What challenge inspired this recipe?
In the course of service various problems may occur. Sometimes there are good reasons behind them – for instance, volunteer may feel unsatisfied about his/ her project. In other cases there can be communication problems between volunteers and their local project coordinators like simple misunderstanding, intercultural difference or personal chemistry that does not work. Also there can be tensions between volunteers, sharing apartments or the same room, based on cultural differences leading to a gap in daily habits. All this can create problems which, if not dealt with, may lead to a more serious conflict which may end up with volunteer interrupting the project. To deal with all this, there are some simple methods, which proved to be helpful during years of practice.
Ingredients :
A monthly diary. See sample here :
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WG8gmdIsjV5av4AsKtDFhinLSufE4zT3/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=117356268929565814241&rtpof=true&sd=true
Step by step guide
It is based, first of all, on monitoring of every volunteer situation and progress.
Every volunteer has a mentor, recruited and prepared by EstYES, and whose task, among other things, is to follow volunteer’s integration and well-being and tell us if it is felt that something is going wrong, so that we could intervene. Often it really helps, especially if noticed early enough.
Another tool is a monthly diary, a simple 1-2 A4 pages with few questions, asking volunteer about his/ her progress on the project, funny or strange situations volunteer faced, positive or negative experiences, etc. Reading such diary we can see easily first signs of potential problem and react on it. However this method works only if volunteers start to fill it in from the very beginning of the service, do it regularly and thoroughly. Our task is to insist on it.
If there is a problem the solution is sought. Sometimes it can be as simple as getting some needed stuff to the apartments where volunteers live or changing the room or apartment for volunteer (which is not always possible though). Taking a break from the project can help in many cases or visiting other similar project to get inspiration, support or to refresh.
In a more serious and deeper cases a meeting between volunteers, who are part of the conflict, or between a volunteer and hosting project coordinator, moderated by ESTYES stuff members is needed. Open talk can help a lot when it is really open, honest and well prepared and directed to find a constructive solution. And it is important to have a physical meeting if possible. The worst thing to imagine is exchange of angry e-mails! Video meeting can do in a simple case with easy solution. And still a physical meeting should be preferred. When tackling delicate issues everything is important – voice tone, body language, face expression.
In some cases, volunteer’s sending organization has to be involved in the problem/ conflict solution. Speaking the same language and having the same culture has a great advantage when explaining reasons of the problem and look for possible solutions. If it is needed we introduce the problem to sending organization first, and try to find a solution together. After that, if needed, we have a video meeting involving all parties concerned.
Important to highlight!Although there is not much of innovation in the described above, our experience shows that these simple practices usually lead to a successful volunteer stay in the project. Monthly diary is a really good tool for monitoring, identifying problems and their solution in a good time before it grown to a serious conflict. Also regular meetings with volunteers as well as their hosting coordinators are of a great help and are strongly advisable. |
Before you start cooking, keep in mind…
Generally, it is lack of time and human resources to follow thoroughly all volunteers. It is especially difficult in the case when 1-2 volunteers have serious issues and demand a lot of attention. Then how to find time for all others!
It also applies to mentors as sometimes we face difficulties finding the good ones.
And finally, it is intercultural differences in approaches, way of acting and reacting. This is something we should always take into account, especially when dealing with personal conflicts.
