Lead and motivate volunteers
Overview
Who is this unit for?
This unit is for those who support the work of volunteers within the school. Volunteers could be parent helpers, business people from the local community, work experience students, or anyone else who is working in the school on an unpaid basis.
What is this unit about?
This unit is about leading and motivating volunteers so that they achieve high standards. It involves briefing them on their responsibilities, helping them to resolve any problems, and giving them feedback on their work. Throughout the process of leading volunteers it is important to show respect for their needs and preferences and the nature of the volunteer role.
This unit covers the `softer' skills needed to lead volunteers rather than other aspects of planning, organising and monitoring volunteer work which, in a school, would be carried out by the teachers with whom they work.
This unit contains three elements:
1. Brief volunteers on work requirements and responsibilities
2. Help volunteers to solve problems during volunteering activities
3. Debrief and give feedback to volunteers on their work
Performance criteria
You must be able to:
Brief volunteers on work requirements and responsibilities
P1 choose a place and a time for the briefing that is appropriate to your volunteers and their work
P2 explain the purpose and value of the work that you want them to do and motivate them to achieve high standards
P3 encourage and support volunteers to take ownership of the work and suggest ways in which plans could be improved or adapted to meet their diverse needs, abilities and potential
P4 agree individual responsibilities and working methods with each volunteer and make sure they understand what is expected of them and are confident about taking on these responsibilities
P5 agree with volunteers how they should communicate with you and with each other
P6 communicate with volunteers at all times in ways that meet their diverse needs and show respect for their volunteer role
Help volunteers to solve problems during volunteering activities
P7 monitor volunteering activities and identify problems when they occur
P8 collect and analyse available information about the nature of the problem P9 identify the implications of the problem and communicate these to those
involved
P10 provide temporary support to help volunteers overcome problems if necessary
P11 promote an atmosphere in which individuals are not blamed for the problem and problems are seen as an opportunity for learning
P12 encourage an approach in which your volunteers take responsibility for the problem and feel motivated to work towards an acceptable solution
P13 work with those involved to identify a solution that is acceptable to them and in line with your organisation's policies and procedures
P14 communicate clearly and effectively with those involved in ways that recognise their diverse needs
P15 treat confidential information appropriately, whilst being open and transparent about non-confidential issues
Debrief and give feedback to volunteers on their work
P16 evaluate volunteers' work against agreed work requirements, using fair and objective
P17 choose an appropriate time and place to debrief and provide feedback to volunteers
P18 clearly explain the purpose of debriefing and feedback and encourage an
open and honest approach
P19 encourage and support volunteers to reflect on the work they have done and to provide objective feedback to you
P20 give volunteers feedback that is based on your evaluation of their work and takes account of their views and opinions
P21 acknowledge and celebrate volunteers' achievements in ways that reinforce their motivation
P22 provide constructive suggestions to improve volunteers' future performance and agree these with them
P23 identify where volunteers may need additional support and make this available, where appropriate
P24 show respect for volunteers' individual needs and preferences and the nature of their voluntary role
Knowledge and Understanding
You need to know and understand:
Communication
K1 the principles of effective communication and how to apply them
K2 the importance of briefing volunteer staff and the different ways in which this can be done
K3 the information that should be given during briefings
K4 the importance of having effective methods of communication with and between volunteers
Continuous improvement
K5 the importance of seeking new and innovative roles and working methods and how to identify these
Diversity and equality
K6 the importance of taking account of people's diverse abilities, styles and motivations
K7 the importance of making sure that working methods and roles are consistent with volunteers' diverse needs, abilities and potential and how to do so
Involvement and motivation
K8 the importance of involving volunteers in selecting and planning their roles and responsibilities and how to do so
K9 the importance of giving volunteers the opportunity to evaluate their own work and how to encourage and enable them to do this
K10 the importance of providing feedback to people and how to give appropriate feedback sensitively and constructively
K11 the importance of basing feedback on an objective evaluation of performance
K12 the importance of celebrating the achievement of volunteers and methods you can use to do so
Legal requirements
K13 the legal requirements you need to consider when agreeing volunteers' working methods and roles
Monitoring, review and evaluation
K14 how to monitor and evaluate the work of volunteers
K15 the importance of using fair and objective criteria for evaluation and what types of criteria might be appropriate in a volunteer context
K16 the importance of using evidence for evaluations and the types of evidence you could use
K17 the types of factors that might affect volunteers' performance and how to take account of these when evaluating their work
Support and supervision
K18 how to determine and agree the requirements for the work of volunteers K19 the types of support that volunteers have a right to expect from their supervisor and how to provide these
Scope/range
Scope Performance
Scope Knowledge
Values
Behaviours
Skills
Glossary
Links To Other NOS
Origin of this unit
This unit is taken from the National Occupational Standards for Management of Volunteers where it appears as unit D2.