Motivating volunteers: Long but interesting

[Nan Hawthorne]

Dear SCN volunteer:

You may have seen several posts to other SCN lists of late where the topic of
how to motivate volunteers has come up rather obliquely.  I thought it might be
interesting and useful to post some information on the topic, since we are all
volunteers and need to know not only what motivates us but how to motivate each
other.  I hope all the principals of the conversation are on this mail list!
The vol-announce is not a discussion grou, but scn at scn.org is and by all means
repost this information to your team or committee list and discuss it there if
you wish.

This all comes up from a debate that could be boiled down to "can you draw more
flies with honey or vinegar?"  Some folks, not intending to be negative, I'm
sure, have been distributing the vinegar of criticism.  Others have pleaded for
the honey of support and encouragement.  I have responded that there are more
effective ways to motivate people, so I decided I should illustrate my point
here.  Perhaps the following insights will help.  You can see this addressed
more fully with more instruction on how to use the information at
http://www.cybervpm.com/index.htm. It is covered quite beautifully in Steve
McCurley and Rick Lynch's book VOLUNTEER MANAGEMENT: MOBILIZING THE SKILLS IN
YOUR COMMUNITY.   This is one of the many topics I have trained and written  on
and have training kits about.

I suspect you will enjoy the insights you gain about yourself too.

The Four Motivators

Needless to say individuals are too complex to pigeonhole into distinct
categories on what motivates them or any other characteristic.  But this
exercise has proved useful for working with volunteers and understanding the key
concept that not everyone measures success with the same yardstick.  That's what
motivating people is: finding how they individually define or recognize their
own successes and making sure the elements they need are present.  No matter
what other reasons a person volunteers (e.g., for fun, for friends, for a cause,
for a resume, etc.) there is one thing every single person wants, and that is to
feel like their effort is effective, that they are a success at volunteering,
contributing.  There are people who believe that you can motivate people with
all kinds of negative inducements, such as nagging, manipulation, begging,
browbeating, heckling, you name it.  But there are better ways that motivate
people not only to do what you want but to do it happily, well and for a long
time.

Exercise:

Take a minute and close your eyes.  Think about a situation in which you did or
would feel absolutely certain you are a success, that you did what you set out
to do.  This can be a real experience, like getting a promotion, or an imagined
one, like being elected to high office.  What it is at this point is less
important than that you really feel it.  Picture where you are, who else is
there if anyone, what tells you you succeeded, what is being said or done or
perceived.

Then try to see which of these most closely matches your vision.

A.  You saw yourself getting recognition from someone else through praise or
awards or a promotion or some other evidence of appreciation or admiration.
B.  You could see the physical evidence of your achievement for yourself: an
empty IN box, all the dishes washed and put away, the winning score on the
scoreboard, a diploma, etc.
C.  You know you are a success because you belong to a winning team or group or
family.  Perhaps your family is well-educated, your hockey team won the Stanley
Cup, your party won the election, etc.
D.  You have persuaded, whether by action or example, someone or a group to
improve their lives or how they act or what they do.  Such as someone decides
not to drop out of school, or a group finds a better way to do something, etc.

You will probably find more than one of these fits.  No problem.

Now remember that what this means is that unless you have the necessary elements
you simply will not be ABLE to recognize your own success.  You might be on top
but you can't see that you are.  For instance, someone who must see the evidence
for themselves not only won't agree with you if you praise them for something
they're not satisfied with,  but they will think you are insincere.

Here's what the four motivators are:

A.  PRAISE

Homo sapiens is a socially bonding animal so we naturally look to others to
assess our position and effectiveness.  So many of us measure success through
praise from others, whether as thanks, compliments, awards, rewards, public
recognition, etc.  A praise-motivated volunteer needs to hear that you
appreciate and approve of their work and will be most devastated by criticism.

B.  ACCOMPLISHMENT

Accomplishment-motivated people need to have the evidence of success right in
front of them.  They need to see that something is completed, finished, dealt
with.  They are drawn to tasks with a material product.  They hate meetings
unless something tangible is being generated.    You want to give them discreet
tasks with a beginning and an end and preferably something objective they can
perceive themselves.  Comment on amounts of work done rather than just the
quality.  If they are working on a less tangible task, come up with some way to
note steps or milestones in the work.  Accomplishment-motivated people are
driven bats by unfinished projects.

C,  AFFILIATION

Affiliative people feel best in a group effort, especially if they identify
somehow with the group.  This can be a family, a school, a workplace, a sports
team that they are either in or fans of, a country, a church or temple, even
Earth.  They are less concerned with their individual success than the group's
success.  They like logos, insignia, flags.  They, I joke, are the easiest
people to keep happy because all you need to do is slap a t-shirt on them!  They
won't be happy working isolation.  They don't want to be singled out.

D.  INFLUENCE

Some call this one POWER and it is true that the motivator can be as likely
CONTROL as INFLUENCE if the person does not have the good of the organization at
heart.  But an influence-motivated volunteer either has or thinks they have a
better way of thinking or doing something.  Or are more intelligent, experienced
and wiser.  If the group or an individual doesn't start doing  what they think
they should do or doing it the way they think it should be done, they won't feel
successful about their participation.  This group gets a bum rap because we tend
to think of them as bossy.  And some of them are.  But others are leaders, role
models, visionaries, insprers and we love them.

I have a little story about how I figured out which of my two strongest
motivators was stronger.  One particular day I had an unusual amount of
housework to do.  I managed to get it all done before my partner got home.  I
thought to myself, "OK, now I can see if I am more Praise or Accomplishment
motivated.  If it's Accomplishment, I should be content that I see the work is
done.  If Praise I'll tell Jim."  I told Jim.

Be sure you don't just apply this to yourself.  It's good to undersatand what
motivates you, but in an all-volunteer organization like SCN it's very important
we each recognize others' motivators.  The web site I cited above has tips on
how to do this and how to respond most effectively.

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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