Peterson, 'Motivating Volunteers: The 1994 Midwinter LITA Leadership Development Session', LITA Newsletter v15n02
URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/lita/lita-v15n02-peterson-motivating

V15N2.MOTIVATE LITANEWS
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Motivating Volunteers: The 1994 Midwinter
LITA Leadership Development Session
 
DURING THIS SESSION, sponsored by the LITA's Leadership Development
Committee, Barbara Higginbotham (Brooklyn College) gave a presentation
on how to motivate volunteers. Higginbotham identified the importance
of volunteers, particularly how important they are to LITA. LITA is a
unique organization in that it is largely supported by volunteer work,
which facilitates opportunities for involvement as well as advancement
within the group. In addition, the programming done by LITA's interest
groups requires a substantial amount of work and thus requires many
volunteers to be coordinated into committees.
   How does a group attract volunteers? The most important factor is
to emphasize to each volunteer his or her status as a team member
within the group. Volunteering should also be made to seem manageable,
by having clearly defined tasks and a coherent plan in place for a
project. The value of the project or the tasks being assigned should
also be defined. It should be easy for people to volunteer. Volunteer
coordinators might consider collecting business cards instead of
passing around signup sheets.
   Barriers to volunteering can include time constraints, being a new
member of LITA and being unsure about having sufficient technical
knowledge of a particular subject. Strategies to combat these problems
are: breaking down tasks into manageable units, planning far enough in
advance to alleviate "last-minute" pressure, creating a mix of
knowledgeable and novice team members, matching the task with the
abilities of the volunteer and, finally, stressing the recognition a
person will get for volunteer efforts.
   Jobs for volunteers come in two flavors: "pre-program" and "at
program."   Considerable detail characterizes specific duties to be
assigned, which might vary with the program. Some tasks mentioned were
submitting forms, preparing publicity, handling speaker arrangement
and communication, copying and handling materials to accompany the
presentations and handling local arrangements. At the program, a
troubleshooter is invaluable for last minute problems, and a volunteer
should be on hand to attend to speakers' needs and details.
   Those attending the meeting were particularly concerned with
keeping volunteers on track. An important tactic is to have good
communication with volunteers. If it becomes evident that someone
cannot handle assigned tasks, make sure the person is confronted and
the duties reassigned if necessary. Having manageable tasks, good
organization and ample time before the program can help to keep
volunteers on track and alleviate problems with unfulfilled tasks.
Group updates are also a good way to keep everyone apprised and aware
of the progression of program duties.
   Higginbotham then discussed the attraction of being a volunteer and
the benefits of working with volunteers. Volunteering can provide
experience to put on a resume, aid in advancement at work, provide
contacts for positive evaluation and letters of recognition for
personnel files, help in getting travel funding to attend conferences
connected with the volunteer work and facilitate personal and
professional development. A benefit from working with volunteers is
the range of expertise made available that is reflective of the
group's membership. For LITA, volunteers allow the organization to
move forward faster in development of new groups without getting
bogged down with complicated committee structures. Volunteering also
attracts new members and ensures good candidates for future leadership.
   Some pitfalls of working with volunteers include people who don't
follow through on their promises, personality conflicts within the
group or domination of the group by one volunteer, the
non-communicative volunteer and, finally, having to discourage the
eager but unwanted or unneeded volunteer. Strategies to avoid these
pitfalls include communicating about problems and rearranging tasks as
needed as well as getting information or references about volunteers
before coordinating the program.
   Finally, Higginbotham discussed the coordinator's responsibility to
the volunteer. A coordinator must find what makes volunteering
attractive and communicate it, give the volunteers the resources and
support they need to complete tasks and reward them for good work by
making a place for them within the LITA organization. Volunteer
efforts should develop leadership by providing opportunities to gain
experience and move through the LITA ranks.--Kristina Peterson,
University of Arizona