Keeping Your Sunny Side Up:
One Dozen (Suggested) Rules to Live By as a Manager of Volunteers
Susan Moscareillo, CVM
Editor, ManagingVolunteers.com
April 28th, 2004

Despite our best intentions and all the books and articles we’ve read about motivating our volunteers – about discovering and pursuing the practices that will make them productive and keep them around – sometimes things go wrong.

When we get busy, when we get distracted, when we begin to lose our carefully crafted focus, we may behave in insensitive – and downright stupid – ways that will damage the morale and productivity of our volunteers.

Don’t roll your eyes and think it can’t happen to you. Starting now, make a list of “rules to live by” and post it near your desk where you can look at it every day. Here are some suggestions to get you started:

1) Set goals with the input of your volunteers and make the goals realistic and understandable; seek out the suggestions of your volunteers, especially in their area of expertise.

2) Offer definable and positive suggestions for improvement

3) Encourage teamwork – make management decisions that encourage it

4) Give your volunteers the praise they deserve – which is a LOT of praise. Remind them how invaluable they are to your agency and clients

5) Give credit in public for their work verbally and in writing using every medium you can think of

6) Always give clear reasons for changing policies and procedures and give plenty of advance notice of the change and the reason for it

7) Always look for ways to increase benefits given to volunteers

8) Always include them in the information and decision making process

9) Be accessible when there are problems – respect and address their concerns

10) Listen to your volunteers as though they are the most important people in the world

11) Give on-going training

12) Offer a work environment equipped with quality office equipment and a suitable comfort level

If you’re a department of one, take time on a regular basis to self-evaluate your performance – ask the volunteers whose opinions you value most for an objective critique of your recent performance.

You can enhance your ability to keep your focus and your performance productive when you:

1) Stay positive and enthusiastic about your job. After six years in volunteer management, I know burn-out is the greatest enemy of effective job performance.

2)Maintain self-control. Keep your mind focused on the job at hand. Set goals and priorities for what you think and do. Visualize positive reactions. Enjoy your successes. Be honest with yourself about your job performance.

Challenge yourself. Falling into a comfortable rut actually means you’re not growing and helping your volunteers grow. Be courageous about doing your job and remember every day what important work you are doing – and enabling your volunteers to do.