Collected from NVA Delegates circa 2015
Succession Planning & Leadership Development
- Proactive and intentional planning for volunteers to move in and out roles
- Invite volunteers to take on smaller roles that lead to larger ones
- Volunteer Leaders and staff collaborate and match volunteers to roles
- Practice rotating leadership throughout the team
- Plan for a transition period in succession planning: include new leaders in communication before they take on new role and have current volunteer mentor during this period
- Assign small tasks to new volunteers to understand their strengths to then best match them with roles
Mentoring
- Implemented a survey for host families and volunteers to be mentored as Liaisons and/or leadership positions
- Collaborated with Participant Support staff and Field staff
Leadership Recruitment
- Team discussed potential leaders
- Took them to lunch to meet one-on-one
- Recruited them to attend conferences
- Stayed in touch via email and phone to encourage and nurture them in their roles
- Collected information from volunteer interviews and continually match volunteers to open roles, positions, tasks
Delegation & Collaboration
- Implemented committees to spread tasks throughout the team and include new volunteers, promoted the sense of a “team effort”
- Deliberate efforts to delegate task and responsibilities to prepare volunteers for leadership roles
- Empowered volunteers through giving them permission to lead and plan
- Work in collaboration with various volunteers and staff members to resolve issues and meet goals in a timely, efficient manner
Area Teams who provided best practices: Waukesha & West, Michigan, New Jersey, Vermont, Florida, Capital, Midland Central, Southern New England, Grand Canyon, Arkansas, Greater Cincinnati, Missouri Gateway