Overview
How to Succeed with Volunteers-In-Parks is a training series on volunteer program management developed by the NPS. These training modules are built on the 5-R’s of Volunteer Management. They are designed for volunteer managers, coordinators, and supervisors to deliver training to park staff and others with primary responsibility for supervising and managing volunteers. But learners may find value in reviewing this information as well.
The rest is up to you. Your own creativity and experience will serve you well. We know volunteers, when treated with dignity and respect, will do the same.
What you’ll find
Each module is designed to take about one hour to present, and these downloadable materials will help you. Each topic can be offered as single module, in combination with other modules, or all together in a single training. We encourage each user of the training guides to consider them to be works in progress, and to feel free to customize the modules to meet individual needs. Toward that end, liberal writing space is provided in the trainer’s notes sections of each module.
In this downloadable PDF, you’ll find resource to help you lead the first module in the series – the Program Preparation Module. These resources will help you set a welcoming tone for the workshop and offer a summary of the key elements, policies and expectations of the Volunteers-In- Parks Program.
Lesson objectives (and links to relevant pages in the PDF):
- Understand key policies from Director’s Order #7 (DO – 7)
- Understand the role of volunteer manager can vary among different parks.
- Know that volunteers have clear rights, as well as responsibilities.
In this module, you’ll learn to establish the need for volunteer program planning which is based on park-wide priorities, and keyed to outcomes.
Lesson objectives (and links to relevant pages in the PDF):
- Assess the strengths and weaknesses of their current volunteer program.
- Explain the process and importance of developing a mission statement.
- Articulate how a well-managed VIP program directly benefits the park superintendent.
- Identify and commit to ways of strengthening their volunteer program.
In this module you’ll help trainees understand why people volunteer. You’ll also learn to respect and respond to differences in motivational needs.
Lesson objectives (and links to relevant pages in the PDF):
- Underscore the ongoing formula for success in your Volunteers-In-Parks Program: matching your park’s needs with each volunteer’s abilities and motivations.
- Explore the variety of reasons why people volunteer today.
- Examine personal motivation styles and their impact on job placement, supervision and recognition preferences.
- Examine motivation theory in light of your park’s ability to attract and retain volunteers.
This module underlines the importance of developing a solid foundation for a successful volunteer program. It also summarizes specific techniques for conducting a needs assessment.
Lesson objectives (and links to relevant pages in the PDF):
- Conduct a comprehensive, park-wide needs assessment.
- Identify (1) priority work that is not now being done and/or (2) work being done that is not making the best use of paid staff.
- Identify work that is appropriate for volunteers to do.
- Identify skills that volunteers will need to have in order to do the work.
In this module, you’ll learn to sensitize both volunteers and paid staff to the significance of volunteer job design. This module provides tools and methods to enhance their efforts in designing creative and effective volunteer jobs.
Lesson objectives (and links to relevant pages in the PDF):
- Explain the importance of good volunteer job design.
- Analyze the trends in volunteering and their impact on the design or redesign of volunteer jobs.
- Design new volunteer jobs for their park.
- Name the necessary components of written job descriptions.
In this module, you’ll explore targeted volunteer recruitment – a strategy of invitation to reach the best people to fill park volunteer positions.
Lesson objectives (and links to relevant pages in the PDF):
- Describe successful recruitment, including outcomes.
- Design an effective recruitment strategy.
- Develop a recruitment message that works.
- Describe the characteristics of effective recruiters.
Examine the need for interviewing volunteers and to share the basic processes and skills necessary to do it effectively.
Lesson objectives (and links to relevant pages in the PDF):
- Discuss the importance and purposes of having interviews with prospective volunteers.
- Identify the four key steps in the interview process.
- Design relevant interview questions and understand the essential role of listening during the process.
Make new volunteers feel welcome and appreciated, and to give them basic information which will help get them started on their jobs.
Lesson objectives (and links to relevant pages in the PDF):
- Make the right first impression when volunteers report for work.
- Identify what information should be included in a volunteer orientation session.
Ensure VIPs get the training they need to do their jobs effectively.
Lesson objectives (and links to relevant pages in the PDF):
- Explain the difference between formal and informal training.
- Summarize the three basic questions that job training should answer.
- Compare the investment in training resources with the services donated by the volunteer.
Establish safety management as a critical element in any volunteer program.
Lesson objectives (and links to relevant pages in the PDF):
- Articulate NPS policies and procedures relating to safety management and explain
why they are important. - Identify and evaluate potential risks in volunteer tasks through a job safety analysis.
- Discuss how safety management concerns can be applied to specific jobs and how to take proactive and preventive measures.
- Explain workers compensation, tort claims and government property loss/damage
procedures as they related to volunteers. - Take specific actions to help ensure the personal security and safety of volunteers, and of paid staff who work with volunteers.
Identify the basic skills and characteristics of good volunteer supervision, to clarify the supervisor’s role, and to explore methods and systems for carrying out this role.
Lesson objectives (and links to relevant pages in the PDF):
- Define the role of supervisor.
- Explain the similarities and differences in supervising paid versus non-paid staff.
- Identify the skills and personal qualities of effective supervisors.
- Discuss the various methods of supervising volunteers.
Explore the values of delegation, to enhance understanding of responsible delegation, and to identify the procedures and techniques for doing it well.
Lesson objectives (and links to relevant pages in the PDF):
- Identify any personal resistance to delegation.
- Appraise the value of responsible delegation.
- Explain the differences between doing, directing, dumping and delegating.
- Name the procedures and technical skills involved in delegation.
- Propose appropriate levels of authority when delegating.
Introduce or enhance a park’s performance review of volunteers.
Lesson objectives (and links to relevant pages in the PDF):
- Define a volunteer performance review process that fits into the total supervision and support process of the NPS.
- Develop an understanding of the purposes, benefits and barriers of instituting or enhancing a performance review process.
- Examine a suggested process and tools for performing the review.
- Explore the potential outcomes of performance reviews.
Help staff appreciate the significance of meaningful recognition to volunteers and to discuss formal and informal acknowledgments that can take place at numerous times during a volunteer’s involvement with the park.
Lesson objectives (and links to relevant pages in the PDF):
- Understand the power of meaningful recognition.
- Surface any personal and organizational barriers to giving volunteer recognition and problem solve solutions to address them.
- Clarify the broad spectrum of ways volunteers can be thanked both formally and informally within the organization.
- Brainstorm creative, minimal cost recognition items and acknowledgments that are appropriate to use when saying, “I noticed you!”
- Review essential guidelines of effective recognition.
Share your thoughts
Please share your thoughts and tips in the VIP Supervisors and Coordinators discussion group in the CLP Commons. How did you tailor these modules to meet your park’s needs. How successful were the lessons? Are there things we need to add?