In a good year’s time I hope that …
Back in September, I went to this training day, organised by Grooms-Shaftesbury. I found it really useful, and have gained understanding, but haven’t yet put much into practice. Anyway, here’s my reflections as I review the notes we were given (and scarily look at the things I wrote during the day for me to take action on!)
We looked first at some theories of what motivates people. Looking at the things that motivate people (sense of achievement, recognition, responsibility etc) I wonder how much of this I actually give to volunteers. I could probably do better. Looking at the list of things that demotivate, I can identify at least two that have demotivated me in my current role. I hope I don’t display any of these to my volunteers, but I’d probably need to ask them that.
The difficult but useful thing I need to do is to understand what motivates my volunteers. Each one will probably be different, and will therefore have to be motivated by me differently! There are some I think I could guess at, but I really need to pick up the courage and just ask them! As we began to identify what motivates each one of us during the training day, it brought real understanding to the way we work. I think this would be useful for the volunteers too.
We were given four key motivations, can you recognise which one you are?
- a person who likes to get things done (task orientated – this is me)
- a person who likes to be with people (people orientated)
- a person who likes the work itself (vocation orientated – this is different from task orientated)
- a person who likes to be recognised for what they are doing (praise orientated)
We were encouraged to think of signs for each of these different motivations. There was quite a crossover between some of them, though a few things were distinct for each one. I’m still not sure I can identify different people’s motivations though. I think a discussion about this with volunteers would be useful (not just for me, but for them too I hope.)
The last question in this section was about how we can motivate these different types of people. I have a few answers (that were given on the day) but I still don’t find this easy. However, this section on motivating people was the most eye opening of the day, and I feel it could really impact my work – if I can figure out what motivates people and how to motivate them for my own situation!
We then moved onto managing and developing people. There were four key points we looked at:
- being clear about role and responsibilities
- being clear about goals and what needs to be done to achieve them
- providing on-going coaching and supervision
- evaluating performance together against agreed goals
We covered some simple job description stuff (which reminds me I must go back and look at the ones I created over the summer, I never did distribute them to my volunteers!) We also talked a lot about goals. Now I love setting goals (I’m task motivated remember!) but there was a useful coaching process suggested for when you’re helping someone else set their goals. The stuff we did on coaching and supervision was also useful. Having been on the receiving end of some really good supervision this past year I now know the benefits of it. This training made me realise that I should be coaching / supervising those I am managing. Just relating those words together made something click in me. It was as if I caught a glimpse of how a good manager should be! The exercise where I took the role of a coach told me I had a lot to learn, but I’m excited with this new way of seeing management.
As I am half responsible for managing our year out worker, I feel I have learnt a lot I can put into practice with her. There’s also a lot to use with my volunteers, but I have a feeling that will take a bit longer. All in all, a great day which brought me new insights into the way I manage people.
Assignment is done! I’ve struggled a bit with this one. But I managed to find enough to write and now it’s all ready to take to the post office tomorrow. With the postal strike, I reckon this will be one of those times that they will actually want to check my proof of postage! The deadline is Thurs and it won’t arrive by then, but as long as I have proof of postage for a Tuesday then it isn’t considered late. I’ve emailled it to my tutor anyway, not that they can accept them that way.
So now I can have tea before the young people arrive for bible study and then finish the emails and phonecalls that are a usual part of my Monday.
Tomorrow is a day off, and I was planning to weed the garden, but the forecast is for rain. So it looks like I’ll have a day of cleaning the house and cuddling up on the sofa with a book. Hubby is out, so I’ll be by myself all day.
