Conducting value-based volunteer training

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Abstract

Conducting volunteer training that both shares information and skills, and develops a quality relationship with the volunteer manager and between volunteers, is an important aspect of value-based management. This effective practice, excerpted from materials written by the Shanti National Training Institute, presents simple, practical ways to conduct value-based volunteer training, and was shared by the National Service Leadership Institute at the 2002 National Senior Service Corps Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, June 2002.

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Issue

Traditionally the function of trainings has been volunteer and member development through the transfer of knowledge. However, this is an appropriate time for cultivating relationships—both with the volunteer manager and between volunteers.

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Action

Ways to encourage the development of quality relationships during volunteer training include the following practical steps, based on a model of value-based management as developed by the Shanti National Training Institute.

1. Create an atmosphere that values volunteers, both as individuals and for the work they do.

  • Treat volunteers as you would an honored guest.
  • Greet volunteers individually when they arrive for a training and have name tags and materials ready.
  • Provide many opportunities for volunteers to contribute their own experience/expertise; and honor all points of view.
  • Pay attention to volunteers' physical and emotional well being throughout the training.
  • Create as attractive a physical environment as possible.
  • Provide food for the volunteers.
  • Thank volunteers frequently for their participation in the training.
2. Create community and build personal connections—among volunteers, between volunteers and the volunteer manager, between volunteers and staff who are trainers and presenters.
  • Include an icebreaker in the opening of the training to give people a chance to learn something about each other.
  • Create a set of training guidelines with the group to establish mutual respect.
  • Have participants work in different small groups throughout the training.
  • Use activities designed to create personal connections, such as peer-counseling practice or cultural diversity experiences.
3. Create opportunities for personal exploration, expression, and growth.
  • Use an icebreaker and other activities that provide opportunities for volunteers to explore and express their own values.
  • Use case studies as opportunities for volunteers to explore what clients' lives are like and what it might be like to develop a relationship with a client.
  • Use small groups as opportunities for quieter people to express themselves.
  • Create activities that allow for exploration of people's feelings about loss and other emotional experiences associated with volunteer work.
  • Use real plays rather than role-plays to practice skills. In real plays, people speak about issues that are real and current in their lives rather than playing a role.
  • Focus discussions on how people bring who they are as a person to the volunteer work they do.
  • Use opening/closing circles at the beginning/end of each session.
4. Create opportunities to explore the nature and rewards of service.
  • Have volunteers work on a client case study in small groups to identify the ways they could be of service to a client.
  • Use real plays in counseling skills practice, giving the listener an experience of the rewards of serving another by listening, and the speaker an experience of the rewards of being served.
  • Have a panel of clients and/or experienced volunteers talk about their relationships and the rewards of being of service.
5. Provide necessary information, skills, and skills practice.
  • Present and discuss information, including visuals such as flip charts.
  • Use case scenarios written by participants to apply material to their own work.
  • Discuss what works well in participants' experience in small groups, then report results to the whole group.
  • Give examples of how skills can be applied using role plays/real plays.
  • Case studies (print, audio, video).
  • Provide handouts and other resource materials summary.

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Context

Organizations and agencies that train volunteers can adapt these methods for their use.

The Shanti National Training Institute (SNTI) is a nonprofit organization providing training and technical assistance services to volunteer programs in public and private agencies nationwide. With the goal of enhancing the capacity of organizations to utilize volunteers effectively, SNTI services include program assessment, customized curriculum design and training presentation, program development, general consultation, materials preparation, and conference preparation. Since 1999, SNTI has provided in-depth training in volunteer management to representatives from more than 600 organizations representing a wide variety of volunteer programs in rural, urban, and suburban settings, including staff of two dozen Foster Grandparent, Senior Companion, and RSVP programs.

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Outcome

According to the Shanti National Training Institute, value-based volunteer training has several results:
  • Creates a community of volunteers who offer each other ongoing peer support and guidance throughout their volunteer careers
  • Addresses the emotional and spiritual lives of volunteers
  • Imparts useful life skills
  • Increases the likelihood of longevity of service, even when things become difficult or challenging

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Posted On

August 8, 2002

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