Some of you may recall a recent blog post here promoting our Aiming for Excellence workshop session and webinar broadcast, live from the EYV11 road show on November 3rd. You may have even signed up for the webinar broadcast, and if you did, you'll know that despite lots of advance checking of the tech - it did in fact let us down on the day. So much so, that we lost our live feed and subsequently, our on-line audience.
Bit of a disaster scenario you might think? Possibly. But, we prefer not to think about it in those terms here at VC Warrington. Mainly because there was lots of positive stuff to come from this experience, not least the fact that we hosted a fantastic panel discussion led by Rob Jackson @robjackson74 and received some really interesting questions from members of the live audience.
And... most importantly, we have spent the last week collating the content from this event to produce a set of audio and written resources for everyone to make use of and be inspired by. We hope you enjoy them:
Our focus for the session was Aiming for Excellence: The Future of Professional Development in Volunteer Management. Our panel consisted of:
- Laura Hamilton @Laura77 (Volunteer and Development Manager with George House Trust) - discussing the benefits of qualifications for volunteer managers.
- Martin J Cowling @peoplefirst (CEO, People First, Total Solutions) - discussing the need for improved 'on the job' training for volunteer managers.
- Carl Cadman @jackal (Volunteers Manager, Acorns Children's Hospice) - discussing why we need to be identifying and developing key skill sets for managing volunteers.
Rob set the scene for the session really well, by emphasising the importance of being clear about what we want as a profession. Indeed, if we aren't clear about the professional development we need, how can we best influence decision makers and our line managers to support us and resource it? You can listen to his opening piece here http://bit.ly/uToSrm
Laura made a great case for VM qualifications benefitting not just the indivdiual manager, but described the potential impact for the whole organisation, including the volunteers. And how through studying we can become 'better' managers of volunteers. You can listen to her piece here http://bit.ly/uc1a4v or read more here http://bit.ly/s6IsoH
Martin explained that there are several common themes and issues concerning VM training which are shared globally; and why the key to change lies largely with our professional bodies - nationally and internationally. You can listen to his piece here http://bit.ly/szxgFo
Carl focused on how we firstly need to shift our own perceptions of our role, to see ourselves as leaders and influencers, and then to develop these important skills further. You can listen to his piece here http://bit.ly/txvoFO or read more herehttp://bit.ly/sc2O9j
As mentioned, we also received some very insightful questions and comments from the audience, enabling the discussion to open up further, with opinion from each of the panel members. You can access a transcript of the Q&A here http://bit.ly/vIOrp4
Finally, I want to encourage us all to continue this discussion through i-volunteer, or via any of the other VM social media platforms; as well as asking you to take these resources to share with your local volunteer managers' networks and within your organisations.
For those of you looking to develop a more global perspective - it's also worth checking out Susan Ellis's on-line journal http://www.energizeinc.com/ which looks at 'credentialing' in volunteer management. And, a fascinating blog from New Zealand about some of the considerations for VMs in professional development http://bit.ly/rJIeTG
Let's explore all the options available to support our professional development and keep talking about it with oneanother, so we can become clear about what we want and need as a profession. If we don't, no-one else will!
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Comments
An interesting debate, thanks for uploading the transcript and sound clips for those that couldn't be there. Where to start…
I think the good news is that, eventually, the valuable skills a volunteer manager has to have will be recognised by the rest of our sector, and others. It’ll take a fundamental change in culture (a shift in the way volunteers are viewed, the concepts of what they can do) but it’ll happen. It’s for this reason I’m always reticent about ‘pushing’ too much for things like formal qualifications or widespread training. As was mentioned, volunteer management changes so quickly I worry that we’d create an army of managers with lots of certificates but decade-old practices.
Similarly, let’s say that tomorrow a university offers a bachelors/masters in Volunteer Management. Having that piece of paper is one tiny part of being an effective volunteer manager, and I would be wary of putting formal qualifications up on a pedestal. On-the-job training, mentoring, professional development, e-learning, practical training by peak/infrastructure bodies are all other ways of getting that experience and those ideas that volunteer managers need to lead effectively (and ways that are much less time and $ intensive).
The idea of volunteer managers as internal advocates is much more important than formal training, I feel. The way an organisation manages volunteers is a reflection of how it manages its staff: are staff members micromanaged? Or given autonomy do go about a job as they see fit? Are staff involved in decision making? Or told what will happen? The wider organisational culture will have a much greater affect than framed certificate on a wall.
The cost issue is also important, but I would look at it from the other angle: to produce a valuable, standardised piece of volunteer management training, you could potentially include modules relating to psychology, finance, sociology, business, management, critical thinking…the list goes on. Do any volunteer managers have the time or money to take a day a week out for a year to study everything you’d need to become a perfect volunteer manager?
I would rather have a volunteer manager with some communication skills and broader management abilities/attributes, and ‘top them up’ with volunteer-specific experience or information. One of the great things about working in the volunteering sector is how fluid it can be: lets not get bogged down in letters after our names.
Thanks for taking the time to put this together Sue – a useful read/listen.
Some fascinating snippets…for example:
Martin Cowling saying that people who manage volunteers just don’t get it, which means that volunteer managers end up isolated and don’t have access to either formal qualifications or on the job training.
Then the fact that after the Olympics in Oz, the tourism industry has volunteer management as a core component in their general management qualifications – meaning that these managers will technically ‘out qualify’ specialist volunteer managers!
Laura’s point that if volunteer management cannot be represented within a qualification framework then it doesn’t reflect well on the profession, is well made. As is the notion of a ‘positive ripple’ of being VM qualified is having the overview and confidence to engage with the wider organisation and disseminate volunteer management skills and ethos to others.
Rob’s introduction places the discussion in an interesting context also:
Some of his key pints are that volunteer managers want more respect/status, better pay, and to be able to do their jobs for effectively. He also highlights that VM qualifications need to be able to embrace different contexts and be kept up to date.
So all in all, it seems as a profession we need to take a lead in:
(i) Ensuring VM qualifications are relevant, flexible and able to respond to the changing nature of the times (NB as other professional bodies will do for their own qualifications)
(ii) Utilise these qualifications to promote the career progression of volunteer managers so they in time can be the ones that manage volunteer managers – and be people that ‘get it’!
If we fail to do this, I can’t help feeling that nothing will really change – and we may still be saying in ten years time (as Martin said in response to the ‘lack of funding for training’ question:
“woe is us – there is no money”
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