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There is a dream that helpful information can be gathered together to make work more efficient and easier for everyone.

This is a dream of volunteers. It is now 18 months since I stopped working on this manual, hoping that B4RN would take it up and move it on.

They have shown no interest.

Where B4RN have gone wrong is that that they have not grown from their main strength which is the volunteer force, and the way the project was mobilised in local groups. B4RN was never Melling, B4RN was always the community.

It is a co-operative. But B4RN at Melling think it is them.

And it is owned by the shareholders, who tend to be the community volunteers, not by one person at Melling.

December 2020

5 Core duct supplying over half of Dentdale

Repaired by us the day after we were told about it. We repair them whenever we are told about them. We have 2 that are a bit more complex that we have told B4RN about, they have not yet been repared after about 10 months each. There is no system of maintenance.

A simple system of being paid £50 everytime we mend a fault, means they get repaired very fast. We would give the money to charity, or we could find someone who needs the money that we could employ. Or B4RN could maintain it, it's their responsibility.

This particular fault was a section laid by outside contractors, not by our usual B4RN contractors. If we had been consulted we could have course mentioned the history of that particular point and told them it had to be deeper.

October 2020

Case 23

DAY 1 23rd September Request for service comes in to B4RN. Someone at B4RN immediately tries to claim a voucher for it (It is NOT in a voucher area by the way)

DAY 10 2nd October I notice it in the CRM log and enquire of B4RN

why no-one had told me about it and 2. why was someone trying to get a voucher for it.

I never get much of an answer, something like

sorry, got muddled with the house next door 2. that’s the way accounts work, we leave it to them

I contact the owner and tenant direct, and complete the installation, calling in a digger at one point. (All this free of charge to owner, tenant and B4RN)

DAY 19 11th October I am ready for fibre. I call B4RN in. (I have meanwhile readied another couple of jobs they can do at the same time, if they want to be efficient)

DAY 20 12th October I notice that a different e-mail address is now asking for the same house to be connected. This looks like the householder has been told to apply for a voucher a different way and thinks they will get payment. I ask B4RN to confirm that there is no voucher possible for this property. They confirm this to be true.

DAY 21 13th October B4RN come out to connect the customer. Excellent.

So, is there anything that could be improved? Three weeks could have been halved if we had been told immediately. (we never were told actually) And the customer wouldn’t have been misled into thinking he would get a grant. There is no communication.

(They chose not to do one of the jobs I had readied. Will it be added to one of their pending lists? - no, I will have to keep asking)

But yes, coming to make the connection that fast was impressive.

Late September - another case...

This is the reply you get when you apply for a connection (as the B4RN website encourages to do)

Thank you for submitting your request for B4RN service. Your details have been successfully entered into our Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system and we will start the ball rolling.

This guy got that reply in January and has heard nothing from B4RN since.

Late September: Newsletter from B4RN to all volunteer groups (which is anyone signed up for it). This means several people in a community group will have got this.

It contains a list of 16 topics you may want help with, and the e-mail of a contact or two on each topic.

So you have say 5 people in a volunteer group who can contact 22 people at B4RN.

So a lot of possibly unco-ordinated interaction. (And if your topic isn't covered? Well, you could spray a few e-mails around or try info@b4rn or try helpdesk@b4rn. In our experience you have less than a 50% chance of a reply by that method)

Just think how it might work if each community had a nominated liaison person who dealt directly with a specific liaison person at B4RN. Most communication would flow through them, the B4RN person could direct the question to exactly the right person every time, some questions could be answered immediately and you would know who was responsible to get you an answer. Other contacts would occur where volunteers already have had interaction with B4RN personnel, they need not go through the liaison pair (who should probably be told that these interactions were happening)

This just feels as though it might be more efficient. In fact, this feels blindingly obvious as a better set-up.

It's not difficult to think how you should work with volunteers (your free resource). You can Google it, if it's not obvious. B4RN don't do it at all like this.......

1. Provide induction and training

Good volunteer recruitment inspires a deeper participation and commitment. Extend this to include effective ongoing training, supervision and support.

2. Make them feel welcome

Introduce them to employees and other volunteers to help them feel part of things. Have senior leaders drop by to introduce themselves. Show that you’re a warm, friendly and approachable organisation.

3. Establish excellent communication

Strong, regular communication motivates volunteers and a lack of it is one of the main reasons they become disillusioned. Be ready to listen and respond to feedback and concerns.

4. Ensure they have access to the resources they need

Make sure they can get hold of the information they need, when they need it – a volunteer’s portal or printed materials if necessary, just be sure to make access easy.

5. Introduce variety

Keep things interesting. Consider your volunteers as extra staff who are capable of performing complex tasks that use their experience and skills. Provide leadership opportunities to those who want to shoulder responsibility and guide others. Help them connect with people they may not otherwise interact with. Understand their skills and background – they maybe able to do more than you’re currently offering them.

6. Provide a named line manager

The line manager is the key to engagement, motivation and trust because human relationships and interaction matter. Make sure everyone knows who handles their ongoing support, guidance and direction and give them someone specific to talk to and share successes or concerns with.

7. Acknowledge contributions

Gratitude is a strong emotion. It can change a person’s outlook on just about any situation. Maintain morale by showing gratitude and demonstrating it openly.

8. Encourage social connectedness

Help people to feel connected and part of something bigger. Your staff and your volunteers are likely to be the best informed advocates of your brand and, given the opportunity, have great things to say.

If you go to "Get B4RN", a prominent feature on their website, then you can input a Postcode and alledgedly find out if you can receive the B4RN service.

(I can insert a postcode that I know cannot get B4RN and I get the response "yes you can". I have suggested to B4RN that I can supply them with a list of postcodes that are very unlikely to ever get B4RN. I got the usual zero response)

If anyone fills this form in to apply for a connection, B4RN have no procedure to take the request further. I understand it works better in areas where B4RN can get government grants, but that does not apply to our area, so no-one seems bothered.

At some point B4RN took over our area. We were not finished. We were nearly finished, but we had a few tricky ones left, including some where we needed a bit of time and diplomacy to get people gradually to agree to our routing.

But B4RN took over. Without consultation, all enquiries had to go through the Get B4RN link on their website. Any enquiry to them got directed to the Get B4RN page. It made it clear on the website that this was the way potential customers should proceed.

This then meant enquiries festered on their website, occasionally we got to hear about it indirectly and fixed it, Occasionally it festered until someone at B4RN did tell us about it. Occasionally B4RN would come unannounced and try and sort it themselves, especially if they could claim a grant. Sometimes this drove a coach and horses through our planning and diplomacy.

It was never clear who was in charge of this. We were never involved. We had never had an interface with B4RN. We knew how to get specific tasks done, but there was no liaison. There was no-one to liaise with.

This was really annoying.

Maybe it's Time to start a Diary

Title: Monthly targets as a prime objective

We have a complicated set-up which is non-standard; it may need ethernet between some houses apparently. This means we need B4RN to at least tell us what exactly to do and tell us where to get the parts.

It is complicated for us at the volunteer end, because the households involved do not get on with each other. We are now at a point where we nearly have full agreement as to a way forward. I need to know what the set-up will precisely look like, so I can then explain it to each household. Then I want to quickly do it all, while we still have agreement.

AUGUST 2020

21 Aug Me to B4RN: If we get a bit further we would like to crack on very fast while all the balls are still in the air. Could you do it within say 2 or 3 weeks of getting the go ahead?

21 Aug B4RN to Me: Possibly, we will do our utmost.

23 Aug Me to B4RN: Okay, time to move, I have now got full begrudging agreement. I need someone to visit to explain the set-up.

24 Aug B4RN to Me: I’ll get X to visit which I'm hoping will be this week. He will be in contact.

[…..time passes…. nothing was ever going to happen that week, because it is the last week of the month and they chase easy jobs to meet their target number of monthly connections…]

SEPTEMBER

[….time passes….]

16/17/18 Sep…….B4RN have 2 major breaks in their network and all work is diverted to mend these.

…….that will leave about a week left in the month and they will be only concerned with reaching their target number of connections, so any jobs that are a bit complicated will not be considered.

OCTOBER

It will be early October before I can get anyone here to look at the job, it will then take a couple of weeks to deal with the touchy householders and fit whatever is needed. By then it will be late October and B4RN will be chasing easy connections to reach October’s target.

NOVEMBER

If I keep pushing people it will be November at the earliest that this job is completed. Or my householders will have disagreed by then and it will never happen.

MAPPING

Some of our team spent a long time producing accurate maps, assuming this would be an essential part of the project when laying undetectable ducting. This was sent to Melling. It invariably got watered down to a vague schematic. We eventually gave up sending B4RN any maps at all.

sent to B4RN

B4RN's interpretation

sent to B4RN

B4RN's interpretation

sent to B4RN

B4RN'S version

Maintaining the network

Maintenance of the network would appear to a necessary function of B4RN. We have several examples of their work to be added to this diary.

..................If we get a success story, that will also appear here

B4RN maintaining the network 2

Feb 2020 One of our farmers dug through this lot sometime around February and told B4RN.

I only hear about this some weeks later, so I assume it has been sorted somehow.

SIX MONTHS LATER Come August and someone wants a connection and we cannot get airflow along the 7mm duct. I volunteer to get the problem sorted as it is somewhere near the rumoured damage point. That evening the farmer and I find this. The core fibre is kinked in 2 places and the two empty 7mm ducts are severed.

20th August I mend the 7mms and inform B4RN.

It is now September and no-one from B4RN has responded, they haven't even enquired about its location.

B4RN maintaining the network 1

DAY 1: 18 Feb 2020 Back outer duct which we had put through a culvert causes a problem.

In severe weather it has caught debris, blocked the culvert and kinked the duct and damaged the farm track. This was one of our earliest bits of construction when we were very short of money and B4RN encouraged the use of culverts. (This advice has never been changed, by the way). I am away, so I tell them who to contact at B4RN.

about DAY 5: According to the residents "someone from B4RN looked at it and went away to talk to a colleague and was going to return the following week with a plan to reroute within 4 weeks”.

That means it was going to be all sorted by about DAY 40.

about DAY 40 I get asked to find out what’s going on as the people in that section are concerned about their connection being lost. I send a couple of e-mails to B4RN

5th June DAY 109 The residents again ask me to try and help, because they wish to mend their track which had been damaged by the original storm. I spray several e-mails around B4RN.

13th June DAY 117 No response from B4RN at all, so I pay someone to put some outer ducting inside the track that they are repairing.

20th June DAY 124 I inform B4RN that we have completed that, which is most of the necessary construction work.

2 July DAY 136 Residents again ask for help. I contact B4RN

15 July DAY 149 Someone comes out from B4RN to look at it

26 July DAY 160 Some preliminary work is done by B4RN ready for the splicing that needs a different team. We discuss the way it will happen, it will leave a simple half hour of work to bury a metre of pipe after. I volunteer to do that, as it will save someone specially coming out. We are agreed.

11 August DAY 176 I am told that the splicers will come tomorrow and they may be delayed, but will tell me when they set off.

12 August DAY 177 no message, I inspect about 2pm to find 4 people splicing, nearly finished.

There’s nothing I can do there, and I then have to drive around the valley to find another B4RN person, who has also not told me he is here. Different story. Just as bad.

13 August I return to the site to do the half hour of work to complete the job.

It is nothing like it was meant to have been done. It is very difficult to think how it can be sorted. It also looks like they have not even inspected the damaged part of the fibre, since they won’t have known where it was.

So this is how it has been left.

SIX months to get this far. WE have done the track crossing for them, and paid for it. They have left it worse than before, and will not return.

This is what it is like 6 months on. The topside of the stream is not much diffenerent than it was. They have now made the lower side also vulnerable to water and debis.

This is how B4RN have left it. There is now loose duct near the track on the upper and lower sides of the track and it's not clear how to bury that amount of excess ducting. We had a method, but B4RN chose not to involve the local volunteers.

THE "CRM"

This is a catalogue of our involvement with the way B4RN deal with new connection requests. All enquiries somehow get into the "CRM". We have tried and failed to find out who you discuss it, or the data in it, with. It appears to have no-one in charge of it. It looks like it is meant to work autonomously with items entered into it and it then it randomly spewing our tasks to the connections staff. It is linked to "Get B4RN", where again a system, seemingly intended to be devoid of human involvement, lets people ask for a connection online and it gets into the CRM somehow.

So our experiences so far.................................This was the TOTAL of our experiences with our own connections up to Mid July 2020

So far, we know of 22 cases in our area where people have gone into Get B4RN and been entered into the CRM database. Not all get logged, there are other jobs like repairs which we are completely left in the dark about.

Case 1 April 2019 _ Get B4RN begins

This was a case of a business We were dealing with our connections by the usual methon of waiting for a few houses to be ready and then calling in a B4RN person, or more usually one of the super volunteers from another area. In this case we told them to use Get B4RN so they could get a grant. We proceeded in our usual manner, but just had to check that the grant had been authorised.

We were in control. No problems.

Case 2 Whoopee! A grant for everyone. Well, not quite everyone.

October 2018 We put fibre to Mr Q’s house. B4RN came at short notice, so we weren’t able to arrange access to this house, so we leave the fibre looped outside.

(That evening Mr P returns and sees that someone “has been destroying his duct” and rings up one of our volunteers and flies off the handle, reducing her to tears)

Next day, we go and smooth things over, and get the fibre through into the backplate.

All it needs now is a splice, but Mr Q, who doesn’t actually want the service, seems to realise he will have to pay £150 for this splice, and the next 3 times we try to arrange to get access it is not somehow possible. We leave it on our pending list.

NEXT 18 June 2019

While we are working with a B4RN team in Dent, one of them disappears for an hour and returns saying he had a splice to do up the road.

He has in fact finished off Mr Qs house. Mr Q has, without us ever knowing, applied direct to B4RN, got himself a grant (which is now newly available for the connection), plus a bonus for the installation. B4RN also get a large grant of course.

Leaving aside that a grant is not applicable for houses that already have fibre, this is patently unfair on the local volunteers, and other customers.

Case 3 July 2019 Back in Charge This was similar to Case 1, we knew the person could get a grant, so we told them to apply and we managed all the other aspects, again asking for assistance when we had a bunch of jobs lined up.

Case 4 September 2019 Another Grant eagerly applied for

12 September (DAY 0) Mrs W in Dent goes into Get B4RN to put in her application for a grant.

2 October (Day 20) The word reaches the volunteers in Dent for the first time that a connection is wanted, via local grapevine not Melling. A grant has even been applied for by B4RN and been accepted.

Hang on....this a rented house, someone has to get permission from the owner of the property. Dentdale Volunteers move in and take charge. Someone has to figure out the routing.

Mrs W isn't even on speaking terms with the owner and we have to do shuttle diplomacy, as no-one has mentioned it to the owner.

We do all the ducting and installation. Mrs W gets her £300 and B4RN get £2000.

(Mrs W moves out a month later, cancelling her B4RN contract, this leaves her nicely in profit)

Case 5 This one works well

October 12 Mr A rings up B4RN, wants a router fitted, when he is next at his second home near Dent.

October 13 (Day 1) B4RN ring us up and tell us

October 17 (Day 5) We liaise directly with Mr A, splice the Cabinet and fit the router within a couple of hours of Mr A arriving. We report back to B4RN.

How much effort was that for Melling?

Cases 6, 7 and 10 - this one might take some telling. (this is the very short version)

This is a cluster of 3 houses that the farmer is reluctant to let us get to. Fortunately there is a fourth property there that is owned by the farmer's sister. Unfortunately B4RN have recently come and connected the sister's own house without ever mentioning it, or it reaching any spreadsheet. Our nice bit of leverage has been thrown away. (B4RN have never popped in before off their own bat, perhaps there was a grant involved)

We get the 3 houses to apply through Get B4RN in order to summon enthusiasm from B4RN, at least one is a business, that seems to make things happen. We put this firmly in B4RN's court, it's their fault we couldn't use our leverage, and it's also a bit complicated since we need a radio link.

30 Jan 2020 (DAY 0) That's when the 3rd request for service went in.

11 Jun 2020 (DAY 133) One of the 3 houses goes live. Only the one with the business grant. B4RN have no plan for the other 2.

Case 8 We get a tip off

26 Jan 2020 Someone applies to B4RN for a connection

27 Jan (DAY 1) A volunteer from another area was at Melling when it came in. He tips us off. So we get on with it.

3 Feb (DAY 7) A B4RN employee asks us if we can deal with this enquiry. (By this stage we have pretty much already dealt with it)

We handle the process. The owner is only there sporadically, but because we are local we can do things at short notice. We also gain trust, so that we can be left a key to the property. Nonetheless B4RN still send someone out without telling us, can't get into the house and so go back to Melling.

14 Feb (DAY 18) he goes live

Case 9 The right person picks up the phone at Melling

30 Jan 2020 (DAY 0) Chris gets an enquiry and immediately passes an enquiry on to me.

Dent takes control. No rush, the building is being renovated and will take many months. We talk to the owner and the builders from time to time. We liaise. We can see the right time to act. We ensure they talk to us and not B4RN.

Case 11 No contact at all

We only found about this one after it had happened. A simple fitting of a router. We can do that, saves someone coming out. Also, we need to be informed in case there are any other issues over this property or others nearby. But in this case, there were no problems.

Case 12 Can anyone see how this could have been done quicker?

26 Feb Day 0 - Someone rings B4RN and wants instruction how to duct across their garden as they would like a connection.

15 Mar Day 18 - I get told about it from B4RN

17 Mar Day 20 - I go round to discuss what is needed and return later that day with the duct and fittings they need.

Case 13 Let's claim a grant

11th March Mr V applies to B4RN for a connection as he is moving to Dent

(then B4RN quietly go away and apply for a business grant for him and get it cleared)

at some point much later he seems to check on progress with B4RN, because

27 May (DAY 77) I am informed for the first time and apparently the guy will be moving in on 4th June (DAY 84)

Sadly this is a particularly tricky property to get to and nothing at all can be done for a while. The upshot is that we can’t presently connect that house.

Result: Mr V gets told that he can’t get a connection a few days before he wants to move in, after being led on for nearly 3 months.

ALTERNATIVE

Query comes in, the details are immediately forwarded to Dentdale Volunteers and we then have a fair chance of getting that connection made. Or at least Mr V is informed of the exact nature of the problem and the fact that his connection may not be possible.

Case 14 Another grant causing conflicting motivation

We are in reasonable control here. The guy has been very helpful already with routes cutting across his other properties. But for this one he can get a business grant - we get him to apply. He is in no rush and he will be doing the work himself including installing a fair bit of black duct. Importantly we need him to install some extra black ducting as it is the only way to reach 2 other properties. So we have to leave him to it. but quietly keep in touch, ready to remind him when he starts work.

But, once he is on the Grants list, he gets into e-mail conversations (that we are unaware of) with B4RN pushing him to move along. At one point a B4RN crew arrive with his connection on their list to get done. Fortunately I am there to stop them doing anything, there is no black duct installed, and I don't want anyone helpfully installing a single black duct when I need 3.

What happens then is quite classic. Within another fortnight, all the ducting has been done, I have then got the splicing at the house done by a B4RN person, and a week later the original crew turn up to do some other work and are about to leave without splicing the bullet for this one, because I "said 3 weeks ago it wasn't ready".

I take them to the chamber, stand over them and see it finished.

Case 15 Early notification

House wants a connection. Excellent, I am told immediately.

Do some research, make a few maps, send a few e-mails, go and find the duct end, come back and query what I have been told.

Are you sure it's this house which is completely derelict, and it's not the one over the road being renovated?

Yes, B4RN have the wrong house, I have wasted an hour of my life,

I proceed with the right house, keeping control.

Plot Twist: I am suddenly informed that we are now only using and fitting the "new router". What new router?

Case 16 The New Router Hits Town

Meanwhile someone in Dent has seen the new router somewhere and now wants a connection and a new router. I am called in, because I know where the duct end is. I end up in a tricky position because the guy has talked with B4RN all about the new router and knows more about it than I do. I end up in a few days of cross e-mails, with the guy mainly dealing with B4RN rather than me. Eventually I hear B4RN have done his connection.

Thanks guys, it was nice being in your team.

Case 17 This goes well

One of the newer members of the B4RN staff knows us quite well and tells us immediately that this one is coming up. We progress it and call B4RN in when needed.

All completed in 14 days including finding a contractor to dig across the garden.

Case 18 This also goes well.

Someone calls us in direct, and we sort out everything.

And get them to fill in the Get B4RN form at the last moment.

Case 19 The CRM generates work tasks for their teams - I think this is the way the CRM is used by Melling

19th June 2020 - Enquiry comes into B4RN from Mr L at Property X— it gets added to the CRM (nobody informs the Dent Volunteers)

7 Jul - Dent gets e-mailed that 2 B4RN people are being sent out that morning to do several jobs including “connection at Property X”.

7 Jul - B4RN ring up from Dent to say they completed the Property X job, which was in fact someone wanting some supplies for a different property (Property Y), end of conversation.

9 Jul - e-mail from B4RN telling us they were sending out 30m of duct to Mr L (we have our own supplies here in Dentdale of course)

*******19 DAYS, including 3 round trips from Melling. Or you could have let us help

And this one gets more classic....

17 Jul Day 27 For the first time, I get told by B4RN that Mr L wants a connection and that he is now ready for fibre. I go to check and he has yet to do many metres of digger work and has no fittings at all. On proper discussion of where his router should be sited, we decide on a particular place that is ideal. This means a different route outside Property Y and the 30m of duct is now too short. I return to give him the 50m metres of duct he needs from our own stocks.

22 Jul Day 32 Someone else at B4RN tells me that Mr L wants a connection. Check that is the previous mis-information, and not new mis-information or actual information. (You guessed)

The story that keeps giving....

28 July Day 38 I finish off the house fittings for Mr L and inform B4RN that we are ready for fibre at Property Y. B4RN come back to me and say that his Property X has already got fibre, and can I please fit a router. I send a short reply.

Case 20 The way it should be

This is a property owned by one of our volunteers. He contacts me for supplies, I explain the properties of the new router installation and give him what he needs. When he is ready I call in B4RN who have another couple of jobs here. We fill in the Get B4RN form the day before they come. He goes live there on the spot

Case 21 This person has applied for a connection through B4RN. She knows the local volunteers and informs us at the same time. We discuss what she needs and decide how to proceed.

B4RN are unaware that we are working on this and have yet to inform us.

Should we tell B4RN that we have this in hand?

Well, we have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA who we would inform.

We have no idea who is in charge. We suspect they have no-one in charge.

Case 22

7 Jul (DAY 0) Enquiry into Melling

13 Jul (DAY 6) I am told about it. 4 hours later I have been to see the owners and told them all the possibilities so that that they can move forwards.

Slight confusion, because they have been told by Melling that they can't go live yet because not enough people had signed up. Turns out that the CRM has allocated them to the next village. Tell them to ignore Melling.

So, what use have B4RN been here? They have added 6 days delay and thrown in some important wrong information. But, as these cases go, this has to go down as one of the successful ones.

********So, we have had 22 cases.

In how many did B4RN come out as Leaders, Organisers, Communicators?

To us it seemed to work better the less B4RN was involved, and only worked well when B4RN had nothing at all to do with it.

We would love to hear B4RN's perspective.

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