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Hi everyone,

This is my first time posting on this forum, though I've been listening to manager-tools for a while now and have found it really helpful in increasing my understanding.

I have a question for anyone who may be able to help me:

Currently, I'm a manager of a volunteer organisation and lead a group of 20 volunteers in my branch. I seem to have trouble pushing people to do things and so it always falls down to the same few core group to do the main bulk of the work, while others seem unwilling to do much.

Is there any advice you can give me on how to deal with such a situation and encourage better performance from my people?

Thank you in advance for your help.

jhack's picture

 Avais,

Not my field of expertise;  there was a thread previously on this topic: 

http://www.manager-tools.com/forums-22

John Hack

avais's picture

John,

Thanks for your help. The link you posted includes elements of what I'm looking for (especially the comment near the end on giving positive encouragement and recognition). Do you feel thats the way to get people to buy in and take on the work?

Any other help would be much appreciated.

Regards,

Avais.

bluehook's picture

You can't 'push' volunteers. Try pulling rather than pushing?

BJ_Marshall's picture
Licensee BadgeTraining Badge

I'm not sure I understand what you mean. What does "pulling" look like? By that, I mean "what behaviors do you engage in to 'pull' your volunteers?"

- BJ

bluehook's picture

Sorry, should have been more expansive with that. What I meant by 'pulling' is something akin to leading by example. What you're trying to engage in is (metaphorically) a big game of 'follow my leader' so to start off you have to be at the head of the conga line, and persuade others to join in the game, once they are all behind you and enjoying the game, then you can peel off and let someone else take the lead. 

chabarang's picture

Hi folks,

This is my very first comment on Manager Tools (MT), even though I have been sitting in the balcony of MT since 2007 and listened to every podcast, sometimes two or three times! Man, I love these tools!

I have worked for the same volunteer organisation since 1997. Our volunteers are multi-cultural, mostly in their twenties, sometimes immature, have little or no experience in their field of work, and have an average commitment of 1-3 years.

My first big question: Where the heck do I begin?

Regards,

Rob