I’ve had some fantastic replies to my 10 questions on Volunteer Management. All are published here and I’ve had quite a few comments to my email as well that are unpublished as requested. Whatever one may say about the questions themselves there does seem to be a chord that is being struck! And I thank everyone who has responded thus far!
I talk about a narrative in Volunteer Management. What do I mean?
Wikipedia says – “For general purposes in semiotics and literary theory, a "narrative" is a story or part of a story. It may be spoken, written or imagined, and it will have one or more points of view representing some or all of the participants or observers. In stories told orally, there is a person telling the story, a narrator whom the audience can see and/or hear, who adds layers of meaning to the text non-verbally. The narrator also has the opportunity to monitor the audience's response to the story and modify the manner of the telling to clarify content or enhance listener interest. This is distinguishable from the written form in which the author must gauge the readers' likely reactions when they are decoding the text and make a final choice of words in the hope of achieving the desired response.
Whatever the form, the content may concern real-world people and events; this is termed "personal experience narrative".
Someone asked me today if there was a deadline to submitting responses?
No. There is no deadline. There will never be a deadline to the exploration on our sector!
Please remember that you can answer anonymously!
And please remember that I am just a Volunteer Manager asking questions on Volunteer Management!
Let’s keep the discussion going on acim4me@live.com
DJ: You are not - she says, in her sternest voice - Just a Volunteer Manager. You are - she says, a little more gently - asking legitimate questions. Except you have missed out the one that we should all be considering:
ReplyDeleteWhy do so many of us undervalue the work we do, and thereby the work of volunteers??
“Why do so many of us undervalue the work we do, and thereby the work of volunteers?”
ReplyDeleteA very interesting question Sue.
You could just about write a thesis on that one.
Incidentally, I take great pride in the work that I do and the contribution made by all volunteers. So perhaps the issue is something else.
• Fear of criticism or judgement by others.
• Resistance to change.