So I was chatting with a client the other day about how best to manage a team of volunteers/ambassadors in all corners of the globe.
His concern was that because they weren’t getting paid…initially… he couldn’t ask too much of them, especially at the interview stage (worrying they’d be scared off)
My response was that they obviously love what you’re doing right now (or they wouldn’t have applied) and want to get involved with you in some way so don’t worry so much about that.
What they need right now is:
🚀 STRUCTURE
🚀 REALISTIC DELIVERABLES
🚀 A STRONG POINT OF CONTACT…
If you want to activate a global audience of volunteers to give you a true worldwide footprint then follow these tips >>
🚀 STRUCTURE >> It’s pretty simple – if your volunteers/ambassadors feel everything’s a bit wishy-washy then they’ll lose interest, and then you’ll get frustrated chasing them up. Get your weekly cal structured to check in with them!
🚀 REALISTIC DELIVERABLES >> How about 1-2 hours a week from each of them? You can’t ask too much if they’re likely busy with other stuff, so why not get them doing a weekly task such as:
📅 Week 1: Write a hyper-weekly local newsletter or deep dive post on your forums/social platform that will engage your audience and bring in more locals?
📅 Week 2: Partnerships – take some time researching interesting people, sponsors, biz’s that you could work with and make some intros.
📅 Week 3: Host a Meetup or an online get-together
📅 Week 4: Ambassador’s choice – what could they choose to do that would excite them, you and bring value to what you’re doing?
🚀 A STRONG POINT OF CONTACT >> Everything falls apart if your volunteers/ambassadors don’t have someone they can rely on to get back to them on questions, to action their work, to make them feel good and appreciated. Don’t even bother to ask them to do things if you don’t have the systems and processes in place to truly use their work.
All of this can be used when it comes to full-time employees too – CLARITY and CONNECTION are the main drivers to people being successful in their work!
Keep winning – you’ve got this! 🚀