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Responses to October 2003 hot topic

The success is in the succession!

Received on October 29, 2003, from Margaret Robertson, Manager of Volunteers, St Luke's Nursing Service, Queensland, Australia

Andy, you are quite right.

Somewhat belatedly I have commenced (with a volunteer's help) a "how to manage the volunteer program" manual for our organisation. Our VP is nearly three years old, running across 13 branches and central office. If I am not here, the current volunteers will be fine for a while at least, since they are coordinated by the local branch / office - but no-one else in the
organisation knows how I recruit, train, supervise, support etc.

So I have begun a manual which a) lists the regular tasks with a timeline - what happens weekly, monthly, quarterly etc and b) explanations with directions to the relevant computer documents for the things I do automatically, like advertising positions, interviewing & writing
newsletters.

Does anyone else have a similar manual or system in place? I'm thinking not so much about if I resigned from here, but eg if I had to take a couple of months off unexpectedly.

Received on October 3, 2003, from Mary Twinberg, Manager of Volunteers, Alberta, Canada

I read with interest your comments regarding succession planning and agree that it is not something we do well enough as a profession. In my last job, I worked extremely hard to build a reputable volunteer program and it was only when I left that I realized my role and the program were not valued. My role was replaced by the manager of another (unrelated) internal department, and as a result I really did feel as though all my hard work was simply a waste of time.

 

It's not too late --- let's hear what you think

 

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