Volunteerism

There is power in numbers.

The more, the merrier.

There is a common notion that it is better to have more people around you than less. However, in project management, this may not always be the case. Although more volunteers may mean that the project is attractive, this may result to overcrowding. The number of volunteers is not directly related to the success of the project. There may be too many chefs in the kitchen.

On the other hand, lacking of volunteers is not also a good thing. It may be a sign that the project is not valuable or good enough so that volunteers may come and help with the project.

The optimal number of volunteers still depends on what type of volunteers does the project need. If there are too many volunteers, then we have to screen them out. Not everyone may be helpful for the project. Each member has his or her own strengths and weaknesses and human resource managers should be able to detect these. Meanwhile, the lack of volunteers may be seen as a challenge. Are these quality volunteers? Again, screening volunteers is a must for task delegation.

My most important learning from Shane Ahn's round table discussion on volunteerism has to be the need of motivated volunteers. In the end, your volunteers might have the necessary skills you need for the project but they may be overconfident that they do the tasks very well. On the other side, some volunteers may be too shy because they do not know if they will be able to do the right thing. Both kinds of volunteers will be present, most of the time, in projects. What is important is proper training and motivation. If they are motivated enough, they will whole-heartedly carry out the tasks given to them.