This short book is packed with suggestions and real life experience. It begins with a discussion of "What is Supervision?" thus swinging attention away from the volunteer to a consideration of what you, the supervisor, should understand about supervising volunteers.
Immediately, the authors insist that you put yourself into the place of your volunteers so you can see what your role is in making the experience useful and rewarding for each volunteer. And, the fact is, volunteers more often fail because they did not get the proper support and direction from their supervisor and the organization, than through their own shortcomings.
Supervision, the authors remind us, is a two-way relationship and state that "good supervisors demonstrate that they place equal value on each person in that relationship: they monitor not only workers' performance, but also their own."
Having established that point-of-view, the book goes on to address expectations for the volunteer, training, communication, coaching, how to solve performance problems, and conducting evaluations. The book finishes up with a discussion of the role of the volunteer coordinator and a way for you to assess your own skills.
What makes the book special, easy-to-read, and so helpful?
- Each chapter includes a section called "From the Field" which is suggestions by people actually working with volunteers.
- The "Archives" in each chapter is material published by another source. These are often actual materials that have been used in real world settings. They provide models that you can use for your own materials.
- There are "tips" at the end of each chapter that provide further suggestions from people who actually work with volunteers.
- Each chapter contains quotes from volunteers...comments made in focus groups.
Focusing on the Volunteer
What We Learned (the Hard Way} About Supervising Volunteers is laced with respect for the volunteer. This is clear when we consider the five principles that underlie the authors' approach to supervision:
- Volunteers are real staff.
"All the work of an organization is done by people....Volunteers, like paid staff, need to be linked into the organization in ways that ensure that they are productive, that they do good work, that they are challenged and given an opportunity to grow, and that they know they are valued for what they do and who they are."
- Volunteers are not free.
"There are real costs associated with recruitment, interviewing and screening, training, evaluating and recognizing volunteers....effective supervision is also a necessary investment."
- Supervision is about forming and maintaining relationships.
"...its essence is a one-to-one connection between two human beings....Good relationships in a work setting are characterized by mutual trust, mutual respect, and mutual recognition of each person’s competency and professionalism."
- The functions of a supervisor can be shared.
"Each organization must assess for itself who will supervise volunteers....it is important to insure that all the elements of supervision are provided for. To overlook any will hamper the effectiveness of the volunteer."
- Supervision cannot be isolated from other aspects of volunteer program management.
“If you design inappropriate positions, recruit inappropriate volunteers, or fail to screen out inappropriate applicants, all the great supervision in the world won’t solve your problems.”
This attention to the needs of the volunteer is evident also in the authors' encouragement to become "coaches" rather than supervisors. As they point out,"Volunteers who work with a supervisor who practices coaching can count on honest feedback. They also have a powerful role model who consistently demonstrates confidence in each individual as well as the whole team."
All in all, this is one book that supervisors of volunteers should read before ever writing one volunteer position description or putting out one recruitment ad. You will come away from it with the right attitude, specific suggestions as to how to do all the tasks you need to do, and a gold mine of resources and tips.
