5 Things To Equip Your Volunteers To Do
by Margie Morris
Good training helps volunteers succeed. It equips them to tackle meaningful jobs with determination and skill. If we want to foster involvement and a sense of commitment that transcends the “good enough to get by” mentality, then our training will go beyond “how-to.” We want our volunteers to also consider “how might.” That means giving the people who work with us permission to do it their way.
It’s not always easy to let go of tried-and-true methods to allow for innovation. But by loosening our grasp, we allow volunteers to generate their own enthusiasm rather than asking them to be caretakers for our plans.
The following five suggestions will give both you and your volunteers more freedom and flexibility to do what you do best.
1. Foster Team Spirit
Train your volunteers to work together and to share ideas. Urge them to make decisions jointly. If possible, help volunteers determine their own specific responsibilities. Make a collective judgment about how best to build accountability into the program. Plan together. Play together. Pray together. Then help volunteers use these cooperative tools within their own subgroups.
It’s your job to keep the overall mission at the forefront of all activities. Your goals, tasks, and evaluations can then be measured according to your ministry’s mission. However, it’s also essential that you prod your volunteers to be detail-oriented–details make the difference between an ordinary and an extraordinary program. Provide volunteers with updated attendance lists. Stock a supply of funny birthday cards. Show how important caring connections are for everybody.
2. Delegate
Train your volunteers to involve people of all ages and backgrounds in your program. Teach them to look for helpers who have valuable skills and a servant mentality. Have them search within the congregation and outside in the community.
Even if you have one volunteer who can “do it all,” you’ll have a more vital, interesting ministry if you make delegation a priority. That’s why God refers to the church as a body, with parts that are radically different yet dependent upon one another. Delegation translates to better stewardship of time. And it cuts down the risk of burnout among your faithful workers.
3. Seek Out Training
Train your volunteers to ask for what they need. Offer various learning opportunities–including workbooks, seminars, community courses, and videotape training. As you build skills, you increase confidence. If possible, set aside money in your youth budget to help pay tuition or registration fees for your volunteers. It’s a wise investment in your people and your programs.
4. Take Risks
Train your volunteers to break out of the mold. Although taking reasonable chances sometimes leads to disappointment, it more often heightens excitement and enthusiasm. Banish the words “But we’ve never done it that way!” Discipleship was never intended to be a predictable exercise.
You hold the keys to innovative thinking. If you shoot down every wild brainstorm your volunteers come up with, you’re teaching them to “stay within the lines.” They’ll simply stop thinking of new ideas. And you’ll have a brain-locked, gridlocked ministry. So ask your volunteers to rethink and reinvent even your most successful ideas. So you’ve always had okay success with carwash fund-raisers? Maybe your volunteers can think of some twists that’ll make this year’s fund-raiser a resounding success. Your willingness to try new ideas will encourage them to think up new ideas.
5. Celebrate Success
Train your volunteers to appreciate the work they do and the people they work with. Even though we take our ministry seriously, laughter and lightheartedness make it fun. We often train volunteers to watch for “teachable moments,” but we forget to be alert for joyful moments.
At the conclusion of every project, at the halfway point of an important campaign, or at the end of a productive meeting, find ways to celebrate. Bring balloons. Throw confetti. Pass out chocolate chip cookies. Award a plaque. Offer an affirmation. Say a prayer. Success is the result of careful planning, hard work, and loving attention. Never let it go unnoticed.
This article is excerpted from Group Magazine, the world’s most-read youth ministry resource. Margie Morris, of Texas, directs a training organization called Volunteer Impact. She is the author of the book, Volunteer Ministries: New Strategies for Today’s Church.
Some of these strategies, as well as many other helpful volunteer leadership ideas, will be covered during LifeServe 2010 in the workshop track titled Essential Tools for Volunteer Leadership. LifeServe National Conference 2010 will be held at the Hyatt Regency in Columbus, Ohio from September 29 – October 1.
Copyright © 2010 Group Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.
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