Do managers really need coaching skills? Or are they just a “nice to have”? Before answering, I’d like to talk briefly about what coaching is. If you’re already very familiar with coaching, please bear with me. My experience in training courses is that not everyone means the same thing by the word coaching. So what […]
As a great manager, you need to create and maintain an environment where people feel motivated and inspired to do their best work. In other words, you need to become a leader. So leadership starts with you. The qualities and behaviours you demonstrate will have a big impact on the people that you work with. And the first question […]
What can you do when a longstanding volunteer starts to struggle in their role? This may be through age, declining health or some other reason. As a manager of volunteers, you will almost certainly face this issue at some point in your career. And there’s no easy answer. Often, volunteering is central to the person’s […]
Causes of conflict You would be fortunate to get through a career as a manager of volunteers without occasionally encountering conflict between the people you work with. Psychologists Art Bell and Brett Hart suggest that it is easier to choose an appropriate response to dealing with conflicts or difficulties if you have first worked out […]
Have you ever wondered if there’s a key to managing different people, when you seem to find some volunteers much easier to deal with than others. Personality profiling can provide valuable insights and information to help you as a manager. There are a variety of profiles available, and this article will look at DISC, a […]
Volunteer managers sometimes ask what they can do about volunteers who are keen, but don’t always do what is needed, or do it in the wrong way. It can feel awkward to correct behaviours, and especially if the situation has been going on for a while. Volunteers are giving their time, energy and experience, and […]
Managers who can lead effectively create a positive working climate and learning culture, which in turn leads to high quality individual and organisational performance. Leaders inspire and motivate others to follow them towards a vision, rather than commanding them to do things For managers of volunteers, it is particularly important to develop strong leadership skills. […]
What does success look like from where you’re sitting? This was a question raised by Catherine Johnstone, CEO of the Samaritans, at the Surrender, Survive or Succeed conference in Guildford in April. Catherine was talking about the need to get input from all your stakeholders when planning for change. The Samaritans is a huge national […]
Leading and managing volunteers can be exciting. Volunteers choose to stay with us, not for financial reward, but because they feel motivated to do so. Our challenge is to nurture that motivation, and inspire volunteers towards the vision, aims and objectives of the organisation. Wikipedia offers us this definition of leadership: “a process of social […]