volunteerplaintalk

Category: managing change

  • Volunteer Resilience

    In the last VPT podcast, Laura Rundell wisely chats about resilience, a subject we have been forced to examine in the past year. Laura asks: What is resilience? What masquerades as resilience? How do our volunteers show resilience?

    What can we learn from this year?

    We were unprepared for the magnitude of the pandemic and how it disrupted volunteerism. But, you know what? We, LoVols, deal with disruption all the time. Changes in volunteer assignments, policy tweaks, staff shuffling, new projects implemented, tasks taking precedent over other tasks, organizational restructuring, and then there’s the personal changes in volunteers’ lives that create disruption. We live in the Upheaval Hotel. (Too many volunteers answering that old add you forgot to remove in your room? I’ve got one on the 10th floor with explaining the new policy changes you might like better)

    Because volunteer resilience is key to not only surviving major disruptions, but key to surviving and thriving during more minor disruptions, we are knee-deep in encouraging resilience. Nurturing volunteer resilience is necessary, regardless of a pandemic or a change in policy. So, going forward, what can we learn from this experience?

    I recall a few years back, we had a near volunteer mutiny when a beloved staff member left in a hasty manner. It was not pretty. I was unprepared for the upheaval that followed. But through a series of dialogues, adjustments and extensive follow-ups that centered on resilience, the volunteers stayed. It proved to me that resilience is a mind-set we can help foster.

    How can we help volunteers be resilient?

    • Make change normal: Use change language and lay a foundation that says change is natural and an evolving strategy to move forward. Make the distinction from the need to adapt and pivot (change) on operational issues from the solid core values of your mission that remain foundational and say, for example, “we are adapting and learning to navigate the changes we must make to grow, but we never lose sight of our mission which is the foundation on which we operate.” Make sure volunteers know that the mission is their anchor.
    • Present change as an opportunity: Present change in a positive light by encouraging volunteers to think about opportunities such as, “now that we have to re-think our in-person services, let’s look at the opportunities to utilize different skills, find new talents.” Get volunteers to brainstorm, be part of the process. Change is received more readily when volunteers are part of the change process.
    • Connect to purpose: Offer stories of how the volunteers’ can-do attitude helps those being served. Tell volunteers how they inspire staff and clients to keep going. Use humor and inspiration as stress relief.
    • Debrief and reflect: Always elicit feedback. In change management, feedback is key to navigating change. Not once, but repeatedly, so when you hear the volunteers say, “We get it, you’re always asking how are we doing with these changes,” you’re on the right track. Reflection is a way to embrace the difficulties, to acknowledge the loss of status quo. Reflection is nonjudgmental and healing and allows for the volunteers to express their frustrations and loss. When I experienced the volunteer near mutiny, reflection gave the volunteers a space to grieve over losses without feeling judged. I learned so much by just listening to them.
    • Survivor attitude: Make surviving a badge of honor. We tell volunteers how special they are, so add surviving into that mix.
    • Introduce scenarios into training: I love scenarios because they apply knowledge to real situations. Adding a change scenario is a great way for volunteers to think about how they might act when change is inevitable and a great way to encourage resilience.
    • Admit the struggle: As a volunteer manager, you are good at being honest. Admit the “work in progress” because it’s easier to be resilient when you know everyone else is struggling to be resilient too. It’s the team mentality. We will get through this together.

    Resilience is not…

    Resilience is not forcing volunteers to accept the unreasonable without question. That’s being a door-mat. And it’s good to let volunteers know that you understand the difference between resilience and being taken advantage of and will work to make sure they are treated with respect. That way, when proper changes occur, they will likely be more resilient.

    Oh, and what about you? How’s your resilience holding up? Do you, as Laura says in the podcast, practice self-care and find joy in our profession? Do you seek out other volunteer professionals to vent to? Laura and I chat often, and I have to say, I get so much out of our chats. We’re not alone. We are strong and resilient. Finding another volunteer engagement professional to chat with, laugh with, cry with, or vent with is one of the greatest ways to steady a wobbling boat, to adjust your sails and take a moment to enjoy the journey.

    And feed your resilience.

    -Meridian

  • 3 Tips for Change Mgmt and Volunteer Ownership

    Like it or not, Covid means changes affecting our volunteers are inevitable. How do we manage the upheaval change brings?

    There are multitudes of theories on change management, and wading through them can be exhausting. For our purposes, here are 3 tips to help you navigate your changing landscape.

    Why are volunteers averse to change?

    Change represents uncertainty and loss. Change threatens our status quo and destroys our comfort zones. Even if the status quo is not ideal, humans cling to the known verses embracing change for a better unknown. Managing change is tough, even if the change is for the better.

    Let’s begin by assessing the volunteers. As we introduce change, what are the volunteers thinking/feeling/imagining? They may verbalize or worse, internalize:

    • “Where does this change leave me?”
    • “Does this change mean more change (upheaval) is coming?”
    • “Will my role disappear?” or “What if I’m no longer needed?”
    • “What if change is an excuse to get rid of the volunteering I love so much?”
    • “What if I can’t adapt to this change? Then what?”

    Tip 1: Involve the Volunteers

    Easier said than done, right? Especially if Covid has changed policies to reflect social distancing. There’s little to no room for volunteer input on mandatory changes. However, HOW you go about implementing change can involve your volunteers. Volunteers can set goals and brainstorm the path to achieving these goals once they understand the need to implement change.

    A large portion of change management deals with the why. Why are these changes happening? Failed change management strategies don’t adequately explain the why, which leads to push-back and ultimately mutiny. We don’t have to worry excessively about explaining the why, because a global pandemic speaks for itself which differs vastly from an organization internally revamping policies. We still must explain the why, but at least they don’t view Covid as some mean CEO who hates volunteers and just wants to get rid of them. (yeah, been down that pot-holed road a few times)

    Create focus groups or panels of volunteers to flesh out how to best implement the change. Controlling some changes helps create volunteer commitment, especially when you connect the changes to delivering mission goals.

    For example: Volunteers can no longer make in-person house visits (temporarily or permanently). You’ve already decided that in-person volunteers can substitute phone calls for the in-person visits, but don’t suggest that. Instead, ask the focus group to re-imagine ways to continue a personal touch. They may suggest Zoom or phone calls, or emailing, etc. The point is, give them the control and let them come up with the solutions instead of just telling them the alternative.

    Tip 2: We’re in this Together

    Make Covid the enemy, which means we are all in this together. Adopt verbiage that reinforces a team approach and commitment to flexible thinking (flexible thinking says, “this is not written in stone, your input is valuable to making this work”). Ditch the “I, they, them” words and use “we” verbiage such as:

    • “Together, we’ll figure this out and beat this.”
    • “The organization is on board with..”
    • “We’re all invested in our mission goals despite having this setback.”
    • “Everyone has a valuable role in achieving our goals.”
    • “We are all contributing to success.”
    • “We can’t do it without everyone’s contribution.”
    • “We’re stronger than this pandemic.”

    Change management often fails due to something as innocent as two people in authority delivering conflicting messages. Conflicting messages reinforces the “they don’t know what they’re doing” push-back and undermines volunteers’ confidence and commitment.

    Can we control messaging from other staff, volunteers and senior management? Probably not, but we can routinely ask our volunteers, “what have you heard about this change from others?” We can’t control everyone’s word choices, but we can clear up misinformation, discrepancies and bring messaging anomalies to the attention of staff and senior management.

    Make messaging clear. Ask senior management to create short, easily digested statements on any changes. For example:

    “Because of social distancing rules and guidelines, we have to consider the legal implications of letting volunteers go into homes, even with masks on, so to be on the safe side, we are putting a temporary moratorium on in home visits,” becomes “Temporarily, we are suspending in home visits.”

    Too much verbiage is not only confusing, it opens itself up to wide interpretation. Often, long explanations contain apologetic language that implies, “we’re not committed to what we’re saying, so go ahead and challenge us.” Simple, to the point sentencing ensures everyone will repeat the same message.

    Tip 3: Repeat, Check-in, Repeat

    Repeat your change message often, way more often than you think is necessary. Sounds childish, right? But studies have shown that in order for a message to stick, it needs to be repeated anywhere from 7-66 times. Work messaging into chats, meetings, phone calls and emails. Be consistent. You’re not being patronizing, you are being clear. When you hear a volunteer laughingly repeat, “I know, we’re all valuable in making this change work,” you’re on the right track.

    A change management strategy includes change duration (how long will it take to implement change). But here’s the interesting finding. In successful change management, duration of change is less of a factor than the frequency of reviews (the process of consistently reviewing change implementation). For us, that means don’t worry so much about how long it will take to implement a change, concentrate on frequent reviews for maximum success.

    And formal reviews are superior to informal reviews. What do I mean by that? The casual, “hey how’s it going with the new virtual mentoring program” as you chat on the phone with your volunteer holds no weight against a scheduled, formal review in which you go over changes by taking notes, asking questions, and reinforcing the volunteer’s importance and value in achieving change goals. Formal reviews show you’re serious about successful change implementation and you care about the volunteers’ contributions.

    Change is never easy, but we can manage it with strategies. And who is the best person to navigate a changing landscape that volunteers will get behind? You got this.

    -Meridian

    For more information on managing change, see the Harvard Business Review: The Hard Side of Change Management.