by Rosalind Eaton, CVA
We all come to service for a variety of reasons, with widely different gifts and talents, and drastically different reasons for being present. The great joy of our church community is our diversity and togetherness – but it can also make consistency in our efforts difficult. The title of this article are three big words and styles managing people: Organizing, Managing, and Leading.
Effective volunteer management uses a little of all three in a combination that uses the best qualities of each build a solid team to carry out the work that needs doing. Larger organizations are able to spread these three efforts out a bit more, as they often have teams of staff or volunteers equipped and ready to do the organizing, to be managers, and to lead the efforts, teams, or both.
Organizing is your basic level of people management, of event/effort/project coordination, and of time management. If you have a service project that needs to be done, this level is your foundation. You’ll answer the Who, What, Where, When, Why, How questions in broad strokes. You will determine what gifts/talents your volunteers might need to have, how many volunteers you need to be successful, what resources are needed, what your timeline is, if this opportunity needs to repeat, if it’s virtual or in person – and if in person, where it will happen, and outline your reasoning for why this opportunity is needed.
Many church events are simple organizing: people needed for setup/cleanup, greeting people and offering directions around a space, sharing preestablished information, selling or collecting tickets, organizing seating, volunteers to bring or pickup food, etc. Much of the needs do not require specialized skills or gifts, and do not require extra training or a lot of supervision.
Managing requires a little more. You’ve brought in volunteers to do service activities, but the positions are a little more complicated. This is where you might need to provide more than a basic orientation and move into actual training. You’ll need to lay out expectations for each volunteer position, guidelines and best practices should be shared early on and volunteers should be monitored to make sure they’ve been set up for success. Most of the time in our church environment, managing allows for a laid-back, hands-off approach. You will need to be available to answer questions, provide guidance and direction, to problem-solve and remediate if issues arise, and sometimes it might be necessary to reassign or remove a volunteer. Thankfully, this last area is rare, but it could be necessary. Managing and leading require knowing that just because you get someone to fill a position, it might not be the right fit for them. It’s okay to recognize that, and if handled compassionately, can be done without anger or recrimination.
Leading takes the best traits of organizing and managing and allows you to bring out the best in yourself and in your volunteers. There are many, many ways to lead. My personal favorite has always been to lead by example. I will rarely ask a volunteer to do something I am not willing to do myself – and often have! It’s the best way to know what the opportunity entails and to ensure that your volunteers will be set up for a fun, successful opportunity. Leading can be done without micromanaging – it’s okay to provide training and then let your volunteers do their work! It’s important to keep an eye on things, but not to a level that makes the volunteer feel unappreciated, undervalued, or unnecessary. Let your volunteers shine!
The best opportunities are those where volunteers are oriented, trained, and trusted to do the service activity. The best leaders are those who are willing to let go of some of the control and who trust that they have set up their volunteers to succeed. Strong organization, detailed plans, and solid communication skills from the leader will create a platform for successful events or opportunities, every time!