The Training Page of Volunteer Today has practical trainer techniques and activities to make orientation sessions more productive and valuable. There are also ideas to help enhance the professional volunteer manager's training level.
~ February 2006 ~ Topics
Training Customer Service
Volunteers
Conflict Can Be Positive
Reviewing: A Powerful Training Tool
In some organizations volunteers are the public face of the organization to those who visit, be they clients, members, patrons, or family members. Training them in customer service is a priority of training. Once the volunteer masters the basics, the next step is teaching how to diagnose problems. Here are some questions to help train volunteers and some tips on what to do once the information has been collected.
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After information is gathered, the volunteer needs to practice (during training, so they can do it on the job) clearly restating the problem. Take time to paraphrase the situation and have the individual confirm that the volunteer has the correct understand. The next step is to move to solve the problem. Those steps are different for different organizations.
Many managers of volunteers see conflict in negative ways. This is frequently communicated to volunteers. Hence, any whiff of conflict and people retreat and avoid...which never solves problems. If the volunteers in your organization are apt to encounter conflict use this clever mnemonic device to teach them that it can have value.
| C | Challenge |
| O | Opportunity |
| N | Networking can result |
| F | Fixes a problem |
| L | Lessons will be learned |
| I | Improvement |
| C | Confidence is built |
| T | Thinking powers are stimulated |
A powerful tool, often missed by lay-trainers,
is the review. It can occur at the end of a training segment or the
end of the training day. If you are training one-to-one or to 600 the
review will help cement the information provided for the learner. If
we remember things we are more likely to use them. Over the next couple
of months Volunteer Today will provide concrete ways to carry out reviews,
from one person to a cast of thousands.
Reviewing for the Individual—
- Silence - context is always important in reviewing material,
but a well-placed pause, with no talking for a few minutes allows
someone to think. In a group setting individuals "drop-out"
periodically to process information. That is harder to do when there
is only one trainee. So the trainer needs to announce that periodically
he/she will stop to allow think time for learner and trainer.
- Graphic reflection – This idea is not about art, but
rather creating diagrams, charts, graphs, patterns, drawings, and
the like to capture the information learned and its use.
- Scavenger Hunt – Following training, the trainee receives
a list of things to "find" that provides feedback for the
trainee and the trainer on what is yet needed for the person to be
proficient. This works especially well if volunteers must use manuals
or directories.
- Structured/Unstructured Written Review – The review might be structured (written questions with a standard list of reflective and review type questions) or unstructured (use of diary, journal, or notebook to record memories of material covered). These two methods train people to mentally review the information and its use.
| Interested in assessing volunteer and
staff relations in your program?
Looking for help from an expert? Get help with one of the Volunteer Program Evaluation Series. |
Close to 200 colleges and universities offer academic programs on nonprofit and volunteer sector management. They are usually master's degree programs, but not always. American Humanics sponsors undergraduate programs, as well. If you are looking to push out the professional development window, consider taking a course at one of these colleges. A full list resides at http://tltc.shu.edu/npo/. Thank Roseanne Mirabella, of Seton Hall University for keeping up with this list.
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