Managing volunteers at Mill Cat Trust

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Ron awoke with a start. He couldn’t wait to get back to something with a real purpose since retiring from the local authority four months ago. "My first day managing the volunteers! I'm going to be in charge again!”  

Ron’s first day

Ron's head was buzzing by the end of his first day. The Director, Chris had given him a quick induction and had introduced him to the volunteers helping that day. He wasn't altogether impressed with what he saw. "There seems to be a lot of 'pottering about'" he had said to Chris, "and where are they all?"

He talked to his wife about it over dinner that night. "Those volunteers obviously need some proper organisation and direction – just you wait till I get going."

Rotas and real work

The next day, Ron prepared a schedule of activities and drew up a new rota. He smiled with satisfaction as he looked at the neat spreadsheet.

"Can you come to the staff room please on your break," he asked the volunteers. They came in smiling and chatting and sat down with their cups of tea.  

"Right then," Ron said, "here are the new rotas and this is what I'm expecting from you ....."  He then talked for 15 minutes about their too frequent tea breaks, the chatting around the cat pens and his concern about the amount of work getting done. "Things have got to change. Chris has asked me to sort it out”. 

There was a sharp intake of breath by several of the volunteers. They listened politely as Ron outlined what he called “his rules of engagement”. Hardly anyone said anything and at the end of the meeting, the volunteers politely thanked Ron and left.  

At the end of the day, Ron saw many of the volunteers huddled together.  “Well that’s going to have to stop ….” he muttered to himself.

Ron left the Cat Trust feeling pleased.  "A good day's work" he thought.

All quiet at the Cat Trust

The first thing Ron noticed when he returned the following day was how quiet it was. “This is great” he thought “they are obviously hard at work!  Good on you Ron, the talk worked!”. 

He was surprised however to find none of the volunteers actually working when there should have been five.  

His phone rang – it was the Director asking to see him urgently. “She's probably going to congratulate me on my efficiency”, Ron thought as he went upstairs. 

He noticed however that Chris’s face was unusually pink and before he could even sit down, she said “Ron - there are 10 volunteers standing outside in the rain refusing to come in while you're here. What on earth has been going on?”  

“That’s ridiculous!” said Ron “I had a good meeting with them yesterday and discussed the new rota. No one said anything! Ridiculous - I’ll go and sort this out!”.  

As Ron got up to leave, Chris told him bluntly to sit down. She had wondered if she was partly to blame for this: perhaps she hadn’t appreciated that Ron wouldn’t understand the difference between managing volunteers and managing paid staff. The Cat Trust volunteers were great – some had been supporting the organisation for years - but it was a delicate balance between making the experience pleasurable and motivating for them and getting the work done. They gave their time willingly because they loved the cats and although there had to be some organisation, they didn’t come in to be ordered about.

“Oh Ron …..” she sighed. She explained how things worked. Perhaps being a Trustee, Ron hadn’t appreciated the practical realities of volunteering. "I should have given more attention to your induction as this is such an important role.  I feel partly to blame for this". Ron was angry at first but it gradually dawned on him that he might have been a bit heavy handed yesterday.  

What to do?

Chris said “First of all Ron, I’d like you to go outside and apologise to the volunteers. Tell them how much you appreciate them and value their work and ask them to please return. Remember you are a volunteer yourself too. And after this, work WITH the volunteers when you think things need changing”.

His tail between his legs

Ron went outside and approached the group. They looked up unsmiling and silent. Ron took a deep breath and apologised for “being a bit over the top yesterday”. He explained that like them, he was also so keen to do his bit for the cats, that perhaps he'd been a bit over-enthusiastic. 

“My wife's always telling me to slow down and not act like a bull in a china shop - perhaps she’s right!”. The volunteers brightened up. Janice said “Look Ron, I love coming here. It’s the highlight of my week, but it won’t be if you’re going to boss us about and make us feel we’re useless”. Some of the others said similar things and Ron listened quietly. Finally he said “Well, if you agree, I’d like to spend the rest of the day working with you to see just what it’s like being a volunteer here. Then if I can think of any ways to make it even better, I’ll talk to you to see what you think”. 

A loud cheer went up. The volunteers went in out of the rain. Chris watched from her office window and sighed with relief.  She picked up the phone "there's been a minor issue with the volunteers" she told the Chair "but I think it's sorted".  

Have your say

• If you were Ron, what would you do next?
• If you have been in a similar situation, how did you handle it?
• What advice would you give to Ron and others working with volunteers?

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