5 Volunteer Management - Supervision & Support
Transcript
00:03A lot of our CALP staff are wearing many hats,
00:06and they have very limited time.
00:08And so one of the things I find helpful
00:10is letting volunteers know,
00:12from the beginning as we're getting to know them,
00:14that there are going to be some things
00:15we're going to need from them,
00:18and just what to expect and when.
00:20During the interview process,
00:22I actually ask volunteers some questions
00:23that surprise them sometimes.
00:25I will ask them what they're expecting
00:27in terms of the support that they're hoping to receive.
00:30So I asked a volunteer that question,
00:31a new volunteer, two weeks ago,
00:33she's helping with childminding
00:35in one of our women's literacy classes.
00:38Really, really important role.
00:40She's helping make sure that these women
00:42have the ability to focus on their learning.
00:45But I asked her, "What would you like in terms of support?"
00:47and she said, "Well, I'd really like a phone call
00:49"the day after the first program
00:52"so I can tell you how it went,
00:53"and I think I'd like you to check-in
00:55"with me after the second week as well."
00:58And that was helpful to hear
00:59because I probably wouldn't have made two phone calls,
01:01but after I knew that, I scheduled it
01:03and took a few minutes, and just checked in with her
01:06and that made her feel like she had the connection to the centre
01:10and the support that she needed to get started.
01:13And now she's off and running.
01:15You have to build the relationship with that volunteer.
01:20For the most part, they are in our facility,
01:22I see them, and they're coming through our door,
01:24"Hey, how's it going?"
01:25At the end of their session, "How did that go?
01:28"What can we do to support you more?
01:31"What's happening?"
01:32If they're at the library, I phone them or I email them.
01:36I'm in constant contact with them.
01:38And I also have them do, for reporting purposes,
01:42a monthly report.
01:44Some of our volunteers need to contribute to our reporting.
01:49We need to let our funders know
01:50how things are going in detail.
01:55We have to get creative sometimes about
01:57how to get that information from our volunteers.
02:01One of the tools we've used
02:02in the last few years is Google Forms.
02:04So it's easy for them.
02:05A lot of them like doing online surveys.
02:08I actually calendar my check-ins to make sure
02:11that I'm not missing checking in with people at critical points.
02:15If I know, for example, a tutor partnership has just started up,
02:19then within a couple of weeks,
02:21I'm checking in to see how it's going.
02:23At three months, we have a more formal feedback form
02:26that both the tutor and the learner complete for us.
02:30And that gives us a little more feedback about
02:32how things are going, and what resources they're using,
02:35and what kind of support they might be needing.
02:37There's so many creative ways that we can use
02:39to make sure people
02:41are well supported, supervised, trained,
02:46and it's a process.