Volunteer Groups- a Test of Your Management Skill

In this post I will discuss some thoughts on good management (which I think of as the ability of a person to motivate others to work productively to achieve desired outcomes), as well as an exercise to develop strong management skills

In business, problems of motivation can be overcome to a significant extent by monetary compensation; people who get more burdensome tasks with longer hours can be convinced to stay and do the work by way of larger compensation packages. If the boss drops the ball, employees aren't all that concerned about it, as long as they get their paychecks in the foreseeable future. Bonuses, overtime pay and stock options can be used to get people to give it their all and make sure the work is done. While I agree that these compensation schemes have been proven over time to be very effective, I contend that they can become somewhat of a crutch for managers and that they fall outside the realm of good management. This is because these schemes fail to address intrinsic motivations (a person’s internal desires for accomplishing the goal for the sake of it) and fail to make people work to their full potential. With this crutch it is difficult to say that one’s management skills are tested fully in the corporate environment.

Successful Volunteer Groups, however, are unable to rely on financial compensation to motivate people to offer their time and effort. Given the lack of extrinsic motivators in these groups, a very interesting question we must ask is: how do leaders in these organizations leverage intrinsic motivations to achieve organizational success? I believe that answering this question is the key to understanding what good management is. I'll quote my good friend Stu Stein on why I believe that this is so- "if you can motivate people to work for your cause for free, imagine what you could get them to do when you start paying them."

Some close friends in Volunteer Groups and I have spent much time discussing our HR issues and have found that certain practices have stood out as good management practices in volunteer groups, all addressing team members' intrinsic motivations:

1. Hiring/accepting people with strong intrinsic motivations. These motivations may be different for each person but the importance is that they WANT to help achieve something that the organization values because they believe in it.
2. Relate to people on the team on a personal and professional level. A key to understanding intrinsic motivations is to better know the person and how they work/think. This information is critical when the time comes to align interests. Socialization within the organization is a great way to create a culture through which managers can learn about people on their team.
3. Set the Vision, Mission and Values. Though these are overlooked in ordinary businesses (and not taken seriously by anyone who’s taken a management class that makes a mockery of this concept), this is crucial when it comes to intrinsic motivations. Each person has a different desire that they prioritize but if the team agrees to a common set of VMMs, the priorities will set themselves.
4. Make sure each person feels valued. You can’t compensate them with bonuses so you need to reward achievement and effort by recognizing it.
5. Flat structures. Utilize peoples’ intrinsic motivations to allow them to innovate- let them be the drivers of their own projects.

As you can see, the complexities of Volunteer Groups and the issues that their managers face make them an ideal ground to develop practical management experience. It is especially a good experience for aspiring entrepreneurs, who often don't have the resources to use money as a motivator for people to work for them.