Getting started

What will I learn?
This module identifies how to best support emerging volunteers navigate the initial adoption of their volunteer roles through mentorship and intraclub networks.

How long will it take?
‍This module will take approximately 10 minutes to complete.

Who should complete this module?
This module is designed for club leaders responsible for recruiting, inducting, and coordinating new and emerging club volunteers.

Section 1

What does mentorship look like at a local sport club?

Having identified current and future role vacancies through the regular use of the Succession Planning table (See module 3). The club should be aware of the types of volunteers required to fill these roles and when they will be required to take up a vacancy.

Section 2

Identifying a potential emerging volunteer

Utilise the Volunteer Register (see module 2) to identify potential candidates for appropriate roles.
The outgoing volunteer should support in the recruitment process
Reach out to potential candidates to gauge their interest.
- Provide a copy of the relevant volunteer role description
- If appropriate, identify any potential incentives that may be offered to encourage them to take up the role.

Section 3

Partner an emerging volunteer with a current volunteer

As soon as the incoming volunteer has confirmed their willingness to take up a vacating volunteer role, connect them with the relevant outgoing volunteer.
Where possible mentorship relationships should be established prior to the outgoing volunteer finishing their tenure, this allows the incoming volunteer to shadow, learn and take the opportunity to ask any relevant questions in season.
During this handover process the incoming volunteer should be encouraged to shadow, observe, and share in club operational knowledge
Through collaboration between the incoming and outgoing volunteer a clear set of learning goals should be established. These learning goals should be selected based on their importance to the role and how much experience the incoming volunteer has with the respective tasks.
- Reviewing the role description for the volunteer position can be a good starting point to identify any specific tasks or responsibilities that the new volunteer may need to learn or gain experience in.
To build the confidence of incoming volunteer to a new role, encourage them to take on small responsibilities of the role under the supervision of the outgoing volunteer.
Identify if any specific training is required to undertake a role and invest in opportunities for the incoming volunteer to undertake this training.

Section 4

What are some examples of mentoring relationships at local sport club?

Examples:

President sharing responsibilities with a Vice president
Coach working with an assistant coach
Secretary delegating tasks to other committee members
Volunteer coordinator working closely with other club coordinators to arrange rosters, or facilitate volunteer inductions.

Section 5

Mentorship through role-sharing and role-networks

Role Sharing

For some seasonal roles, role-sharing is an effective method of mentorship that has many benefits for both emerging volunteers and the experienced volunteers they work with, this includes:

Passing on operational knowledge
Sharing the workload of a role
Smooth transition of role responsibilities to the next generation of emerging volunteers

Role Networks

For some volunteer roles, there may be multiple people doing a similar role for different areas/grades/age groups of the club such as team managers, coaches, canteen volunteers, umpires, etc. For these roles it is encouraged to establish volunteer role-networks. Introduce these volunteers to one another and connect them so that they can share and learn from one another as required.

Benefits of connecting volunteers that share similar roles:

Promotes circular mentorship
Provides a supportive environment
Creates connection, belonging, and confidence
To embed multiple people to reach out to if they require advice or guidance
Reduces reliance on senior club leaders and volunteers

Mentorship for casual/roster-based volunteer roles

For casual or roster-based roles, mentorship still plays a role.
While many casual or roster-based volunteers can be undertaken without supervision certain provisions should be provided to allow a volunteer to confidently fulfil their role.
- They should be provided a brief checklist or task guide to support them to complete their shift.
- The guide/checklist should include the contact details of a person that can provide advice and direction if the volunteer has any question.
- The contact person for the role can be the person who rostered them on or any other volunteer that is familiar with the role. In this instance the contact person does not need to be a senior club committee member.
- The contact person may be a general volunteer of the club that has experience or has undertaken the role in the past or the person who has created the roster for this role.

Section 6

Mentorship through Delegation and Micro-volunteering

A primary aspect of any seasonal volunteer role is the responsibility to delegate small tasks from the role to other members of the club/community.

The seasonal role holder should be proactive in recruiting potential volunteers to take on smaller tasks and should provide the recruited person/s with appropriate guidance (mentorship) on how to complete the task.

This is a form of mentorship which incorporates the principle of micro-volunteering.

Section 7

Micro-volunteering

What is Micro-volunteering?

Breaking down the responsibility of seasonal volunteer roles into smaller tasks
Delegating smaller tasks to emerging volunteers
Micro-volunteer tasks can exist in both remote and in person formats.

Remote

Tasks that can be completed away from the club in one’s own time such as:

Administration tasks
Marketing tasks
Communication tasks
Training/Gameday planning
Social event coordination
Grant writing/sponsorship

In person

Tasksthat are undertaken at the club on game day/training days/events such as:

Ground/equipment preparation and set up
Team or event management support
Social event preparation and set up.

Benefits of delegating micro-volunteer tasks:

Reduce individual burden on the seasonal role holder
Introduces other members to volunteerism through easy bite size experiences
Helps share the knowledge of volunteer responsibilities to other members of the club
More opportunities to recognise people for volunteering and contributing to the club
Promotes a cultural of volunteerism

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Module 4

Mentorship