Thank you for unlocking this thread. I appreciate.
Here is my suggestion:
All players get one aide
You assign the aide to one building.
You tell the aide to do one or both of the following:
Rebuild the building once it is expired, if the aide can dispatch an explorer (if a mine) and there are resources to rebuild it (if a mine or farm, etc.)
Buff the building once it is unbuffed, if the buff you identify is available.
When I work on a particular industry, such as currently on increasing farm and silo production, I would love to drop an aide on a key building to keep it going for me. 7 day upgrades can lead to resources going to zero quickly.
Plus it would be fun for players to tell each other where they placed their aide.
Plus you could let players choose from several aide designs you provide. My preference would be a prim, medieval librarian. She would keep a building running for me.
Plus you could do a contest asking players to describe designs they want for their aide options. You have mine.