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 DistractionsIt 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 objectivesStructure your lesson plansPlan your modes of delivery (lecture, discussion, experiential activities, etc.Practice and time your exercisesEvaluate both the training time and your delivery post-trainingConsider TimeRemember attention spans are relatively short.Shift your methodology at least once every half hourWhen possible, schedule a skill practice session or experiential exercise as often as time will allow.Schedule Regular BreaksIf you have a lengthy lecture or discussion planned, schedule [ Read more ]
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 . . .More time in preparation helps ensure common objectives and methods of workingAccess to more resources — ideas, skills, information, experiencesFeedback on performanceShared work loadA broader range of strengths and weaknessesOne 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.The relationship can help build a warm, positive climate.Greater possibilities for humor — one leader can “bounce” off the otherModeling — 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 [ Read more ]
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 [ Read more ]
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 [ Read more ]
“It is not good to have zeal without knowledge nor to be hasty and miss the way.” Proverbs 19:2This 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 [ Read more ]
Taking some time during every in-service training is a perfect time to get some practice. If your volunteers know that they will be utilizing these skills during every in-service, they might work harder to utilize the skills in their lives on a daily basis. How else can the RIGHT skills become ingrained and a natural part of serving and caring for others?I think the most-often used RIGHT skills are reflective listening, Interpretive listening, and good questions.Here is a suggestion that will reinforce the skills during each in-service without taking up too much time. This exercise will be a quick call and response for each of the 3 skills.1. Make a sheet/list of statements for each of the RIG communication skills so you easily have them at hand. Sources for statements might be:Exercises from the manualStatements clients have said to youCase Studies from the manualAsk your materials assistance staff or volunteers [ Read more ]
A few weeks ago I sent you a link to great article on the 10 Core Leadership Skills from the Center for Creative Leadership. This week I would like to delve into one of those skills: the ability to delegate. I quote form the article:Ability to DelegateDelegating is one of the core responsibilities of a leader, but it can be tricky to delegate effectively. The goal isn’t just to free yourself up — it’s also to enable your direct reports, facilitate teamwork, provide autonomy, lead to better decision-making, and help your direct reports grow. In order to delegate well, you also need to build trust with your team.Center For Creative LeadershipHow are you at delegating? What makes it tricky to delegate?I you are a small operation with few peoplePerfectionismFear of losing controlIt’s your idea and you want it to be executed your wayTrust issuesThoughts like, “I’m getting paid, so I [ Read more ]
How often do you read through your client intake forms?There is usually two different parts to a client intake form. One being the statistical information and the other being the narrative description of the volunteer’s interaction with the client. Both are important.In-services are a great way to explain the importance of accurately filling out the client intake form and the post-session narrative documentation of their client interactions.We know the statistical information on the client intake form is needed for a variety of reasons.When training volunteers to gather this information effectively you might consider sharing with volunteers:Why this information is important and how you use this informationShow them how having this information is important as they begin to build relationship with their clientWhat information is most important during your time with a clientHow to gather this information as a way to begin building relationship rather than just interviewing someone.Who is gathering [ Read more ]
Have you found that sometimes supervising volunteers can be tricky?Volunteers are working for free and most of the time you need the help. Can you hold volunteers to a high standard of performance without putting undue pressure on them and possibly lose them as volunteers?It might be easier to think about if we re-frame supervising volunteers into supporting volunteers. Supporting them to be confident and serve their clients and the organization with integrity. We often assume that people come to us with integrity and confidence but that is not always true. We can also assume that volunteers will utilize the skills that are taught to them in their basic training. I believe that most volunteers try to be guided by and use the fundamentals but, admittedly, they are hard to use if you are not practicing them regularly.Supporting volunteers can look like a lot of what you are already doing [ Read more ]
I found this great article on the 10 core leadership skills from the Center for Creative Leadership and thought I would share it with you all.Based on their research, they’ve found that great leaders consistently possess these 10 core leadership skills:IntegrityAbility to delegateCommunicationSelf-awarenessGratitudeLearning agilityInfluenceEmpathyCourageRespectIf you would like to explore even more, there are links to other resources in the original article you can find here. IntegrityThe importance of integrity should be obvious. Though it may not necessarily be a metric in employee evaluations, integrity is essential for the individual and the organization. It’s especially important for top-level executives who are charting the organization’s course and making countless other significant decisions. Our research shows that integrity may actually be a potential blind spot for organizations. Make sure your organization reinforces the importance of integrity to leaders at various levels.Ability to DelegateDelegating is one of the core responsibilities of a leader, but [ Read more ]