Can Policies and Volunteer Enthusiasm Get Along?
All associations have policies and procedures as well as volunteers. In the ideal world, these two would work in tandem and complement each other. For example, policies and procedures would increase the volunteer’s enthusiasm because it helps them make their idea a reality. Unfortunately, this seldom is the case. Policies and procedures bog down the creative process, frustrate volunteers who only have a limited amount of time to devote to these details and cause tension between staff and volunteers.
What can be done? (A quick disclaimer – I have not implemented policy light, but this seems like a plausible approach.)
First, volunteers in their first 1-2 years should have little interaction with the policies and procedures, if possible. This approach provides them time to learn the organization and volunteer structure. If they begin a project that necessitates policy involvement, pair them with a higher-level volunteer. Second, once volunteers are more mature and ready for additional responsibility, they should be introduced to ‘policy light (pl).’ PL would include a high level summary of the policy as well as high-level bullets of action items. These easy-to-read documents would help the volunteers to turn to staff for full details and in turn, develop a positive working relationship with staff. Lastly, if the volunteer is ready for a higher level of commitment, send them the full policy and procedure manual, ask them to serve on the board of directors or hire them!
How does your association foster volunteer enthusiasm while enforcing policy?
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Comments
It's not just policy that holds us back, it's also established practices or norms that are not in any way tied to policy.
Strategic questions (call it a Tecker nega issue if you want) that association leaders should address are:
--how do we unleash and engage the maximum amount of volunteer talent and capacity in furthering the aims and current strategy of the association?
--what support would be required for volunteers to be successful?
--what staff practices needs to be adopted or further embraced to ensure appropriate continuity, quality, and timeliness?
--what changes need to occur to "get out of the way" of knowledgeable volunteers who want to contribute in meaningful ways to the association's efforts?
Posted by: Jeffrey Cufaude | November 19, 2008 5:54 AM
We find the right use of policies and procedures free volunteers to be creative and juice the energy. But, then we've seen more really poor examples of p&p than good. So I'm of mind to say not we hold them back but we make sure they right ones are in place.
Posted by: Peggy Hoffman | November 21, 2008 11:49 AM
Policies are necessary for consistent service, but these should be guides, not handcuffs.
Posted by: Cecilia Sepp | December 2, 2008 5:39 PM