In an onboarding process for volunteers, it is important that this is correct. Both for the volunteers to feel wanted, for them to understand what to do, but also for them to be motivated and carry out in a good and correct way. Here you will find out what you need to think about in the onboarding process.
Have clear roles
Let there never be any doubt about who has what role in the onboarding process and in the further processes. Role clarification among the leaders is absolutely essential, just as it is important to tell the volunteers early on who their closest leader is. Insecurity often causes dissatisfaction, which often grows further when the volunteers begin to communicate with each other.
Make a communication plan
Already in the preparation, you should make a clear communication plan for both the preparations and the event itself. In addition to onboarding communication with volunteers, the same plan should include all intended communication to the web, social media, press, etc.
Give a warm welcome
Send a warm welcome / confirmation by email, in which you congratulate each individual volunteer on the job they have been given and thank them for their commitment. At the same time, provide information on exactly what to do, what is generally expected of them and what happens next. It is important to give clear messages from the very beginning. Feel free to use merge fields with personal names when sending out information, and make it as personal as possible.
Recruit through the volunteers
Already when you start onboard, you can get the chosen ones to help you get more volunteers. Get them to help you get with their friends and acquaintances, it saves you a lot of time spent on recruitment.
Ensure competence
If you in the recruitment process have discovered that the volunteers lack the skills to do the job, tell them where or how to acquire what they lack. Feel free to let them test their own knowledge in an e-learning system, through tests etc. Check along the way that everyone has completed the training and that the competence has become good enough. Feel free to relocate people if it turns out that they are actually more suited to other tasks than they were originally set for.
Be a friend
It is very important that the volunteers feel welcome and in the gang from the first moment. But in the sequel, it is also important to communicate clearly and pleasantly, and show that you appreciate each one. This means that the volunteers have a stronger relationship with the leader, and that the obligation between the organizer and the volunteer feels stronger for the volunteer. It usually gives much less dropout along the way.
Get known
Encourage everyone involved to post a picture of themselves in the organizational system you use. It makes it much easier to be recognized and known, and not least to remember names and build relationships.
Timing is important
Do not send messages after 2200 in the evening or before 0800 in the morning. Many people sleep during this period and the danger is therefore great that the messages pass them by, or that they do not remember the content.
Communicate wisely
Do not exaggerate the communication towards the volunteers, you should inform them - do not wear them out. Rather rare and a little more, than often and little. However, keep all communication short, concise and clear, without room for misunderstanding.
Control communication through channels you own and where you have control. Take ownership of one or two communication channels from the start, and do not allow volunteers to set up something of their own. (Not groups on Facebook, WhatsApp, Messenger etc.)
Do not bother people who do what they are supposed to, whether it is e-learning, reading documents or something else.
After the event, it is important to coordinate the thanks from the event. It holds with one thank you to everyone, from the top leader.
