May I Help You? | The Volunteer

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With Florence May

THE ROAD TO RECOVERY IS PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS

This morning I talked to a festival volunteer manager who in sweetest possible way told me that she needed help right now or she would rip my head off. She ended her litany with “Bless Your Heart”. Relatively certain that she wasn’t so much blessing me as politely swearing. And she is not alone in her exhaustion and frustration.

Do I blame her? No, because if you are working in the event world you have worked out 50 different scenarios. “The Plans” have changed so many times that you probably don’t know which plan you are presently working on.

• Plan A – In Person Event. Volunteers on site. And we must sanitize everything.

• Plan B – Hybrid event. Some in person volunteers and some virtual volunteers. Let’s run two completely different volunteer programs at the same time.

• Plan C – Virtual Event. Let’s try all virtual volunteer activities. Here we go with Virtual Fans in Stands! •

Plan D – If Plan A, B, C don’t work remember there are 26 letters in the alphabet. 23 more to go!

• Where is the frustration coming from? Going all directions at once. We just did this in 2020! Why are we doing it again? Shouldn’t we be back to normal a year after the Coronavirus hit?

• But we are not back to “normal”.

Vaccination Rates, Variants and Vacillating Theories

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The challenging questions all still exist and depending on where you live and work the answers may vary greatly.

• Are you tracking volunteer health with CLEAR or another software?

• Can you ask if your volunteers have been vaccinated?

• Are COVID cases on the rise or fall in your community?

• What are the vaccination rates in your community?

• Can you create volunteer bubbles to reduce risk?

• What are your state and county health departments saying you can or can’t do?

• And will the answers change again tomorrow?

The harsh reality? We are still in the COVID period and still dealing with the hard issues from 2020.

The Other Reality: If Events Don’t Return in 2021, They Are at Serious Risk

Financially events must return into the public domain or their sponsors audiences and volunteers will engage in other pursuits. There is pent up demand. People want to get out in public and volunteers want to return to service. Volunteers are finding ways to engage in social good projects. They are seeking to connect and engage in the community. If you don’t give them an outlet; they will find other options. (Read more here https://www.sterlingvolunteers.com/blog/2020/05/a-guide-to-volunteering-8-ways-you-can-help-during-covid-19/).

The Risk of Staff Burnout

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The event industry is under tremendous time and financial pressures. Staff is tired and concerned about job security. So how do you put on an event without annihilating staff morale?

Consider these basic steps and come up with basic weekly strategies to ensure that your event team is event ready and emotionally charged.

• Create staff bonding time. A weekly meet up to just catch up on life and share some laughs.

• Set a firm work schedule. Boundaries are important between work and personal life.

• Set staff priorities. No one can do it all. Clear prioritization from management is critical.

• Take care of yourself. Are you getting exercise and eating right? Are you making family time? Is your staff?

• You may have heard this list before. But are you acting on it? Are you encouraging your team to take care of business and take care of themselves?

Sharing the Love

This morning my upset volunteer manager was having a bad day. Fortunately, we were able to change a few items on her set-up that adjusted to her changing needs allowing more efficiency. After focusing on the technical solutions, I doubled back to her state of mind asking if she was okay.

She said “No, I’m not okay. My head might explode. I truly can’t handle one more change or one more anything.” She sounded very defeated. We talked for a few more minutes about efficiency ideas and then moved on with our day.

This evening I received a quick email note. It said, “Thank you. Thank you for asking if I am okay. I needed someone to recognize that I am not okay. I am going to work on that.”

I’m going to send her this article with a note saying, “I get it. And call any time. It isn’t always about the event. It is about being human.”

Florence May is the Founder and President of TRS Volunteer Solutions. Her company provides myTRS Software for hundreds of Festivals, Conventions, Non-Profits, corporations and Sports Commissions. Among these support for 26 Final Fours, 5 Super Bowls, 2 Republican National Conventions, 2 Democratic National Conventions, 18 F1 Races, 12 Special Olympic Organizations, Indy 500 Events and so many others. Flory is a national Speaker, Author and Workshop Leader on Volunteer Management Trends. You may contact Flory with volunteer management questions at fmay@my-trs.com or 317.966.6919. And there is a library of volunteer management resources at www.my-trs.com/articles.

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