Supervising Volunteers Who are Older (and

Possibly Wiser) than You

April 29, 2015

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Welcome!

SMPs

• Senior Medicare Patrol

SHIPs

• State Health Insurance Assistance Program

Webinar Resources: Today’s Recording and PowerPoint Presentation

SHIPs

• SHIP TA Center Calendar (provided Mondays) to SHIP Director Listserv by email from Ginny Paulson

• Tip: Follow the “Archived Recordings and Handouts” link

SMPs

• SMP Resource Library• Tip: Search for “VRPM

Webinar”

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VRPM = Volunteer Risk and Program Management

Today’s training will be interactive!

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Let’s practice using the buttons in the Participants panel on the right!

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Today’s Speaker

Steve McCurley Center ConsultantOlympia, Washington

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Volunteer Involvement Cycle

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Basic purposes of supervision

• DirectionGuidancePriorities

• SupportCoaching Resources

• AccountabilityEvaluationDiscipline

• EncouragementBack-upRecognition

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What we’re going to do:

There are lots of theories about differing managerial styles for Silent Generation, Boomers, Millennials, Gen X, Gen Y, Gen Z, etc.

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Quick Question

How many of you have been to a workshop or read something on managing different generations?

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Managing Different Generations

A lot of the theories are true, particularly when applied to general groups.

The theory doesn’t do you as much good when you’re worrying about supervising a particular individual.

So, we’re not going to talk about any of that theory.

We are going to talk about what a young paid person charged with supervising a person much senior to themselves can and should do to make the relationship work much more smoothly for all concerned.

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Some questions to map what we’re dealing with:

Average age of paid staff who typically supervise volunteers:

20-3031-5051-6565+

Average age of volunteers being supervised:

20-3031-5051-6565-7575+

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Predominant gender of paid staff:

MaleFemaleRoughly equal

Predominant gender of volunteers:

MaleFemaleRoughly equal

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Average tenure of paid staff who supervise volunteers:

0-3 years4-10 years10+ years

Average tenure of volunteers:

0-3 years4-10 years10+ years

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Percentage of volunteers with some kind of “professional background”:

0-25%26-50%50+%

Likelihood that a paid staff person assigned to supervising volunteers has had previous experience in supervision:

Highly unlikelySome do, most don’tMost do, some don’tHighly likely

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Finally

Do you regularly provide training to staff who are expected to supervise volunteers?

YesNoNo, but we realize that not

doing so is pretty silly…

When the polling has ended, click the arrows or icons to re-open your other panels as needed.

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Back to the workshop:

Those of you in previous webinars will have

noticed I have no problem whatsoever in sometimes just saying “this is what

you should do and this is how you should do it.”

We’re going to approach this differently. What you can/have to do depends on the personality of the

supervisor and the personality of the

volunteers and, most importantly, how those

two interact.

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Looking at this from the perspective of the wise and experienced

volunteer:• I don’t mind supervision. In fact, I

tend to like supervision since in my opinion it will tend to focus on what good work I’m doing.

• I do expect respect. I know things. I’ve done things. I think I’m pretty good at what I do. I’m aware that I’ve got more experience than you do.

• I understand your role is to manage and supervise me. If you demonstrate that you’re good at doing this then we’ll both be happier and more productive.

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But…

I’ve already outlived any number of supervisors like you…

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Tips and Strategies

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1. Before you start supervising:

If someone before you was supervising the volunteer try to talk with them about how things worked.

Don’t let what they say govern what you will do, but it’s good to be aware if what you will be asking the volunteer to do is different from what they are used to doing.

Don’t let their assessment of the volunteer govern what you think – make up your own mind based on your own experiences.

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2. Getting your mind ready:

Evaluate your own capability in as ruthlessly honest a fashion as possible.

Prepare yourself for admitting what you know and don’t know. The volunteers can relate to this – they knew nothing when they started.

Be willing to learn; ask for suggestions and feedback.

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3. It all starts in the initial conversation with the volunteer.

Build rapport. Tell them about you; ask about them. Demonstrate some knowledge of what they’ve been doing and any past successes they have had. You’re a team; get to know them.

Talk about your preferred management style: “This is how I would like to see things go; how does that work for you?”

Talk about your communication style: best method of communication; frequency; what kinds of things have to be communicated.

If responsibility is being delegated, outline: what you can decide; what we can decide; what I need to decide.

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4. Ongoing supervision

Recognize and acknowledge their expertise; congratulate them when they’ve applied it well to their role.

Solicit feedback. Acknowledge and value their ideas. You don’t have to accept all of them but if you’re smart you’ll listen and be open to new possibilities.

Remain confident in your abilities as a manager. There was a reason you were selected for your position. The qualities a manager needs are not solely based on experience, and you don't necessarily need to know the ins-and-outs of every operational function to be an effective leader. Don't allow yourself to become insecure because that will negatively affect your managerial style and cause greater problems in the long term.

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Some little things to watch out for:

• Physical/mental health issues• Life changes: loss of spouse• Driving issues

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Warning

You cannot manage an experienced volunteer based on authority from your position title alone. Giving orders "because I said so" and failing to account for the volunteer’s knowledge and experience will damage your working relationship and cause the volunteer to resent your authority.

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5. Dealing with problems

Seniors are likely to be skilled and experienced, even though they are new to your organization. This has two implications. First, this experience can be very useful, as it will bring additional knowledge and skills to your organization. Of course, you will have to enable the senior volunteers to actually contribute their experience for it to have an effect. But, second, you will have to make sure, as with all other experienced volunteers, that they do not let their experience replace the hard-won specific knowledge that your organization has gained about the ‘right’ way to do things.

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Bottom line:

Every volunteer should be held to the same standard of expectations and performance, regardless of generational cohort.

No adaptation or exception can be made that compromises the integrity of the role or diminishes the accomplishment of the organization’s mission.

All volunteers must comply with organizational policies and procedures.

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Manage performance problems as you would any other volunteer.

Just because the volunteer is more experienced than you in certain areas does not mean you should

take a hands-off approach to supervision. You are still the

supervisor and a volunteer’s years of experience does not excuse poor performance or failure to adhere to policy and directives.

Generational differences may influence behavior; however, this does not mean that generational differences get to determine how people interact with each other.

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Last word:

Bottom line: You’re in charge; you can run but you can’t hide.

Resources

Volunteer Program Management Manual, Chapter 7: Supervising Volunteer Performance

SMPs: SMP Resource LibrarySHIPs: electronic copy emailed to SHIP

directors on April 15th and printed copies will arrive by late May.

Recording and Handout from today’s webinar

SMPs: SMP Resource Library SHIPs: SHIP TA Center Calendar (emailed to SHIP Director Listserv)

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Upcoming Events

• Wed, May 27, 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. ET

Using Technology to

Recruit and Manage

Volunteers

Registration is required!SMPs, see the Events tab of the SMP Resource Library.

SHIPs, see the SHIP TA Center calendar (emailed to the SHIP director listserv)

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Thank you for participating in today’s webinar!

Up next… Optional Q&A and Networking Session!

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Q & A Session

Reminder: If you have questions later, SMPs, email: vrpm@smpresource.org SHIPs, email: info@shiptacenter.org

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Networking… Talk with your peers about ANY volunteer management topic!

SAME TOPICI have a comment/question

about the item we are talking about now:

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comment/question about a different item:

I am done talking… for now!

To share a comment or question: 1) Click the pointer arrow (left side)2) Click in the appropriate box below (after any other arrows) 3) Clear your pointer arrow when done (use the eraser drop-down arrow on the left) Tip: If the pointer arrow doesn’t work for you, click the ‘raise hand’ button.

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