Volunteer experiences just as no company can be successful without the right team. The same can be said for organisations that rely on volunteers and volunteer teams. It’s so important for volunteers to have a great experience. I mean, after all, if you’re happy in your role, you’re going to be much more productive. You’re going to feel motivated and more likely to stay. And a great way for organisations to learn more about volunteers and the experiences that you have is to do an annual survey and if you leave and exit survey. Often organisations who do surveys make changes to their programs as a result of the feedback they receive. And there’s some quotes on the screen of volunteers who were surveyed at the beginning of their volunteer experience. Culture, the culture of an organisation is demonstrated through the way that people interact, the way they behave, the way they dress, the decor and how they go about their job. 

A good way to think about culture is, think back to an organisation or a business, who changed ownership and how different it actually felt when you walked in the door. That’s a really good way to describe culture. Culture reflects ethical beliefs and standards and the organisation’s values. It can be hard to tell which organisations have a great culture from the ones that don’t when you’re not volunteering within the organisation. So what are some of the ways that you can detect a great culture. Here’s a couple of examples of things to look for. The purpose, mission, objectives, Vision and values. And if they’re very positive in their focus. Do they even have these statements? That you have a feeling of a relaxed, productive, welcoming atmosphere when you walk in the door. You get a real sense that people love coming to work or to volunteer. There’s an atmosphere of productivity, broad thinking creativity, they’re supportive and helpful. Have a look for those types of indicators when you’re talking with staff or volunteers. Other things are that you find there’s a real commitment by everyone towards excellence. And that means people take responsibility for their actions, and they help other people. In other words, they don’t have it’s not my job mentality. People are communicating, they’re solving difficulties in a positive way. 

There’s no grudges when they receive difficult feedback. Instead, it’s more about we need to help the organisation continually improve and they’re actively looking for ways that they can improve. Other things that you may enjoy in a culture might be a sense of fun, that everyone keeps a sense of humour. And they keep things in perspective. You might want to look for a culture where people have recognised and acknowledged, or there’s a genuine compassion, respect and understanding for volunteer and staff members well being and that they’re treated well. These are some of the things that may resonate with you, when you think about the organisation that you want to volunteer for. So it’s a great idea to ask about the culture of the organisation before you start. Ask an existing staff member or an existing volunteer some very simple questions. What do you like about working for the organisation or volunteering there? And if you could change something, what would it be? People, even as a volunteer, it’s good to know about the people who are working and volunteering in the organisation that you’re involved with. 

As a start, of course, you want to know who your point of contact is, if there’s a volunteer coordinator, supervisor or manager. And to get a good overview of the organisation, ask for an organisational chart because you can see the types of programs, services or projects and even events they might deliver and where you might fit within that organisation. And you never know whilst it may not be the role that you particularly want that you’ve entered into, you might be able to identify a future volunteer role as well.

Just as no company can be successful without the right team, the same can be said for organisations that rely on volunteers and volunteer teams. It’s so important for volunteers to have a great experience. I mean, after all, if you’re happy in your role, you’re going to be much more productive. You’re going to feel motivated and more likely to stay. And a great way for organisations to learn more about volunteers and the experiences that you have is to do an annual survey and if you leave, an exit survey. Often organisations who do surveys make changes to their programmes as a result of the feedback they receive. And there’s some quotes on the screen of volunteers who were surveyed at the beginning of their volunteer experience. Culture. The culture of an organisation is demonstrated through the way that people interact, the way they behave, the way they dress, the decor and how they go about their job. 

A good way to think about culture is think back to an organisation or a business who changed ownership and how different it actually felt when you walked in the door. That’s a really good way to describe culture. Culture reflects ethical beliefs and standards and the organisation’s values. It can be hard to tell which organisations have a great culture from the ones that don’t when you’re not volunteering within the organisation. So what are some of the ways that you can detect a great culture? Here’s a couple of examples of things to look for. The purpose, mission, objectives, vision and values, and if they’ve very positive in their focus. Do they even have these statements? That you have a feeling of a relaxed, productive, welcoming, atmosphere when you walk in the door. You get a real sense that people love coming to work or to volunteer. There’s an atmosphere of productivity, broad thinking, creativity, they’re supportive and helpful. Have a look for those types of indicators when you’re talking with staff or volunteers. Other things are that you find there’s a real commitment by everyone towards excellence. And that means people take responsibility for their actions and they help other people. 

In other words, they don’t have it’s not my job mentality. People are communicating, they’re solving difficulties in a positive way. There’s no grudges when they receive difficult feedback. Instead, it’s more about we need to help the organisation continually improve. And they’re actively looking for ways that they can improve. Other things that you may enjoy in a culture might be a sense of fun. That everyone keeps a sense of humour. And they keep things in perspective. You might want to look for a culture where people are recognised and acknowledged, or there’s a genuine compassion, respect and understanding for volunteer and staff members’ well-being. And that they’re treated well. These are some of the things that may resonate with you when you think about the organisation that you want to volunteer for. So it’s a great idea to ask about the culture of the organisation before you start. Ask an existing staff member or an existing volunteer. Some very simple questions, what do you like about working for the organisation or volunteering there? And if you could change something, what would it be? People. Even as a volunteer, it’s good to know about the people who are working and volunteering in the organisation that you’re involved with. 

As a start, of course, you want to know who your point of contact is, if there’s a volunteer coordinator, supervisor or manager. And to get a good overview of the organisation, ask for an organisational chart because you can see the types of programmes, services or projects and even events they might deliver and where you might fit within that organisation. And you never know, whilst it may not be that the role that you particularly want that you’ve entered into, you might be able to identify a future volunteer role as well.

The culture of an organisation is demonstrated through the way that people interact, they way they behave, the way they dress, the decor and how they go about their job. A good way to think about culture is think back to an organisation or a business who changed ownership and how different it actually felt when you walked in the door. That’s a really good way to describe culture. Culture reflects ethical beliefs and standards and the organisation’s values. It can be hard to tell which organisations have a great culture from the ones that don’t when you’re not volunteering within the organisation. So what are some of the ways that you can detect a great culture? Here’s a couple of examples of things to look for. 

The purpose, mission, objectives, vision and values and if they’ve very positive in their focus. Do they even have these statements? That you have a feeling of a relaxed, productive, welcoming atmosphere when you walk in the door. You get a real sense that people love coming to work or to volunteer. There’s an atmosphere of productivity, broad thinking, creativity. They’re supportive and helpful. Have a look for those types of indicators when you’re talking with staff or volunteers. Other things are that you find there’s a real commitment by everyone towards excellence. And that means people take responsibility for their actions and they help other people. In other words, they don’t have it’s not my job mentality. People are communicating, they’re solving difficulties in a positive way. There’s no grudges when they receive difficult feedback. 

Instead, it’s more about we need to help the organisation continually improve. And they’re actively looking for ways that they can improve. Other things that you may enjoy in a culture might be a sense of fun. That everyone keeps a sense of humour. And they keep things in perspective. You might want to look for a culture where people are recognised and acknowledged, or there’s a genuine compassion, respect and understanding for volunteer and staff members’ well-being. And that they’re treated well. These are some of the things that may resonate with you when you think about the organisation that you want to volunteer for. 

So it’s a great idea to ask about the culture of the organisation before you start. Ask an existing staff member or an existing volunteer. Some very simple questions, what do you like about working for the organisation or volunteering there? And if you could change something, what would it be?