This is a text I wrote for the October 2023 edition of Vidya that I want to share with a wider audience now.
Preface
I'm a TNS member for a year now and for the most part I'm very happy
with it. One aspect where I see room for improvement though is regarding
volunteering. One of my former/other social groups is the Chaos Computer
Club, in particular its events, where I have been volunteering and
serving in leadership roles for more than ten years now, and with its
very talented and opinionated members the CCC isn't too different from
TNS. The culture around volunteering is very different though. At events
of the CCC it is self evident that volunteering is great, volunteering
is especially recommended for first time visitors because it is a good
way to get to know people and understand how everything works. It is so
much fun that many people arrive before the event to help buildup.
Volunteering is part of the experience.
Now, as egg planning is moving from Thorsten Heitzmann doing most
administrative things to more of a group effort, I’d like to bring some
of my CCC volunteering experience to the next egg and hope it will
radiate into other parts of TNS. Here I share with you my observations
and thoughts that are likely transferable to volunteering for TNS
events:
Consider intrinsic motivation
Volunteers don't get paid with money, but, if it goes well, in ways that hook into their intrinsic motivation. Here are aspects of intrinsic motivation that I've observed mattering for doing the volunteer motivation puzzle:
- contributing to something that one values and partaking in one's community life
- cultivating skills and exploring new fields (that one can't get paid for yet)
- the task itself / flow / pursuing a certain aesthetic or perfection (for instance I did a bottle sorting shift once and found that strangely satisfying)
- collateral benefit (for instance if I still need to prepare slides for a talk, I can still make them while performing a low-attention task like a door shift. Similarly, signing up for a wristband crimping shift allows me to greet people more personally)
- having a pre-defined social role (this tends to be helpful for people who are socially awkward)
- working with a team that one enjoys
- the little joys of pet projects
- and probably most importantly: helping fellow humans, people love that!
Don't only consider which work needs to be done but also what the volunteer might get out of it!
Angels and Officers - distribute the work well
People love to help but not necessarily the whole day long. Some tasks
are rather complex to transfer from one person to the other and then
they better stick with a person for a while. Let's call those people
"officers" for now, because TNS already uses that word. Other tasks are
easier to cut into chunks, and when possible I'd suggest doing so rather
than creating new permanent positions. At the CCC those small volunteer
shifts are usually two hours long and the volunteers are called
'angels'. An example is a 'microphone angel', the person who makes
people speak into the microphone during Q&A sessions.
There can be tasks between officer and angel too. For instance we'll
call for a volunteer who makes graphics for egg to make the print and
online articles look nicer. This certainly takes more than two hours but
we don't need a TNS graphics officer either, it is a task that can
change person from event to event. The TNS historian doesn't necessarily
need to be an officer either, one might as well define a standard how to
archive things and let several people, maybe even everyone, contribute.
Prioritize motivation over skill when appropriate
For some positions, such as the Information Officer and the Financial
Officer, skill and prior experience may be needed to avoid negative
outcomes. Other volunteer tasks can be learnt on the job and opting for
a volunteer without professional experience is acceptable or even
preferred. For instance if child care gets implemented at TNS events, I
wouldn't want to push that onto a professional school teacher if we have
one, because they certainly want a break from their job too. If people
are interested in something, they can learn it, therefore for
non-critical positions I would always prefer to ask "What would you like
to contribute?" over "What are you good at?" And if skill and motivation
coincides, that is a gift but not a requirement.
It also means that we should be tolerant of the quirkiness of
volunteers, and distinguish between benign or neutral differences and
those with risk of harm.
Creative leeway
"What would we like to contribute?" is also a question that I'd often
prefer over "What should we do?", because the latter tends to result in
lengthy and sometimes heated discussions and not in getting stuff done.
Give the volunteers some liberty to fill the role with their style, and
allow pet projects! Here is an example for a pet project at CCC: the
Video operation center and the Phone operation center made
a song and music video that praises DECT. It was by no means needed, but they had fun, so why not!
Looking at it from a slightly different angle one might phrase it 'don't
micromanage volunteers'.
Avoid post processing / consider timing of motivation
Shortly before an event and during the event the motivation to do something is usually high, and afterwards everyone is tired. Understanding that, the Video operation center arranged its work in such a way that 99% of it is done during the event. The videos are edited live and after the talk they are just cut off at the start and end and the intro video gets added, and then they get published like that. The cameras hold backup recordings, but only in very rare cases are they used, because no one wants to go to the trouble for minor issues.
Document along rather than after
People always want documentation but nobody wants to write it. You are
doing a huge favor for the person who is performing the task after you
and future TNS historians if there is some written material, so try to
find a way to document that isn't a burden and doesn't wear you out, so
it can be done consistently.
Timing can be an aspect of it. Here is an example from DiVOC, a series
of online conferences during the pandemic, regarding writing meeting
protocols:
- before the meeting there was a pad (collaborative online document, like an open source google doc) where all meeting attendees can write their topics when they come to their mind (setting the agenda with little mental load), if topics come up during the meeting they can be added
- during the meeting the protocol gets written by more than one person in exactly that document (no-one gets worn out, people learn to cooperate)
- by the end of the meeting the protocol is finished and approved (no post-production duties).
This doesn't produce the documentation of some people's dreams but at least nobody needs to put extra time into it.
Use information gatekeeping deliberately
Some information needs to be protected, for instance personal data, but beyond that chances are it works best when all team members have access to all information. Sometimes there are practical considerations, accessible information shortens the training period when a member changes teams, but having the chance to understand how everything works also enables volunteers and helps motivate people who have the habit of working self-determined.
Welcome new ideas through a wishlist
This is an idea for TNS without a CCC observation. It frequently happens
that people want something to be done by someone else. How about having
a place for it, a place for wishes that no one has committed to yet?
Then the person with the wish can feel heard without guilting volunteers
into extra work.
For instance I wish for a cinema to have the talks in at egg. Comfy
seats, great sound and more projector than we ever need. I know it is
unlikely to become real any soon but bringing ideas out there without
pressuring volunteers - that would be great too.
Goodies
Intrinsic motivation of our volunteers is their driving force and rewards are appropriate. They can be in the form of little "privileges" or material tokens of gratitude: At large CCC events angels get free food and if they work a lot they get a t-shirt that can't be bought for money, which they wear with pride.
Outlook
Like probably many of you, I was delighted to see so many very good
candidates for the Member-at-Large position this August, so yes, people
in TNS want to volunteer. That is great! I'm looking forwards to seeing
future developments and to being a part of them.
Bryan Lundgren has suggested that TNS could have Volunteer Coordinator,
and if it continues the way it looks like now that can be me for the
next egg. I'm not sure about my readiness to serve in such a role for
TNS as a whole but I'd very happily talk about things regarding
volunteering with those who want to.
Text posted on this website: June 6th 2024