United we broke our Volunteer!

Volunteer managers have great responsibilities. More so than other managers in many cases. When we engage volunteers we engage the community. This is not the same as engaging paid staff. Yes engaging paid staff incurs great responsibility. Your organisation prospers by keeping motivated staff. Having motivated and engaged staff is key to your organisations success.

Having motivated and engaged volunteers is even more important in my opinion as you are engaging a voice that has more freedom to speak. Volunteers provide a greater community buy in. Volunteers as I was once told many years ago by people who were scrutinizing my organization for accreditation purposes were the “eyes and ears of the organisation”

This is why I have for many years considered volunteers to be consumers and customers. Actually, what I mean to say is that I have tended to treat volunteers that way. I know some of you will jump up and down with that description but that is how I have treated volunteers and that is why I believe I have had great success in the recruitment and retention of volunteers.

Here is why:

·         People can volunteer for a myriad of organisations. Volunteer managers need to sell their organisation

·         People now volunteer for a myriad of reasons. The days of altruistic motivation as the only motivation for volunteering are long gone. Volunteer Managers need to capture this new breed of volunteering and sell why their organisations can accommodate same.

·         Episodic volunteering has been the biggest trend that has impacted my volunteering programs. I know I must sell my organisational flexibility to entice these episodic volunteers. And it works!

Volunteer interviews should now be a two way street. While we still traditionally do the interview that seeks to determine what type of person or character we are engaging and whether or not their skills and attributes suit our organisation we are also needing to be interviewed by them on whether we are worthy of their donated time!

I once met a volunteer manager who “binned” applicants that did not meet his/her interest. And they never even heard from him/her.

Today in the social media age every move you make has the potential to be scrutinized. Think now about the consequences if you don’t reply to the following:

·         An email request about your volunteer program

·         A tweet about your volunteer program

·         A Facebook message about your volunteer program

And have a think about how existing volunteers are communicating about your volunteer program and about your organisation!

Because if you work for a large or small organisation and one of your volunteers has a bad experience and if you don’t manage this effectively then you have the possibility of a social media savvy volunteer sharing their experience on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or other social media outlet!

 Imagine having a volunteer sing a song about their bad experience at your organization and it becoming a hit on YouTube!!!

Perish the thought!

A guy called Dave Carroll had a bad experience with United Airlines. He was a customer. They treated him badly. In fact they broke his guitar!  He wrote a song, put in on YouTube and has had over 12 million views.

I am a great fan of Dave (he has some great songs apart from this hit). He is also one of the most genuine “stars’ I have come across! I have contacted him in the past and he has always personally taken the time to respond.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo

If we start treating our volunteers as customers we stand a better chance of retaining great people once we understand good customer service! And if we don’t get customer service we are behind the eight ball when it comes to volunteering!

Change of a Dollar

It’s not too often that a movie really touches me. Especially an 11 minute one. Well here is one that did. It’s one that I just discovered and one that I will be sharing with volunteers.  I have always believed that It doesn’t take much to be the change in someone’s life. A smile. A kind word. A lending hand. A shoulder to cry on. A listening ear. A laugh shared. Little things can mean a lot.

It is good to remind volunteers sometimes that everything they do, from the little things to the bigger and more public things mean a lot. And sometimes we don’t even realise that a small action on our part can have amazing consequences for another.

This 11 minutes or so gave me encouragement and hope too. And faith in the goodness of a world where so much bad news reigns.

I am passing this little gem forward. I hope that some of you do too!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DXL9vIUbWg

10 reasons to support International Volunteer Managers Day and 10 ways to do it.

What is International Volunteer Managers Day (IVMD)? From the IVMD website:

“Universally, people recognise the contribution of volunteers - in sport, health, emergency services, faith communities and the environmental lobby ...in fact volunteers are involved in just about every aspect of service delivery in all walks of life.



However, volunteering does not succeed in a vacuum. Behind this army of volunteers lies an equally dedicated group of individuals and agencies who are responsible for the coordination, support, training, administration and recruitment of the world's volunteers - skilled professionals who are adept at taking singular passion and turning it into effective action.



That is why we celebrate International Volunteer Managers Day every year on November 5.”

http://www.volunteermanagersday.org/

For years I have been an avid fan of this day. Here are my 10 reasons why people should support it

1. Volunteerism greatly benefits communities throughout the world. Behind many great projects lie the dedication and hard work of Volunteer Managers

2. Effective Volunteer Management advocates and promotes volunteerism

3. Volunteer Managers play a pivotal role in highlighting the great work of volunteers in their organisations and in their communities

4. Volunteer Management rightly aspires to be a recognised profession

5. Volunteer Managers are often unrecognized, unsupported and undervalued in some sectors

6. IVMD can be a powerful educational tool to educate and change perceptions on not only the role of managers but on volunteerism itself

7. Volunteer Management is a complex role and deserves the same respect given to other management roles

8. Volunteer Management enables vision to become reality

9. Effective Volunteer Management plays a part in changing lives

10. Volunteer Managers need the support of their volunteers, communities, friends and organisations to truly lead and inspire.

Here are 10 ways to support IVMD this year. And for once let’s reach out to other stakeholders. Let’s escape the echo chambers in Volunteer Management and call on community support. Because it matters!



1. Educate volunteers about the day

2. Send a letter to the nearest organisation to you that engages volunteers. Thank them for their efforts and ask them to celebrate IVMD

3. If your organisation has a Volunteer Manager send them an email on November 5 and wish them a happy IVMD

4. If you know a Volunteer Manager send them a message of support

5. Like the IVMD Facebook page and share it with all your friends http://www.facebook.com/groups/90188010197/

6. Watch this YouTube and Like and comment http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvSNHWKHc8s

7. Follow the day on Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/IVMDay

8. Respond to this blog and tell us why you support IVMD

9. Share this blog!

10. Share the fact that IVMD also stands for Inspirational Valuable Magnificent and Dynamic!

Leading to Inspire Volunteers by Glenn Searle

I am a keen student of leading to inspire others and had the wonderful opportunity to undertake research into the phenomenon, the results of which were published in a leadership journal. Recently, at the Australian Institute of Management, DJ & I had a chat about inspiration in the context of leading in the volunteer sector – hence the ‘guest’ post. As part of my research, I interviewed a leader who worked extensively with volunteers and employees. The leader had some interesting perspectives that might be of interest to you.
One of his first comments was, ‘for me, inspiring people is about helping them reach their goal and potential – to help them become what they have been created to be’. Incidentally he saw little difference between volunteer and paid workers in the context of reaching goals and potential. The ways he went about inspiring them were a little different. He proposed that people often become leaders because of their position at work and, consequently, people might follow them because they are bosses.

In the volunteer sector, people primarily come to serve others, not necessarily to follow leaders. In my experience, volunteers follow leaders by desire, not by design. In essence, the question for leaders becomes, ‘Do I wish to inspire the volunteer workforce?’ Volunteers often volunteer as a result of inspiration or draw inspiration from the people they serve. Do volunteers look to be inspired by leaders? Lockwood and Kunda (1997) asserted that inspiration is about being open to the possibilities of it occurring for the self to experience it. Do you think volunteers are open to the possibility of being inspired by leaders within the organisations they give their time and effort?

The interviewed leader considered engagement was critical because volunteering in his sector was ‘a huge commitment’. He was also adamant that inspiring volunteers to engage with the vision is critical, at personal, organisational and community levels. I believe he is right. I believe inspiring people provides them with the energy and confidence they need to achieve wonderful things. How did he go about cultivating opportunities to inspire volunteers? You can read more in my new book, Inspiring Leaders, Practical Insights. In the short-term, here are a few strategies he employed specifically for inspiring volunteers:

1. Validate their importance to achieving the vision

Highlight the importance of activities in which volunteers will be involved, and help them understand the results and outcomes of their efforts. It is vital for people to connect to a vision of what is possible, and a vision of what influence they might have on the lives of others.

2. Illustrate how they could make a difference

Use photographs and images to highlight achievements, experiences and successes of previous volunteers. When people see the achievements of others, and how they connected with the people they were serving, it often inspires people to believe they can make a difference.

3. Get volunteers to share their stories

Leaders don’t have to be the source of inspiration. There are a number of studies that demonstrate that peers can be role models, and therefore a source of inspiration. Tap into the stories of previous and current volunteers to spread the good word and empower others to take action.

Glenn Searle is the Director of InspHigher and has been in the education and training industry for over 23 years in teaching, training and educational leadership roles. His involvement with people of all ages evoked a love of learning and a keen interest in leading and working with others. In an attempt to be a better leader and to understand the phenomenon of inspiration, he undertook a research thesis at UQ. Therefore it’s not surprising the primary focus of Glenn's speaking, coaching and writing is on the topic of  Leading to Inspire Others.

His academic findings were published in the Leadership and Organizational Development Journal in 2011. The article is titled, "Leading to inspire others: charismatic influence or hard work?" Interest generated by presenting his findings led to the authoring of a book , “a breath of fresh air: the leader's guide to inspiring others.”   The book is designed to help leaders and educators learn practical strategies to inspire others.

Thursday Tip – #ttvolmgrs and follow Thoughtful Thursdays!

Join Volunteer Managers from across the globe every Thursday to participate in a weekly discussion and 'tweetchat', focusing specifically on the Volunteer Management issues of the day.
Follow @suevjones on http://ivo.org/ to be notified of the weekly blog post or make sure you visit the blogs page there every Thursday to discover the weekly topic.
Next add your thoughts via twitter using the hash tag #ttvolmgrs and, if twitter isn't your thing - you can contribute via the comments section below the blog.

I have to admit that I have been slow off the mark in regards to twitter. It took me awhile to understand what # even meant!! But I have been observing #ttvolmgrs and the conversation can be enlightening, educational and fun too! See you there! Also a big shout out to those who are giving up their own time keeping it going!

DJs Thursday Tip: Communicate Inspire Communicate Inspire Communicate!

Keeping up communication with the volunteer team is essential in my opinion. Volunteers work on different days and different hours and it’s a challenge keeping them up to speed with organisational news and updates, new policies, great stories, etc. Here are some of my tips:

·         Create a volunteers newsletter. Have it driven by volunteers!

·         Create a volunteer email list with those volunteers who agree to be on one.

·         Have a fantastic notice board where volunteers sign in

·         Have  a volunteer liaison committee which meets regularly with volunteer management and executive/board

Keep the communication positive and inspiring. Tell the volunteering story. Share positive feedback and don’t be afraid to keep asking for volunteer feedback.

Celebrate volunteering and communicate it. Keep in touch. Volunteers will appreciate it!

Telling the inspiring story of volunteering

Recently I presented at a conference on a volunteering program I manage. The presentation took out an award for innovative practice. The presentation was up against several other presentations on innovative practice in a hospital setting. It was, I noted, the only presentation on volunteers during the entire conference.


I still get nervous before presenting. It’s the same with my stage work. Sometimes I feel physically sick before walking out on stage. Once I am out there though the nerves settle. I feed off the audience. If for example I am in a stage comedy and there is no laughter after the first gag or joke and only a cough and the sound of a pin dropping then I know the night can be a struggle!

In some ways, the role of volunteer manager calls on us to be presenters. There is so much presenting we can be involved in. We present when we hold training and orientation for volunteers. We Present when we are talking to other managers about our roles. We present when we educate up about our roles and about volunteer services to our executive or our boards. We present at community forums and groups when recruiting for volunteers. In short there can be a lot of public speaking going on.

Back to the conference I was on. I was especially nervous as this was the first time I was presenting in front of a large audience outside of my workplace and outside of my volunteering and volunteer management sector. The winning presentations were voted on by the audience.

This was good I thought to my self as I sat at my table looking at the delegates throughout the room. Here were Managers, Directors and CEOs. Here was my chance to share the wonderful work of my team and here was a chance to talk up the potential and benefits of volunteering. I was sharing a room with many people of influence and I wasn’t going to miss my chance!

Such thinking of course only made me more nervous. I sat there, sweaty palms, hand shaking to get the glass of cold water to reach my lips and all the while my heart beating a little faster than usual.

Then the speaker before me was introduced to the stage. The facilitator introduced her with a glowing bio including “has completed a Diploma of Presentation Skills”.

Great! Just great! The speaker just before me too! And she was excellent of course.

Then I toddled up to the podium after my introduction. I looked at the audience. They looked back. In the distance a dog barked. Ok I made that bit up. I took a deep breath. With my deadpan face I started -

“ Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank the organisers of todays event for placing me after the speaker who has just completed a diploma of Presentation skills. Thank you. That is great”

Well the laughter that rolled across the room was wonderful. My nerves settled, the palms decided to dry up a little and the heartbeat decided that it wasn’t going to run a marathon after all today.

When the laughter died down I continued “Today I am going to tell you a story about an inspiring group of people doing innovative things. These are our volunteers…” and the rest as they say is history.

I encourage all of you reading to share the story of the volunteers that you work with. Volunteer managers can be story tellers. Telling the stories of individuals and groups. While we do this well at our national conferences or volunteer get togethers we can and should tell the story to wider audiences.

Because I believe that Volunteers Matter. And I believe in telling the volunteering story. It inspires me daily. It will inspire others too in a world that needs its inspirational stories!