But we are talking about a volunteer program here...

[Nan Hawthorne]

Joe,

Just to clarify, I am addressing the issue of conduct by volunteers within a
volunteer program only.  I too agree that heated debate, disagreement and anger
can be quite healthy.  But the health of the organization and the whole
volunteer program takes precedence.  Let me share my philosophy of why
organizations look to volunteers for help:

1.  There is important work to be done.

     This is the reason the organization exists at all, the mission, the vision,
the work it does in the community.

2.  Volunteers are _part_ of the best way to get that work done.

     In an all-volunteer setting they are the only way.  But even where there is
paid staff, volunteers add a level of value to the important work that cannot be
matched: fresh energy and enthusiasm, skills you couldn't afford to pay for,
extra sets of hands, insights from the community beyond the organization,
goodwill taken back out, contacts with funders, legislators, media, in-kind
donors, and money.

3.  Good volunteer management, a well-run volunteer program, insures that this
important work gets done well.

The point here is that the _work_ is what it's all about.  Too many volunteer
programs put volunteers before the common goals.  Those programs suffer and are
ineffective.

Also, Joe, I feel it is important _before_ one gets into conflict to be sure you
know the facts.  And to fight fair and not personalize the conflict.  And to
think through the consequences to see if there is likely to be a positive
outcome when teamwork is at stake.  As an old boss used to say to me, "You need
to learn to pick your fights."

As a professional volunteer program manager it will be my goal to offer my
skills to build a volunteer program that supports effective work.  I will myself
be as light-handed as possible on issues of civility, but the purpose of
volunteer guidelines is to lessen risk to the organization as a whole.
Volunteer programs where destructive criticism and inappropriate use of
resources are permitted and even fostered are at risk of wasting resources and
creating bad community relations.

I have expressed my strong opposition to heavy-handed and inconsistent
censorship of SCN users but have also stated that it is entirely appropriate and
in fact a hallmark of a good volunteer program to limit the actions of its
personnel, namely volunteers.

Cordially,

Nan Hawthorne
Co-coordinator, SCN HR Committee
nanh at scn.org

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            "I feel the greatest reward for doing is the opportunity to do
more."
            --Jonas Salk

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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