Making Your Volunteer Meetings Memorable

As someone who works with kids in some capacity, have you noticed that if you want kids to learn you must make the experience fun? Kids are not the only ones who learn best when the experience is enjoyable! Adults also benefit from a fun-filled learning experience!

Of course fun just for the sake of fun doesn’t teach much. That’s why it’s important that you  provide them meaningful content that will equip your teachers and volunteers so that they can serve more effectively. Then you must make the process of learning that information a positively fun experience. The icing on the cake!

Equipping Your Volunteers

How do you know what your volunteers need to learn?

1. Ask them! Engage in conversations with them – What went well in their classroom. Where were they frustrated? These are amazing clues to reveal what needs to be covered in your training.
   
   
2. You can also send out a link to an online survey SurveyMonkey is free and so is SoGoSurvey. Find out where they would like some help when it comes to teaching or helping in the classroom. Keep your survey short and sweet. That will increase the odds that folks will complete it.
   
   
3. Observe your teachers and volunteers in action. Notice the areas where they would benefit from some equipping.

How can you equip your teachers and volunteers?

1. Prepare the training yourself.
   
   
2. Invite teachers or other team members who are skilled in a particular area teach. It’s affirming to be asked to help in this way and preparing to teach is a learning experience too! And it frees you up to focus on other things that only you can do as the leader.
   
   
3. Bring in an expert to train your volunteer team. Often times someone from the outside can communicate ideas and be heard in ways that someone more familiar can’t.

Make The Process Fun!

Whoever ends up presenting the training, make sure that they plan to do it in a fun and interactive way!

1. Just like when teaching children, keep the training interactive and hands-on.
   
   
2. Give folks a chance to practice the skills in a safe environment where it is OK to make a mistake and laugh a little – or a lot! Without the opportunity to practice and try out the new information it’s difficult to incorporate a new skill in the classroom.
   
   
3. Remember games and role plays can be creative, effective, and fun ways to learn. So can experiences such as cooking or making something together.
   
   
4. Don’t forget, not everyone experiences fun in the same ways. Choices can keep your training fun for everyone. The better you know your team, the easier it will be to create training that matches your team’s idea of fun!

Now, get ready to have some fun as you inspire, inform, connect, reward, equip your team! Nothing says thank you like training your volunteers in a memorable and fun way!

What’s your biggest challenge when it comes to training your volunteers?