This
Month's Hot Topic
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October
- November 2008
Co-operate or Collapse
By
OzVPM Director Andy
Fryar
OzVPM
has just finished co-hosting the 1st Asia Pacific
Volunteer Leadership conference in Honolulu, Hawaii.
While
the entire conference was a really great experience,
the closing ceremony particularly stands out in my
mind because unlike so many conferences I attend back
in Australia, where we try and ‘hype’ delegates up
to ‘go forth and conquer’ as they leave the event,
the closing ceremony in Hawaii was conducted with
much more of a reflective tone – something I am told
is much more common for that region.
The
final session I refer to was conducted by Dr Art-Ong
Jumsai Na Ayudhya from Thailand, who was a part of
the conference’s ‘six billion paths to peace’ stream.
His final and very traditional Thai candle lighting
ceremony really struck a chord with me. In this ceremony,
three key conference delegates were invited to go
to the front of the auditorium and light a candle
each. In addition, each delegate in the room had also
been given a small candle. The hall lights were dimmed
and starting with the three lit candles at the front
of the room, each person with a lit candle passed
on their light to another, until before we knew it,
the entire room was alight with the small light each
of us was holding.
It
was a powerful demonstration of the principal that
alone we are just one small voice, but that together,
if we work cooperatively, we can set the world ablaze!
It also prompted me to write this month’s Hot Topic!
“I
have a dream…” began Martin Luther in his historic
speech about the power of people of different creeds
working side by side. Well I have a dream too, one
which still feels almost impossible in the political
landscape which is the Australian volunteerism movement.
It stems from my observations both in Australia and
further abroad, that the politicising, back biting,
mistrust, jockeying for position and general competitiveness
of our sector remains the biggest hurdle to us ever
moving volunteerism ahead in any constructive manner
– what’s more, I believe it threatens to tear us apart
unless we come to terms with this fast!
I
am quite sure that even publishing this Hot Topic
will earn me a few less friends, but it needs to be
said that after more than two decades in this game
it appears that a cooperative approach is still viewed
with suspicion by many, which in turn never allows
us to move forward.
To
be even more blunt, allow me to state what I believe
are several key reasons for this:
•
The high turnover rate in our sector is like no
other industry and does not allow for relationships
to develop
•
There remains a continual recruitment of people
into volunteerism who don’t understand volunteerism!
If you owned a garage you would not employ someone
to be a mechanic who did not understand their way
around an engine, yet I am constantly baffled to
see volunteer involving agencies, including volunteer
centres and government departments for volunteering,
employing individuals who don’t have even a rudimentary
understanding of our core business
•
Associated with both of the above is a lack of any
clear career path in our sector.
•
The financial constraints our sector constantly
faces and the inherent competitiveness which this
funding often forces within the sector is a huge
factor
•
An unwillingness to acknowledge the various strengths
and weaknesses which those of us in the sector already
possess
•
A lack of understanding about the value of working
co-operatively
•
An inability to think outside of the square
Let
me take this argument one step further.
All
too often I believe that the volunteerism sector defines
itself (and is viewed by others) far too narrowly.
Volunteer Centres, peak bodies and government agencies
put themselves - and are viewed - as having to be
‘front and centre’ of the volunteering world. Once
positioned as ‘core’ or ‘lead’ agencies they then
have a need to find and have all the answers about
volunteering. On the surface this would make some
sense – yes?
Well
my observations over many years are that trying to
be ‘all things to all people’ actually weakens any
agency, whether it be in volunteerism or any other
sphere of life.
In
volunteering, the effect of this is that these lead
agencies can soon lose sight of why they exist in
the first place, who they seek to serve and just what
their core business is. Instead, attention is focused
on seeking better ways of funding themselves to the
point that the agency changes course and steers in
another direction. Government agencies and funders
in turn become significant and major players in this
cycle, often at the expense of other very important
members of the sector – namely volunteer managers,
professional Associations, trainers, consultants,
educators, researchers and academics. The result is
that this body of additional knowledge, spheres of
influence and complimentary support often becomes
merely a secondary set of players in the scheme of
things.
Now
don’t get me wrong, I am not on a witch hunt against
volunteer centres or govt dep[artments here as I believe
all of us working in this field need to spend time
redefining our own strengths and weaknesses to find
better ways of collaborating. I am also not suggesting
this pattern is true of each and every agency I have
met. There are indeed some fine examples of volunteer
centres and lead agencies around the world who are
focussing on their strengths and collaborating with
others in the sector to achieve maximum results for
their volunteering community.
For
instance in Singapore, the National Centre of Volunteering
and Philanthropy have delegated the task of training
volunteer managers across to MOVE, Singapore’s professional
Association for volunteer managers. In the UK, Volunteering
England recently signed an MOU with their professional
Association AVM. Yet here in Australia we struggle
to make these same connections.
I
believe it is only when we truly understand and utilise
the scope of information and knowledge we all
bring to the table that we will begin to move
forward as a whole.
Let
me give you an example. While in Hawaii I had a few
quiet beers with a guy called Tony Goodrow. Tony is
the creator of a volunteer management software system
in North America and CEO of that same company. Not
someone you would automatically assume to be part
of the volunteer movement right? Well the discussion
I had with Tony about trends and issues in our field
transcend the discussions I would have with 98% of
other people in the sector.
The
first thing that struck me is how sad it was that
a software specialist knew so much more about how
to manage volunteer programs than most people doing
the job! The second thought I had was why don’t we
refer to those on the periphery of our sector, people
like Tony, more often to seek alternate views on how
volunteerism issues could be improved?
Collaborating
is not new – and what’s more it is not difficult.
It
requires us to think broadly and approach each new
opportunity with a sense of excitement and anticipation
rather than from an angle of suspicion and fear.
Here
are some additional challenges and opportunities to
embrace the sector as a whole:
•
Why do so many VPM’s complain about the lack of
professionalism in the sector – yet so few bother
to take the time and join AAVA?
•
Why don’t our national professional Associations
make more efforts to band together and collaborate
internationally?
•
Why is it often considered ‘immoral’ that ‘for profit’
trainers, consultants, researchers and companies
make a living from volunteerism (and are often excluded),
when our volunteer centres and government offices
for volunteering are filled with people doing exactly
the same thing?
•
Why do government departments continually ‘reinvent
the wheel’ instead of relying on and better funding
our existing infrastructure, including volunteer
centres?
Like
the candles in that Hawaiian conference room, if we
learnt to be less threatened and work cooperatively
with one another, we too can light up our societies
with new and exciting ways - and break the cycles
of competitiveness once and for all.
Because
unless we all take some responsibility for doing this,
our sector will only continue to become more divided
and ultimately weaker
The
challenge is set!
•
What are you going to do about it?
•
What other thoughts would you like to add to this
debate?
Let’s
hear your thoughts!
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