What’s it like to work for Makespace?

What’s it like to work for Makespace? Come meet us and find out!
Join us for an informal chat 12pm-1pm Wednesday 17th April. 

Makespace Oxford is a small team of 13, with both part-time and full-time team members. We all work flexibly with a mixture of remote and buildings-based hours. We are passionate about being effective and inclusive, and we use the ideas of Sociocracy to guide our work, placing an emphasis on self-management and learning.

Learn some more about what it’s like to work in our team:

We’re always working to create a positive work environment where everyone feels cared for and inspired to work in a sustainable way. We check in at the beginning of every meeting, remind each other to take breaks, use up vacation days, talk about our mental and physical well-being, and respect each other’s work styles and limitations. We know that we each have different skill sets and experiences that we can contribute to the group and we value the things that make us all unique. We stand behind our residents and strive to help them succeed in their businesses, nurturing a supportive and thriving working community.

While we usually think of our work day as running from 9 am to 5 pm, Monday through Friday, our team members have a lot of flexibility to choose their own hours, based on their personal needs and availability. Many of us opt to work part-time 3-4 days a week and adjust our schedules to accommodate things like taking care of kids or managing household duties. We believe it’s crucial to have a fulfilling and balanced life outside of work, and we all support each other in making that possible.

We’re striving to build a more collaborative and democratic organisation. For the past few years, we’ve been using a sociocratic decision-making method, and are committed to addressing power imbalances so that everyone’s voice is valued. This means that anyone can put forward a proposal, suggest new ways of working, or propose a new project. We have the freedom to decide collectively what we want to work on and how our organisation is shaped.

At Makespace, we have several workspaces across Oxfordshire. This means that our team isn’t always in the same building at the same time. Some of us choose to work together in our shared workspaces at least a couple of times a week, others prefer to work from home or in different locations on certain days. This flexibility allows us to have a better work/life balance and manage our responsibilities more effectively. We make sure to meet up in person regularly and occasionally go out for drinks or a team meal to catch up and unwind together.

Makespace is on a mission to unlock unused buildings all over Oxfordshire so that everyone can have access to workspace. We think that it’s important for people to have affordable places to come together, work, create, and celebrate. We work with local communities to figure out what they need and make real, lasting change happen. We’re not afraid to push back against systems of power, and we advocate for more fair and ethical use of space. We know that change takes time, but we’re dedicated to always learning and growing as a group and as individuals. Our focus is on supporting local movements and organisations that are fighting for the environment and against social and racial injustice.

We’re doing a lot that’s never been done like this before, so we’re still figuring things out as we go. It’s tough to bring about real change in the face of today’s challenges, social inequalities, pandemics, climate change, and the cost of living crisis. We don’t always get everything perfect on the first try, but we don’t let that stop us from trying out new ideas together. We’re open to learning from our mistakes and giving it another shot. We’re big on giving and receiving feedback, from both our team and the community, so that we can continue to improve and evolve.