Most of the time, volunteering goes really well and to the benefit of the volunteer and the organisations. However, sometimes things can go wrong.
What can go wrong?
There are lots of different ways that volunteering can go wrong.
- poor communication
- expectations of one party not met
- a complaint
- personality clash
- issues with performance conduct or behaviour
- relationship breakdown
Setting everyone’s expectations
Volunteers should always understand what is expected from them as volunteers, and what
they can expect from the organisation. This is very important to avoid difficulties later on.
Organisations should:
- Be clear in the role description what tasks volunteers will do, what skills and
experience is required, and any key practical points.
- During the recruitment process, explain in further detail about anything that might
cause difficulties and provide the opportunity for the volunteer to ask questions.
- Have a volunteer agreement where both sides can agree to what they will expect.
- Ask volunteers to agree to a code of conduct outlining expected behaviour.
If a volunteer doesn’t agree to the expectations, consider whether you can be flexible. For
example, if they can only start volunteering at 9.30am instead of 9am you may be able to
change that expectation. If you can’t be flexible, you can let the volunteer know that this is
not the right role for them.
Process for handing problems
NCVO recommends that complaints or problems should initially be discussed between a
volunteer and their supervisor or line manager through an ad hoc discussion or in a
supervision meeting. If this is not enough, organisations should have a ‘problem solving’
procedure or should be willing to consider mediation.
You may need to offer more training, support or supervision which may be enough,
especially if the issue is related to a volunteer’s performance, attitude or behaviour.
The person or organisation responsible for the volunteer may set a time period in which
they can monitor the volunteer to find out if the problem or concern has resolved itself.
It is best practice to have a clear agreed process/procedure for resolving issues that
volunteers are made aware of and can read at any time.
These procedures often have several stages. This gives volunteers the opportunity to appeal
to higher levels of management.
Problem-solving process
1. Oral or informal stage
2. written or formal stage
3. opportunity to explain
4. Opportunity for external mediation.
During the process you should
- address the problem
- make a plan to change
- if not serious provide time and opportunities to change
- be firm but understanding throughout
- communicate all stages of the process
The nature and formality of this document will vary depending on the nature of the
organisation or group. Get in touch with us if you want feedback on creating a process.
Volunteers raising problems
Volunteers should always have the right to raise problems and concerns they have, and they
should understand who to raise problems to.
Ways to gather volunteer feedback:
- Informal chats
- More formal one to ones
- Anonymous surveys
- Steering groups
It is important to take volunteer complaints in good faith and see them as valuable to the
organisation. Sometimes, a volunteer may be unhappy with something that cannot be
changed, in which case it may be that a volunteer prefers to leave the role. On the other
hand, it is often the case that volunteers have good suggestions which support
improvements to the organisation.
Dismissing volunteers
It is sometimes necessary to dismiss volunteers. Volunteers should always be aware that
this might happen.
Always make sure that you follow any procedures in place.
If possible, provide a warning before dismissing a volunteer. In some cases, this may not be
possible due to the severity of the volunteer’s behaviour.
Safeguarding concerns
If there are concerns about a volunteer harming or posing a risk to a vulnerable adult or
child, then you must:
- Contact the police
- Contact the safeguarding team at Kingston Council
- Make a ‘barring’ referral to the DBS service
- Let us know at the Volunteering Kingston volunteer centre – if necessary we may
need to restrict or revoke their access to volunteering.
Tips for challenging conversations
- Prepare what you want to say generally but don’t stick to a script.
- Remember they are a volunteer not an employee – you do not have to be super
formal and do not treat the volunteer with the expectations that you would for an
employee.
- Depending on your personality, the situation and the relationship you have with a
volunteer, humour and informality can be helpful.
- Double check that the expectations the volunteer has not met have been effectively
communicated to the volunteer.
- Let the volunteer know ahead of time that you want to discuss their volunteering
and provide some feedback.
- Have a private space where you will not be interrupted.
- Do not use the compliment sandwich (positive feedback/negative feedback/positive
feedback). Research says that it weakens the positive feedback and the negative
feedback – volunteers feel like you didn’t really mean the positive comments and
don’t hear the message intended in the negative one. You should praise volunteers
often and sincerely, not just as a way to ‘sweeten the pill’.
- Be clear and ‘over communicate’. For example, “sometimes you come in late after
your break which causes problems for the rest of the team. Going forward, we’d like
you to make sure you come back on time” is better than “it’s annoying that some
people are late after breaks”.
- Listen to their point of view and empathise with their perspective. Paraphrase back
what is said to you: “I understand from what you are saying that you feel angry
about the way that this is being handled”, “it sounds like you were confused by the
process, is that right?”, “from your point of view, you didn’t see it as disrespectful?”
- Keep the focus on specific actions and what you want to happen, rather than vague
points and what you don’t like. For example: “when you are speaking with other
volunteers we’d like to you to speak calmly and politely” is better than “stop being
so rude to other volunteers”.
- If you find the temperature of the conversation rising, take a break: “let’s pause here
and take a minute so we can speak calmly and respectfully.” Apologise if you find
yourself getting irritated.
- No one should tolerate abusive or aggressive behaviour. If that is the case, you can
say “I’m going to end this conversation as you are shouting at me. Right now, we’re
going to ask you to go home. We will send you more information later on about what
we want to do.”
- If the person you are speaking to has communication difficulties (e.g. English as a
second language or a learning disability) use short sentences and pause between
them – do this instead of speaking very slowly.
- Follow up the conversation with an email documenting what was agreed.
- Useful phrases:
- “It’s important to me/us that everyone who volunteers here feels
supported/understands what is expected of them/is able to be safe”.
- “This is how it is from my perspective, I’m interested to hear how you see
things”.
- “For this conversation, we’re just going to talk things through, then me and
my manager will reflect on what you’ve said and let you know what the
plans. I’m not going be making any big decisions in this conversation”.
- “I’m not sure about that – I’ll go away and look into it and get back to you.”
- “We/I got that wrong and I apologise”.
Support
We are here to provide support to all organisations in Kingston which involve
volunteers.
Get in touch with us if you need any advice or information.
Email enquiry@volunteeringkingston.org.uk or phone 0300 365 9980.
See the NCVO guidance on solving volunteer problems for additional information.