Volunteering for anything is something anyone can do; leading a bunch of volunteers is a challenge all on its own.

Many organisations and even some corporate companies rely on volunteers to remain operational and to achieve certain goals and ambitions and relying on volunteers is something in the ideal world anyone would rather not do.  Volunteers are giving of their own time, they have stepped up and one of the challenges that is first faced is a lack of clarity in the purpose and responsibility of the volunteer, what they had expected something to be is not anywhere close to what they hoped it would be. The volunteer who has their expectations not met can be difficult to lead and they may often just do the absolute minimum, without any passion just to get the volunteering done.

Often, and in many cases it is not seen by the cause or organisation being aided by volunteers, the organisation is not really ‘Volunteer Friendly”. Very often the volunteers are not respected and because they are essentially ‘for free” they can be taken advantage of.  Leading in these places is more than just difficult and where respect is lost, as it can be in some places leading is impossible.

There are countless reasons why leading volunteers is difficult that range from the volunteer being used to being a leader and unaccustomed to being lead to the volunteer not really being certain about the purpose or objective of the organisation a person is volunteering for.  Thankfully, there are a number of ways to meet the challenges of leading volunteers and here are just 4 of them:

Respect

Above all, any volunteer needs to be respected. Volunteers may come with a specific skill or ability that could well be the reason they have volunteered in the first place. If a person with a skill has volunteered to use their skill making sure the skill is used is vital, whilst some volunteers will gladly help out and pull their weight anywhere, some who were expecting to do something else will become quite difficult to work with.

Don’t treat the volunteers as just a volunteer, because they have stepped up and could more than be doing something else they are actually your most valuable asset. Respect is easy and respect goes a long way in making the leadership of volunteers a great deal easier.

Explain

Explaining the purpose of the organisation, the reason for volunteering and the objectives of the day or period of volunteerism is vital.  The explanation of things is your chance to instil passion and kick start the volunteers into action.  Explain how things are done and even why they are done, but never forget that with respect discussed above comes the chance for the volunteer to question and perhaps improve things or a process.

Outlining the purpose or project with a plan and a goal can boost team spirit or can allow an individual to focus and get the task done efficiently and to the best of their ability.

Encourage

All the time volunteers are being led they need to be encouraged. Keeping volunteers motivated, especially in monotonous or thankless tasks is often the key to success.  Find ways to motivate, stimulate and even make the task fun.  With motivation comes a positive attitude and this leads to a person enjoying the take and becoming more open to being lead to achieve more.

Thank

The one thing may organisations think they do but don’t do is thank the volunteers.  A simple “thank you” or a handshake is often enough but in some cases, a small certificate or gift really makes them feel special and makes them want to volunteer again and be lead further. But along the course of the volunteering period as with encouragement expressions of gratitude go a long way. With volunteers, being a servant leader is often required; stepping down to allow others to rise up and one of the best ways to achieve this is through gratitude.