Volunteer Management: Accountability #1

Here is the blog post that is tough: Keeping volunteers accountable is hard to do. Our mindset is that since we are in leadership and possibly getting paid, we should not hold volunteers to the same level of commitment and excellence as we hold ourselves to. But this does not reflect the excellence of ministry that the scriptures call us to. Remember that the volunteers do not work for us; they do not work for our ministry, not our church or denomination. They serve for a higher purpose and have a higher employer. Our place as organizers and leaders is to give them feedback, encouragement, and resource.

But that does not help with the most troubling question. How do we hold volunteers accountable? The answer is simple: we tell them what we expect and we tell them the kind truth.

Some practical approaches:

• Give them written expectations

• Have them acknowledge an covenant of expectations

• This can include

• Being on time

• Praying for their students

• Preparing for their lessons

• Writing birthday, welcome, or we miss you notes

• Keeping safety or room cleanliness expectations

• Reward those who uphold expectations with unexpected thank you gifts

Confrontation

What to do if someone is not meeting the written expectations. Begin with a small informal reminder.Depending on how well you know the person, your confrontational style and their personality. This can happen in a few ways. My advice is to keep it light, friendly, personal, and private.“We really need you here by 9:00 so that the kids can get checked in on time.”If they continue to not meet the outlined expectations then more formal conversations and correspondence will be necessary.

Raising and keeping expectations

Hold volunteers to high standard might lose you some warm body volunteers, but it will help you keep the really good ones. Retention of the volunteers who do not keep to a level of quality will eventually lead to low morale of the quality volunteers. No one wants to share responsibility with those who do not hold up their end. (Think back to any group project where someone did not keep up with the assignment.)Keeping high expectations lets you keep high end volunteers which will raise the level of your ministry.