"Empowering the right people for a stress-free, successful year"
- Determine and prioritize the critical tasks to keep the chapter running and successful. If you lack resources to do everything, focus on these first. Make sure your strongest board members (those who volunteer and follow through well) concentrate on the high priority, critical areas.
- Review the critical tasks and determine if improvements can be made on them (e.g., using E-mail for notifying members of meetings instead of paper mailings).
- Determine what tasks are not critical to the chapter. Ask why they are done. Can they be eliminated?
- Determine and use strengths of your board members. Every member has the capacity to contribute in some way to the organization—the key is to match the strength to your needs.
- Review the roles of each board member and, if necessary, revise and clarify the responsibilities.
- Provide clear direction on roles, responsibilities, and accountability with regard to accomplishing the plan and the board's vision.
- Don't be afraid to ask for help and make the request specific. Don't assume people will volunteer without the invitation to help. People who know what is expected generally will follow through.
Factors that Encourage Volunteers to Remain Connected
- Feeling appreciated.
- Seeing that their presence makes a difference.
- Having a sense of belonging/teamwork.
- Being involved in the process of problem solving, decision making, and objective setting.
Leadership Skills for Motivating Volunteers.
- Express vision, clear direction.
- Consider people's motivation, why they volunteered.
- Be sensitive—be open to other ways of doing things.
- Recognize volunteers, recognize them often. It motivates them to do more.
- Build confidence—visualize what the organization can become, not what it is.
- Be optimistic—lots of work, but look at it as a great challenge.
- Be flexible, not all board members are mirror images of you.
- Give teamwork the credit—share success with the board.
Types of Volunteer Leadership
- Those you delegate to and they do it with little follow-up. There are not many of these; they're in high demand, but if you can find any, grab them. Don't abuse them, but if you identify your critical needs, delegate to this type of volunteer.
- Those who volunteer, but need a little prodding to get things done. You may have to remind them, but they follow through.
- Those who enthusiastically take on tasks and never do them. These volunteers are a weak link; try to avoid or, if possible, replace them.
For more information, please contact William F. Githens, director, Membership Relations, at bgithens@rmahq.org or 215-446-4124 or the Regional Manager in your area.