What is Pro Bono O.R.?
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Wondering what Pro Bono O.R. is? Would you like to use your skills to hep third sector organisations? Are you are third sector organisation that could benefit from Pro Bono support?
What is Pro Bono O.R.?
- 1. What is Pro Bono O.R.? Pro Bono O.R. is a schemethatwaslaunchedbyTheORSocietyin 2013(a pilotschemestartedin2011) that placesskills-basedvolunteersinshort term projectswith thirdsector organisationsacrosstheUKto assist them in makingoperational improvements. OperationalResearchinanut shellhelpsmanagersmakemoreeffectivedecisions.It is a very broadspectrum andthere is usuallya way in whichitcanbeappliedwhetherthat is increasingefficiency,helpingtoreduce costs, planstrategy or demonstrateimpact. SincelaunchinginSeptember2013theschemehascompleted35projectswithorganisationssuchasRSPCA, DiabetesUK, Work for Us, Elfrida RathboneCambden,TheDisabilityLawService, ParentskoolCIC andmany more.We work with alltypes of third sectororganisationsrangingfrom largenationalorganisationsdownto smallcommunitygroups.We are currentlyworkingon 20projectsandhave a further 15 inthe initialinterest stages. Volunteers are Operationalresearch/analytical professionals.Thesevaryfrom peopleintheir earlycareerto those whoare retired. Someworkon projectsintheir owntime, others aregiven volunteer days by their companyandsomedoa mixtureof both. Volunteers canwork as individuals,pairsor teamson projects. Pro Bono O.R. volunteerscanmakea hugedifferenceina smallamountoftimeby usingtheirskills to enable organisationtomakemoreeffective decisionsandasa result helpthem becomemoreefficient. Projectsvary greatlyand as a result so dothe skillswe arelookingfor in our volunteer analysts. Skills include: data analysis, data mining,databasedesign,decisionanalysis,facilitation,financialanalysis,forecasting, logistics,mentoring/coaching,modelling,optimisation,performancemeasurement,problem structuring, programming,projectmanagement,regression,riskanalysis, scheduling,simulation,statisticalanalysis, strategic planning/development,system dynamicsetc. Theprojectsvary inlengthof timefrom half a day to over a week andcanbespread out over a periodof time. Thetypes of projectssofar have involved: impactmeasurement,dataanalysis, efficiencyimprovement,options appraisal,strategic planning/review,schedulingandprocessimprovement. Signingupas a volunteer does not requireanycommitment,volunteersare addedto the volunteers database andthen receiveemailsas andwhenprojectsbecomeavailable.Volunteerscanthenchooseto deletethe email (whicharecurrentlyaround4 per month) or if they wouldliketo applyfor a project,volunteers are askedto send in a CV andshort applicationform.Volunteerscanworkindividually, as teamsandcanalso bepairedup with a mentorif they requiresomesupport. Newprojectsare advertisedevery monthandvolunteer applicationsmustbereceivedbya specific date(two weeksafter the projectisadvertised) but the timingsof the projectsare flexibleandto be agreedbetweenthe volunteer andthe organisation. Formoreinformationaboutthe scheme,tosignup as a volunteer, register you support to receivePro BonoO.R. supportand to see the projectswehave workedon so far please visit: http://www.theorsociety.com/Pages/Probono/Probono.aspx Email:felicity.mcleister@theorsociety.com Twitter:https://twitter.com/FMcLeister LinkedIn:https://uk.linkedin.com/in/felicityrosemcleister