyone can learn these skills. We hope to elevate volunteers’ and patrons’ self-sufficiency and confidence in their mechanical skills, which can also translate into more confident riding.
We encourage mutual exchange of knowledge among patrons and volunteers by practicing a Hands-off Assisting Approach meaning the Bike Librarian effectively assists and instructs without doing the repair/task themselves. It’s best if we can implement this approach first. When hands-on demo is required, try finding a different bike to show them how to do it. When hands-on demo is done on the bike in question, disassembly of any progress is made and all tools are put away, leave the participant to self-pilot from where they started. Learning and assisting is a team effort that includes asking questions (from both sides), listening, and positive feedback.
Many times, a diagnosis of some degree is useful, in order to assist effectively. Asking someone, “Do you mind if I look at, tell you what’s wrong with your bike, and then you can make the fix?” is one way to reassure someone that they are ultimately in charge of their bike repair.
It is our responsibility as Bike Librarians to share our knowledge with clear, understandable instruction; challenging ourselves to pause and hunt for the right words when we have to. We have shared goals of empowerment, inclusivity, and education. If we can make an effort to keep hands off others’ repairs while we assist we will foster a shop in which small interactions empower great change.
In the case of safety and time constraints a volunteer mechanic should step in.
At the Bike Library there are hundreds of micro interactions that happen each shift between volunteers and patrons. During program hours, and at Rent-a-Bench especially, we are called upon by our peers and patrons to assist in providing nuggets of education that build our knowledge of the beautiful art of bicycle maintenance and repair. A Hands-off Assisting Approach means that the person giving guidance is not doing any sort of repair, and the person who’s bike is in question is doing all the hand-on wrenching.
Each interaction is an opportunity to empower our patrons and other volunteers! They want to learn how to repair their bike; you can teach them how. While using a hands-off approach to help someone learn a new skill can be challenging, it benefits both parties, and is a good way to meet our shared goal of empowerment through education. It helps us learn to pause. Reflect. Hunt for the best words to describe the anatomy/process/tool/task. Describe the tools, the turns, use a pointer, and, especially, clear words. We are challenged to talk people through actions. The hands doing the repair should be the volunteer or patron who’s bike is being wrenched on. It is not about demonstrating how skilled you are, but rather to best pass that skill on to another. And we can learn so much about ourselves from exchanging knowledge this way.
It starts out, “Hey, have you seen this before?”; “I’m not sure how to do this.”; “Could you help me figure this out?” Although it is tempting to reach in and do it for them, this is not how our patrons learn. We can avoid disheartening effects of doing even micro repairs for others by prioritizing the ways in which we assist/educate: use a hands-off approach; demo the process on a different bike; demo a process on the bike in question but, reverse it completely, putting all the tools away and leaving the person to self-pilot. Sometimes this requires us to ask the person to describe what’s going on and then listen to what they want to do and have maybe tried already.
We are proud to offer this kind of hands-off guidance as we strive toward creating a space in which all who want a bicycle, who want to learn how to ride, and/or want to learn bicycle repair are welcome. Our goal is to foster an atmosphere that accommodates bicycle users of all skill and experience levels.
Although bicycle repair is a set of specialized skills, we believe that anyone can learn these skills. We hope to elevate volunteers’ and patrons’ self-sufficiency and confidence in their mechanical skills, which can also translate into more confident riding.
We encourage mutual exchange of knowledge among patrons and volunteers by practicing a Hands-off Assisting Approach meaning the Bike Librarian effectively assists and instructs without doing the repair/task themselves. It’s best if we can implement this approach first. When hands-on demo is required, try finding a different bike to show them how to do it. When hands-on demo is done on the bike in question, disassembly of any progress is made and all tools are put away, leave the participant to self-pilot from where they started. Learning and assisting is a team effort that includes asking questions (from both sides), listening, and positive feedback.
Many times, a diagnosis of some degree is useful, in order to assist effectively. Asking someone, “Do you mind if I look at, tell you what’s wrong with your bike, and then you can make the fix?” is one way to reassure someone that they are ultimately in charge of their bike repair.
It is our responsibility as Bike Librarians to share our knowledge with clear, understandable instruction; challenging ourselves to pause and hunt for the right words when we have to. We have shared goals of empowerment, inclusivity, and education. If we can make an effort to keep hands off others’ repairs while we assist we will foster a shop in which small interactions empower great change.
In the case of safety and time constraints a volunteer mechanic should step in.