Responses to April/ May 2010 Hot Topic
An interview with Jayne Cravens
Response posted by Peter Morris, Convenor Albany Community Environment Centre Inc and potential Head Chef at the yet-to-be-opened Albany Bike Kitchen on April 9, 2010
What a great presenter Jayne is. I really enjoyed her direct and casual style. And it was very evident that she has an impressive pool of knowledge and experience that informs her work and her presentations.
My "Ah-ha!" moment came when Jayne demonstrated how she is attempting to bridge the gap between "old school" attitudes and approaches to volunteerism and "new" approaches. I have deliberately used inverted commas for the terms "old school" and "new" because I agree with Jayne's observation that there are useful elements in both camps, so we should try to avoid being too limiting in how we respond to opportunities.
My own bias is towards volunteerism that is driven by social activism. I am much more comfortable with a self-formed, self-directed and self-governing group of volunteers who have come together to do something themselves that they believe will make the world a better place. I prefer working in groups that use consensus decision-making processes and rotate leadership responsibilities amongst all the members.
I am less comfortable in organisations or businesses that have a volunteer "department" operating alongside their commercial imperatives and a large, paid workforce.
But, thanks to Jayne, I'm doing some uncomfortable yet worthwhile reappraisal of this personal bias.
Response posted by Sue Hine, Wellington, New Zealand on April 2, 2010
Jayne is such an enthusiast as well as being informative.
Thank you Andy for asking all the right questions, and thanks to Jayne who acknowledges the good stuff about managing volunteers in Australasia.
I acknowledge I need to know more about internet communication, the blogs, the twits and face-book stuff. But I do know how the full website information re my organisation and about volunteering, including application forms, can bring in more inquiries and direct applications from volunteers than any other means of communication. And what a short-cut time-saver this can be.
Internet interaction re managing volunteers is a bit more haphazard. You've got to know where to go, how to hook into newsgroups and the like. You've got to find the courage and confidence to ask a simple question. A Google search can throw up enough results to make you think you have fallen into a black hole. Or you risk tuning into everybody's different ideas. Of course it is no bad thing to learn about difference, different organisations, different styles of management. But when I live far away from the hot-beds of VM activism, and specially when there is no organisational provision to support my professional development, I am most often left to my own initiative to resolve organisational / management and volunteer issues. This is my Big Butt!
So - is there somewhere, out there, beyond web-based newsletters and the like, a user-friendly dictionary or somesuch to help people find their way when the road of managing volunteers gets rough? Ah - Ha! (and I figured this before I finished typing the sentence) - has no-one heard the words 'mentoring' and 'supervision'?
Well, this is usually undertaken face-to-face, but I know it can be equally effective on-line. AAVA has some work-in-progress on mentoring, and there are small germs of cultivation happening in Wellington, NZ. Perhaps Jayne will have something to say about using internet technology for mentoring managers of volunteer services.
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hear what you think!
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