Supporting Volunteers
All volunteers need support. What kind of support you provide will depend on the nature of their role and their needs. Key elements of support can include:
- Supervision - regular time to talk and plan
- Clear expectations - role description for volunteers
- Problem solving procedures
- Training - everyone should be given appropriate training to do their role well
- Recognition - identifying meaningful ways to recognise, value and reward the contribution volunteers make.
Support is an enabling role and its not to be confused with supervision. It can form part of supervision but equally it can stand-alone. The functions of support are:
- To focus on the person
- To set up an environment where a volunteer can express themselves
- To help resolve problems, usually of a personal nature
- To help a volunteer feel good about what they are doing
- To look at how outside situations may be affecting them or their performance.
Supervision
Supervision is about managing the work and how the volunteer carriers it out, in line with the aim and objectives of the organisation. The functions of supervision:
- To monitor work and performance
- To evaluate work and performance
- To recognise and deal with problems
- To provide a framework for agreement on change
- To provide a framework for discussion
- To clarify priorities
- To provide a framework to share perceptions on how the work is progressing
Support and supervision, go together, but need to be thought of as two separate functions. Supervision deals with the work, support deals with the volunteer but in reality cannot be easily separated.
Induction for New Volunteers
An induction is essential for all new volunteers coming to volunteer with an organisation. It is a process through which new volunteers are integrated into an organisation so that they can become effective as soon as possible. The process needs to be planned and managed. An induction programme should consider:
- What a new volunteer needs to know
- Who should tell them - named person
- When they should be told - how often
- How they should be told - what format is appropriate
- What a new volunteer needs to know
There are 5 main categories of information that a new volunteer would find useful to know:
- Organisational Information. This should include size, history, how the organisation came about, etc.
- Procedural Information. This should include terms and conditions of volunteering disciplinary procedure, fire procedure, meeting procedures, constitutional procedures, etc.
- Role information. This relates to what is necessary for a new volunteer to know in order to do the role effectively. This should include role description, detailing main tasks and responsibilities of the role, details of any training, etc. Information on how this project fits in with others.
- Personal information. How expenses are paid, where to eat, where the toilets are, how to lock up the office, who else shares the office space, where to park, etc.
- Team information. Who they can expect to be working with; when the paid staff are working; patterns of volunteers involvement, etc.
When should this information be passed on
Induction is a process that may well spread over several days or weeks. New volunteers are only able to take on so much information at any one time. An induction programme should be well planned and systematic, ensuring that every area is covered and understood.
How induction is carried out
Whatever the size of resources of an organisation, induction should be:
- Part of a systematic plan that staff and volunteers are aware of and understand
- Written down
- Recorded as each stage is completed
- Revisited to confirm understanding
The easiest method of achieving this is to draw up a checklist of the items to be covered.
