The Particular Dynamics of a Volunteer Workforce

Team members’ motivations and work commitments often vary more widely when the team is composed of volunteers rather than paid employees.  Still, volunteers are no different than employees in wanting to see tangible results from their efforts.  Should the purpose, motivation or rewards that bind them eventually be shown to be weak, members can obviously more easily choose to leave.  What does it take, then, for volunteer staff to agree and fully commit to a shared vision?

Volunteers especially value voicing their truth about their mission, the work they offer, and the issues they face.  They want to know how their colleagues see things and hear their ideas for meeting common challenges.  Leaders typically focus exclusively on discussing the ‘out there,’ that is, the nature of the specific public issue they are confronting: jobs, the environment, communities, discrimination and so on.  In doing so they can find the approach insufficient over time to sustain motivation as the challenges may appear endless.  In contrast, engaging staff to also consider the emotional barriers experienced: anger, resentment, frustration, or fear, while they address their technical issues enables them to explore the entire system for the root causes to their concerns, not just the symptomatic issues a few may want to focus on.

Trust is built with such conversations by openly raising the questions that have been avoided until then.  Both leaders and volunteer implementers start to experience the benefits of greater clarity and focus.  The mood is more relaxed, the team engages readily because the group agrees and aligns on needed outcomes and how to get there.