Hot
Topic Archive
April
2008
Personal
Power in Volunteer Management
By
Guest Hot Topic Author Liz
Scarfe
Something
I’ve been ruminating on and off for the last year
or two involves issues of personal power which we
are exhibiting in the evolution of the volunteering
sector.
A
simple sociological definition of power could be the
ability to make choices or influence outcomes. Power
is not inherently good or bad. It is relational and
reciprocal which means we cannot talk about how much
power a person or group has without referring to the
broader context of that person or group - and the
levels of power of others in that context.
Firstly,
there seems to be an incredible perception of a lack
of power. I’ve observed it in volunteers, in the frustratingly
common statement “Oh I’m just a volunteer”. The statement
is often made to elicit some positive feedback (who
ever responds with “Yes dear, that’s right”?) but
the symptoms of this kind of powerlessness are not
only demoralizing to work with, but can be dangerous
when manifested as an absence of responsibility.
Perceived
powerlessness seems to be a significant issue for
managers of volunteers as well. While overtly many
seem to be working hard to gain more power at several
levels, there seems to be some double signals about
our capacity to take and use power.
Within
the sector there are now many groups campaigning for
more power at social/structural levels i.e. pushing
the evolution of volunteer management as a career.
However, instead of being able to focus their campaigns
in the broader community, they seem to have to spend
significant resources trying to convince volunteer
managers themselves of their own value.
Within
our own organizations we attempt to gain more power
by applying for more resources, internal marketing
campaigns, internal advocating for volunteer rights
and recognition etc. I was recently writing a development
proposal requesting additional resources and asked
peers in my local managers’ network to forward me
any successful proposals or techniques they had used.
I was excited at the flurry of responses, only to
discover that they were all tales of unsuccessful
attempts and good luck messages!! Resourcing better
volunteer management has got to be one of the best
business cases an organization can be presented with,
so why are so few of them successful? Traditional
views of volunteering seem to have left us with a
legacy of victim-hood and powerlessness that has overridden
good sense.
I
was fortunate enough to attend the Australasian
Retreat for Advanced Volunteer Management in
Hobart last year (some of you were probably there
too) . It was a fantastic retreat at which I learnt
a lot; not all of it good though. One of the sessions
was a whole group role play that was essentially a
community debate about the value of volunteer management.
As the role play progressed, my jaw dropped closer
and closer to the floor; stunned at the absence of
articulate debate from those supposedly arguing in
the positive. Those arguing against the value of volunteer
management absolutely wiped the floor!!
This
isn’t a personal criticism of individuals though,
as I believe at its heart the issue is social and
structural. We have been living through a time where
good leadership has been in short supply, with personal
empowerment at an all time low.
However,
I think this sense of powerlessness is illusory. I
actually think volunteers and volunteer managers have
an incredible amount of power but are hesitating to
wield it.
Aside
from general responses and feisty debate, I’d love
to hear some ‘good news’ stories of how managers have
wielded power for the benefit of their programs and
also how people have gone about developing their own
personal power.
Let’s
hear your thoughts!
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