Working with Volunteers is VERY different to working with Paid Staff.  I’ve done a lot of work with volunteer groups over the last couple of decades and at times it can feel a bit like trying to herd cats.  But when you can get a group of passionate and enthusiastic volunteers all pushing in the same direction a lot can be achieved in a very short time and it really is a beautiful thing to see.  Today I want to share some of my experience with volunteer groups and give people an idea of how I’ve learnt to approach volunteering and what I look out for as a volunteer myself.

<center>![volunteering.PNG](https://steemitimages.com/DQmd56iQ4mCxfywqzmajSYHe6xwUp1XyjXSoVwqKJMFX9N6/volunteering.PNG)
[Source](http://english2unal10.blogspot.com.au/p/project-volunteering.html)</center>

The first thing you have to realise with volunteers is that they are UNPAID.  That means you can’t dock their pay and you can’t really sack them.  For all intents and purposes volunteers can’t be managed like they would be in traditional employer-employee relationship.  If you upset volunteers then they will just walk away, potentially leaving a big hole to fill.  If you’re used to putting a dollar value on everything then stop it!  For most volunteers they are giving up time and in some cases money because they believe in what they’re doing.  So it’s about achievement, appreciation, love, respect and trust.  This is what volunteers typically care about and these are all intangible things, so put your calculator away before you poke someone’s eye out with it!

<center>![lovevolunteers.gif](https://steemitimages.com/DQmZrDNV9PGVJusQD2R6pbaZm85eGQ5r8vT2AVaDG7yECLh/lovevolunteers.gif)
[Source](https://www.leadhillsrailway.co.uk/info/support-us)</center>

Volunteers need to be inspired and the most effective leadership technique I’ve seen with volunteers is to lead from the front and lead by example.  In the private sector a leader is often seen as someone with authority who allocates tasks and tells staff what to do.  The staff often hate it and the boss (I won’t call them a leader because many bosses are not actually leaders) is often resented.  Many staff actually hate their jobs but they stay because they’re getting paid. This type of authoritarian approach doesn’t really work with volunteers in my experience.  That’s why I generally talk about co-ordination and collaboration instead of management or other top-down approaches to getting things done.

<center>![forming.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmSAsZ1C2FZ1Wn2mvrBJ2dDTc3gm779NNP7Hde1QibmCre/forming.png)
[Source](https://pmioman14.wordpress.com/2014/06/08/w1_al-moataz_tuckman-assessment)</center>

The above picture shows the “Tuckman Model” which anyone who has been on a team building course would probably be familiar with.  It shows a typical path for a new teams evolution from formation to high performance.  This post is really focusing on the Forming and Storming part where things are still being worked out and if you have a look at the below diagram I will try to illustrate how I personally try and approach task allocation with volunteer groups during those Forming/Storming stages.  Imagine that the big black box labelled 1 is all the jobs that need to get done for a particular volunteering initiative.  Now there are 4 volunteers A, B, C and D who are putting their hand up to help get these tasks done.  They all have different skills and strengths so they can do different types of tasks and since they volunteered they probably just want to jump in and get started straight away.  That’s great!  But there are a couple of things to watch out for.

<center>![volunteers1.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmfWtd8RvL2zbvX7yrSfLU7r9y6Paf3jATXCjKsRkpb4AK/volunteers1.png)</center>

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<center>**Conflicts**</center>

In my example the tasks that volunteers B and C want to do overlap each other.  This area shaded red is an area of potential conflict as these volunteers might end up treading on each others toes if they don’t co-ordinate well with each other.  Communication is obviously always very important but it can also help to have a good demarcation between what specifically B is going to do and what C is going to do.  Maybe even they take turns in doing those tasks but in this example it is VERY important that B and C work closely with each other because the last thing anyone wants is a blow up between B and C because that will affect the enthusiasm, morale and all those other important things like trust and respect which are so important to most volunteers.

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<center>**Cracks**</center>

The big yellow shaded area of the black box represents the tasks that need to get done for this volunteering initiative that nobody really is that keen to do, or maybe these tasks have been overlooked.  These are the cracks and the old saying of “It fell through the cracks” is applicable here.  If an important job gets left undone then the whole volunteering initiative may totally fail, causing much despair and angst for the others who put so much work into making it a success.  Volunteers can easily get jaded or burnt out if they work hard and it’s all for nothing.  In the diagram above, volunteer D is doing extra stuff outside the box which is wasted effort.  If they can pick up some of the tasks in the yellow area it would be much more helpful.  Again good communication here is key. 

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So my personal approach is to watch out for these Conflicts and Cracks and try to jump on them as soon as I see them.  Conflicts can easily be avoided with good effective communication and good demarcation about who is going to do what.  The Cracks are the jobs that I try and put my hand up for, or if I am already over-committed, I try to point them out to others to see if I can encourage someone else to pick them up.  It doesn’t always work and there is bound to be Conflicts and Cracks that open up in any venture.  But with good awareness, communication and understanding you can minimise them and give your volunteer initiative every chance of success.

<center>![volunteers2.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmUSi4c2HUCxLVdDVTd65L3G4TSxt3aF9cdDGBotubZjZa/volunteers2.png)</center>

<center>**There is no I in TEAM, but there IS an E**</center>
<center>**Be the E**</center>

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<center>![steemsilvergold_buggedout.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmbVPg5x5ZsR6dp1A7s6LhR7bMV3ab4cFxbKkW9sMNx5Ht/steemsilvergold_buggedout.png)</center>

<center>![teamaustralia_buggedout.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmWCrK7urK9GbkFSPGLY2HXBVeLfGMh29B5E9foVDNso4H/teamaustralia_buggedout.png)</center>

<center>**Images and Credits**
http://english2unal10.blogspot.com.au 
https://www.leadhillsrailway.co.uk 
https://pmioman14.wordpress.com </center>