Equipped to Serve

Preparing volunteers to serve with confidence & integrity.

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The Trainer’s Leadership Roles – Part One

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Have you ever thought about the importance of leadership in your role as a trainer?

There are ten leadership responsibilities important for trainers to exhibit throughout any training activity.

Today I will explore the first role and will look at the other roles in the coming weeks.

Role #1: Setting and Maintaining an Agenda, Keeping time, and Controlling Distractions

It is your responsibility as a trainer to set the agenda for learning and to begin and conclude your exercises and activities appropriately.

Set an Agenda:

  • Write and commit to your learning objectives
  • Structure your lesson plans
  • Plan your modes of delivery (lecture, discussion, experiential activities, etc.
  • Practice and time your exercises
  • Evaluate both the training time and your delivery post-training

Consider Time

  • Remember attention spans are relatively short.
  • Shift your methodology at least once every half hour
  • When possible, schedule a skill practice session or experiential exercise as often as time will allow.

Schedule Regular Breaks

If you have a lengthy lecture or discussion planned, schedule frequent short breaks. If you have a balanced presentation of discussion lecture, practice, and experiential exercises, fewer breaks are needed.

Keeping the Training on Track

A good trainer keeps the training on track. Be aware of the following potential external and internal distractions.

  • Seating – Is it comfortable? Arrange seating to minimize outdoor distractions.
  • Lighting – Can everyone see? Is it too dim or too bright?
  • Temperature – Is the room too warm or too cold?
  • Sightline – can everyone easily see you, your charts and, other visual aids?
  • Cell Phones – Ask trainees to turn their phones off or to silent. Ask trainees to step out of the training room if they must take a call.
  • Breaks – Schedule breaks at least once every 90 minutes.

Keeping Yourself on Track

Be careful of the amount of time that stories, jokes, and examples take up during the training. Any stories or examples you want to share must be considered in the overall timing of the training.

Be aware of time when answering questions. If someone asks a question that will be answered later in the training, let them know so you can use the time for relevant questions on the topic at hand.

Keep a constant check on yourself and the timing you have set aside for each element of your training. Set an alarm or timer on your phone.

Check yourself to see if you have accomplished all your objectives. If you strayed, where did you stray? How did you lose track of time? How can you keep yourself accountable the next time you teach this training or section of the training?

Pros and Cons of Co-Facilitating Volunteer Training

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Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash

Do you share facilitating volunteers training with others? Here are some pros, cons and special considerations to think about.

Let’s start with the Pros . . .

  1. More time in preparation helps ensure common objectives and methods of working
  2. Access to more resources — ideas, skills, information, experiences
  3. Feedback on performance
  4. Shared work load
  5. A broader range of strengths and weaknesses
  6. One leader can conduct a group session, with the other following through, or can make points that the first leader has forgotten or pick up group behavior that the first leader has missed.
  7. The relationship can help build a warm, positive climate.
  8. Greater possibilities for humor — one leader can “bounce” off the other
  9. Modeling — you have an opportunity to demonstrate how conflict can be dealt with in a constructive way.  Your behavior models to the group how to negotiate, compromise, and make decisions. You can show how changing the direction of a group course openly, as a result of developments, can be of value.
  10. One can carry the other in case of an off day, headache, or other problems.
  11. If one leader is in difficulty in a session, the other can step in.
  12. You can discharge stress and bad feelings to someone who will be a supportive listener.
  13. Input style can be varied.  One person cannot appeal to everyone. Having two leaders increases the range of alternatives available, for example, sex, age, personality, voice types.
  14. By careful seating, two leaders should be able to pick up most things that are happening in a group. One leader cannot focus on everyone simultaneously.
  15. In case of administrative hassles, equipment breakdown, and such things, one person is free to deal with them.

And Now the Cons . . .

  1. More time spent in preparation
  2. Individual differences between co-leaders can be so great that they are not on the same wave length.  This can lead to divisiveness, competition, and destructive conflict.
  3. Feedback to each other can be destructive if you do not respect and trust your co-leader
  4. A poor relationship will produce a poor group climate
  5. Danger of inside-jokes between the leaders, which can exclude the group
  6. With insufficient trust, another leader might inhibit your style
  7. Less autonomy for each trainer
  8. May be distracting to have two leaders in the same room
  9. Leaders sometimes talk to each other in the training sessions instead of focusing attention (eye contact, as an example) on the group
  10. Leaders can behave exclusively, taking coffee breaks or eating apart from the group

With these pros and cons in mind it is important to consider . . .

  1. Both facilitators should still be present at all training sessions so they get to know the trainees and what issues have arisen during the sessions.
  2. Each facilitator should have the same level of competence as a trainer and experience in serving clients.
  3. The trainers’ facilitation style should be similar so it is not confusing or distracting to trainees
  4. Trainers should be highly skilled in utilizing the Seven Fundamentals and role-model their use throughout the training
  5. Never have someone just pop-in for one session to teach on a subject. Save the guest speakers for an introductory training or in-service training.

This and many other topics are covered in the revised Leader’s Manual for the Equipped to Serve Volunteer training. If you are using the volunteer training you might consider purchasing a new Leader’s Manual. Click here to view the Leader’s Manual.

Different Ideas & Formats for Volunteer Training

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If you know me then you know I love training volunteers. When I was a director and did not have many other people on staff, it was always hard to try to fit in the time for training with all the other hats I had to wear. Preparing for and facilitating the training was hard enough let alone the pre-training work of applications, references, background checks, and interviews.

In this blog I want to help you think of various formats for the Equipped to Serve training. These are some general formats that you can adapt to the specific needs of your Center. Each Center is unique concerning its volunteer training. Use what works and don’t be afraid to get creative with the training as long as you eventually cover the material each volunteer needs in their specific position. Start with the end in mind. What skills must each volunteer master in order to serve the clients God sends to your Center?

Train in-person two times a week for 3 hours each session.

I usually did Monday and Thursdays for four weeks. This gives a bit of breathing time between sessions for reflection and homework. It gets the whole training accomplished in one month so new volunteers can move on to on-the-job training and hopefully begin serving clients sooner.

Teach the foundations section of the manual as an introductory class.

Add in your Center’s history and your expectations for volunteer positions. This prepares volunteers for the rest of the training. It also allows interested people to decide if they should move ahead with volunteering and what role they think is best for them. This is helpful because often there is a lot of attrition in a volunteer training. It is frustrating to have a class of 10 or 15 people but end up with less than half of those people actually volunteering.

Teach what every volunteer needs to know in the classroom and then train to the specific volunteer positions.

I believe that everyone serving clients must learn the Seven Fundamentals. Teach them to everyone and then creatively train to the specific job descriptions. Those volunteering in support ministry like materials assistance, ultrasounds, etc., have to learn different applications of the Seven Fundamentals than Advocates who are serving clients in the midst of crisis. Everyone needs to know the Seven Fundamentals so there is consistency of care and interaction with clients between different arms of the ministry. Each volunteer position will apply the Fundamentals uniquely for their client interactions. You can use current volunteers and/or staff members who are working in various arms of the ministry to train those volunteers as long as they have a firm grasp and experience utilizing the Seven Fundamentals in their specific program. Do this during on-the-job training or using break-out sessions during in-service training, which would need to happen once a month.

Conduct a hybrid training.

Now that people are much more accustomed to using Zoom and other online services, you can have some training in-person and on Zoom. Some parts of the training lend themselves to an online format while others should be done in person. I would do role-play in person but you can even teach the RIGHT communication skills online and break the larger group into breakout rooms to practice the skills. It is important to know all the capabilities of software like Zoom. Having a second host dealing with the technical aspects and all the moving parts of the software is most-helpful. This kind of hybrid training feels like classroom training because everyone can see and hear each other’s responses. Each volunteer would need a copy of the training manual. You can record these sessions for trainees who missed a session with their cohort of trainees.

Online Training

You know that I have an online version of Equipped to Serve Volunteer Training. I imagine this being used mostly for volunteers who miss a lot of training sessions or that perfect volunteer who comes into the Center the week after you have completed a training class. It will continue to be helpful during this transitional time of the Covid-19 pandemic where some people are still hesitant to gather in groups. Whoever takes this training does not need a manual because all the information is online and the most-important skills and exercises are downloadable and printable for future reference. It is as interactive as I could possible make it and walks a person through the material in the manual from beginning to the end. There are built-in check-ins with the volunteer supervisor in almost every section of the training.

Self study with staff role-play and check-ins.

The Equipped to Serve manual is very detailed with a variety of exercises to practice the skills and reflection questions that require trainees to think about how the skills they are learning will apply in serving clients. Volunteers can study the manual on their own and check-in with Center staff to discuss what they are learning and role-play to show their understanding and application of the Seven Fundamentals. This is an option if it is hard to get enough volunteers together for a class.

Making training decisions.

If possible, I prefer to train in person in the shortest amount of time. It gets volunteers into the Center doing in-service training and working with clients much sooner than some of the other options. I also know that you have to adapt to the ever- changing needs and issues of your volunteer population. You know your community and volunteer pool and must try to accommodate them as much as possible without compromising the excellence of the services you provide to your clients. It is a lot to juggle.

It’s okay to get creative. It’s great to try new things. Just be sure of your end goal.

What I know for sure.

The best gift you can give a client is a well-trained volunteer who knows what is expected of them and is demonstrating those skills as they serve.

I would love to hear any of your training format ideas and pass them along to others. Email me!

Film Clips You Can Use During Volunteer Basic Training

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I am a total movie freak.

I have missed going to the theater and sitting in the large dark room with the huge screen. Needless to say I have been happy for all the streaming services. Most of my conversations during this time of sequestering has been “What are you watching?” or “What have you been reading that you would recommend?”

When it comes to training, movies are great for instruction, motivation and introducing new concepts. They can show how using a skill works in real-life situations and what can happen when things go wrong.

I am hoping that you use some movie clips in your volunteer training.

Here are the film clips I use and where I use them in the training.

Lump – by Nooma films.

I show this film right at the beginning of Fundamental #1: Speaking the truth in love and Fundamental #2: The goal of the training. This film is a great discussion–starter and sets the tone and gives motivation for and insight into the first 2 fundamentals. This film is available on YouTube here. The movie is a little over 10 minutes long.

Steel Magnolias

I use the famous graveside scene where Sally Field, the mother of her deceased daughter shows us all of the phases of a crisis. Her friends help in good and bad ways and there is much to learn from watching her friends. It shows how unprepared even our closest friends are to enter into our grief and know what to say. I show this flip clip at the end of the crisis cycle section kind of as a wrap up and a “real world” example of the crisis cycle.

When A Man Loves A Woman – Meg Ryan & Andy Garcia

This film is about a couple struggling with the wife’s increasing dependence on alcohol. There are a couple scenes that depict the different ways in which the husband and wife are looking at the problem as the wife is working on her sobriety. They are the perfect clips to show the difference between our desire to fix things so they can go back the way things were, and the difficult and painful reckoning that allows the grief that eventually brings healing. There is some language in these scenes that I warn trainees about before showing the film clip. I usually show this film as part of the Connecting section of the training as an example of what happens when connecting does not happen and what can get in the way, even when we truly love another person.

The Horse Whisperer

This film is about slowly healing a horse and the young girl riding the horse after a terrible accident that traumatized them both. The mother takes her daughter and her horse out to Montana to a Horse Whisperer in hopes he can heal the horse. The girl has lost her leg and does not want to talk about what happened. Through great use of the qualities of an effective helper, the Horse Whisperer (Robert Redford) helps both the girl and her horse heal. I use the scene when Redford and the girl (Scarlett Johannsen) are alone in the kitchen and she begins to speak her story out loud to him. I encourage trainees to watch what he does, what he says, what he does not say, what he does not do and how these affect the interaction. What might have made her want to tell him and not her mother or some other person?

Mumford

Dr. Mumford, a would-be psychologist comes to the idyllic town of the same name. He offers his talent for listening and a disarming frankness and the town’s quirkiest citizens scramble for a seat on his couch. Using great listening skills and patience he lightens hearts darkened by old secrets. I use a clip from a counseling session when just asking a few questions and using silence the patient comes to their own realizations and it is delightful to see as she begins making connections about her life that she never saw before. I use this clip at the after teaching Good Questions.

Capturing Film Clips

In the old days, I used VCRs and before the training I forwarded the video tapes to the exact spot I wanted to show the film clip. If you still have videotapes and this technology it works easily.

If you are using DVDs it is harder because you can’t have it cued up as easily. I would suggest asking around to your media geek friends and see if they can extract clips for you from the DVDs, which you should purchase to respect copyright. Once you have the film clips saved on your computer it is easy to access them during your training or you can add them to the ETS PowerPoint slides that I revised for the new 6th edition of the volunteer manual. You can order the revised Equipped to Serve PowerPoint visuals here.

You can sometimes find film clips on YouTube but I have found that they are not long enough or not from the part of the film that I want a clip from but it might be worth checking out what is available on YouTube. You can also search movies on IMDB by subject which is a great way to find other films you might use in basic or in-service training. There is a list of book and movies at the back of the volunteer training manual as well.

Do you use different movies than these? Drop me an email and let me know which movies you show during volunteer training.

What’s the difference between training for knowledge or for skills?

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“It is not good to have zeal without knowledge nor to be hasty and miss the way.” 

Proverbs 19:2

This past year and a half has forced all of us to rethink so many things we took for granted. Volunteer training is one of those things. It has also given us an opportunity to create new ways to equip potential volunteers and supervise and encourage current volunteers.

I thought I would take the opportunity in this newsletter to help you think through some issues as you decide how to move forward and continue the training aspects of your volunteer program.

Start with the end in mind.

The available training programs you can find for Pregnancy Center volunteers, including Equipped to Serve, are rather dense.  They can seem overwhelming when you think about using them to train volunteers. It is important, no matter which training manual you choose, that you clearly identify the end goals of any training. You might ask yourself the following question:

What do you want volunteers to be able TO DO WELL at the end of training?

This is a different question than,

What do you want them to KNOW at the end of training?

This is the essential difference between knowledge and skill. It is the difference between knowing and doing.  How you train and what you spend the most time on usually leans in one direction or the other. Knowledge is important. The foundations of why and how we minister are essential.  We must translate that knowledge and scriptural basis for the ministry into skills when it comes to caring for the people that the Lord sends our way.

Here are some questions to ask yourself if you would like your training to be skills or application focused:

  • What is the difference between general information (knowledge) and the skills necessary to fulfill their job descriptions?
  • What should you spend the most time on during training to achieve the desired results?
  • When and how is the best way to teach those skills?
  • How does each lecture, discussion, activity of the training equip volunteers to use the skills?
  • What do trainees need you (as trainer or staff person) to help them with?
  • What can they read about or listen to on their own?
  • How will you know if the volunteer can apply those skills when serving clients?

In ministry we are asking volunteers to interact and minister to people who are very vulnerable and often at a turning point in their lives. It is essential that volunteers have the skills to know how to care for people and have the confidence and integrity to do so.

With this in mind it will be helpful to decide which sections of the training need staff training, role-modeling, and in-person interaction (even if it has to be via Zoom) and those that can be done at home or online by volunteers individually. These usually fall along the lines of knowledge versus skills.

Knowledge can be gained alone but developing and utilizing skills most-often takes a community.

In the Pregnancy Center ministry knowledge alone can be dangerous. Volunteers need the skills and the accountability of their fellow trainees and the Center staff.

Much of the Christian culture around teaching and learning is very leader/lecture based.  We are used to being passive learners as we sit in church listening to sermons, retreat speakers, podcasts, etc. How many of us actually apply what we are hearing on any given Sunday? It is hard to do it alone and it takes time and accountability to apply the concepts in our daily lives during the week.  Then we go to church the next week and there is a new teaching and it starts all over again. No wonder there can be a big gap between our knowledge of Jesus and His word and our ability to live as Jesus’ ambassadors.

You have the chance to equip volunteers that the Lord sends you with life-changing skills. Skills that change the lives of volunteers as well as the people they serve. What an honor and a privilege!

Equipped to Serve is mainly focused on those skills that volunteers need when serving clients. I am grateful for our partnership in equipping volunteers to serve with confidence and integrity. 

Most of the training materials have been revised.  The Male Training Supplement, PowerPoint Visuals and Role-play Videos are now available via downloads. The Leader’s manual will be ready in about 2 weeks. I have updated the training materials page. Stop by the updated page and take a look.