Official · Business & community operations · intermediate
Organize a fair maker-market application process
Process more applications than available tables with clear decisions, ownership and a waitlist.
The question
Design the operating process for a fictional neighborhood maker market with 60 tables and 120 applications. Organizers need a consistent way to review applications, offer places and handle cancellations. Use a checklist, table or written workflow; a new software system is optional.
- Two coordinators have 18 combined hours over three weeks for reviewing, contacting applicants and preparing the final list.
- Some applications are incomplete or duplicated; applicants can reply by email or phone.
- Selection must follow published event-fit criteria. A declined offer frees a table, and late cancellations currently disappear into personal inboxes.
What to cover
Define intake, duplicate checking, incomplete follow-up, review, offer, confirmation and waitlist handoffs.
Estimate time per activity and reserve some capacity for exceptions; explain what to simplify if the estimate exceeds 18 hours.
Trace a duplicate application, an offer with no reply and a cancellation after the final list is sent.
Give a sample applicant update, a decision-check method and a signal that the process needs intervention.
How your practice is reviewed
- Clear ownership and state (30 points): Each application has a comprehensible status, next action and owner through confirmation or closure.
- Realistic work allocation (25 points): Arithmetic and time allowances fit the coordinator budget, with an explicit overload choice.
- Consistent and private decisions (25 points): Published criteria, traceable reasons and contact privacy support consistent treatment.
- Exceptions and quality checks (20 points): Duplicate, unanswered and cancelled offers are recovered without losing a table or applicant, with useful monitoring.
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