Developing an Effective Team Delegating & Sharing the Tasks Dave Weaving

From Our May Meeting Discussion How do we ease the job DC? Of LC? How do we keep the LCs that we have? How do we solve the problem of recruiting new/replacement LCs? How can you be more effective in your job as DC without adding more hours to the job?

Program Growth In addition to just having to deal with normal attrition of leadership volunteers - every year our numbers grow: Number of Tax Sites Number of Returns Done Number of Volunteers Growing our “infrastructure” at all levels is critical to support this overall program growth At both the LC or DC level – It’s important to share the workload

Delegating – Why Is It Difficult? From volunteers that you might want to delegate to: “I just want to do taxes” “I don’t have the knowledge/training to do the requested task” “Taking the job title means I’m locked in for life” “It’s too much work” From our leaders who should be focusing on delegating: “I can do the job faster myself” “I can do a better quality job myself” “It’s difficult to “delegate” to volunteers” “I don’t know all my volunteers well enough to know who to ask” “Things aren’t broken; what’s there to fix?”

Don’t Think You Have A Problem? “Things aren’t broken; what’s there to fix?” You and all of your LCs may be operating just fine right now But what happens when you have a family illness or one of your LCs moves to Florida? If your district and your local sites are run as a “team effort”, there is a lot less disruption when you get thrown a curve in your staffing If you have a team of people who all help to run a site, it’s a lot easier to find someone to step up to be the next LC They don’t have to step in and do ALL the tasks There are already other people trained to do many of the tasks By creating a “team approach” at the district level, you set a good example for LC’s to do this at the site level If you’ve been in your position a long time and have a smooth running operation, you’d probably like to see this success carried on when you decide to move on! PLAN NOW FOR A SMOOTH TRANSITION DOWN THE ROAD

Delegating/Sharing the Tasks - Approaches There is no magic formula; you need to look at your set of volunteers (or recruit new volunteers) and determine the best approaches for your situation - But here are some possible approaches: You don’t always have to assign a role or title Just ask for help on a specific task Many people will do a great deal of work, but they just don’t want to take on the title If this is the case, don’t force the title on them; let them do the job Bite-size tasks – start small & build up responsibility over time “Can you come early each week and help with site set-up?” “Could you distribute these flyers to the local libraries?” “Could you keep track of and communicate with the new volunteers up until the time of training?”

Delegating Approaches (Continued) Try the “Work along with me” approach Work together with someone on a task It may start out being more work for you, but gradually the person can take over all or most of the task Group assignments If you have 2-3 volunteers who seem to work well together; ask them to do a task as a group Post the positions/tasks you need help with to all the volunteers in the district – ask for assistance You might be pleasantly surprised with the results

Some of the Other Issues You May Face “Taking the job title means I’m locked in for life” Create term limits – “You only have to do this for 2 tax seasons” (Who knows, after 2 years, they may just sign up for another term!) “I don’t have the knowledge/training to do the requested task” Respond with: “Neither did I, but I learned without too much difficulty; and in your case, I’ll be here to help train you.” “I don’t want to delegate - I can do the job faster myself” or “I can do a better quality job” As the program grows at the DC or LC level, it becomes more difficult for one person to do the full district, or full site, set of responsibilities Usually “Speed” and “Quality” suffer when one person tries to do it all “I don’t know all my volunteers well enough to know who to ask” Most LCs tend to know their site team – they’ll know who to ask for various tasks At the DC level, consider meeting with your LCs and ask them for suggestions on what TCs and CFs might be willing to/capable of helping out at the district level

Do You Recruit for All Roles? All the site/district work does not have to be done by volunteers who are also tax counselors!! Do you recruit for all roles? Tax Counselor Local Coordinator** Client Facilitator** IT Support** Site set-up** Communications Support** Administrative Support** Client Outreach**; appointment reminder calls, etc. ** all of these roles can be done by people who do not prepare taxes These can be new volunteers to supplement your current team

It’s Important to: Properly train the people who you delegate to: Is there a position description? Or a written list of tasks? If it looks daunting, sit down with the individual and highlight the items that are most key Let them slowly expand to the other areas in the position description Let them work side-by-side with the person doing the job today Give them Encouragement & Support Give them Thanks

Goal: Expanding the Number of Volunteers in Leadership Roles Leadership Positions Site Level LC ERO SF (Support Facilitator) District Level DC AC (Administrative Coord.) CC (Communications Coord.) INS (Instructor) TC (Technology Coordinator) TRC (Training Coordinator) State Level SC (State Coordinator) ASC (Assistant State Coord.) ADS (Administration Specialist) PCS (Partnership/Comm. Spec.) PVS (Prospective Vol. Spec.) TCS (Technology Specialist) TRS (Training Specialist) Non-Leadership Positions Counselor Client Facilitator Note: Not all new leaders have to come from the pool of current Non-Leaders; they can be new volunteers.

Need More Help With Delegating? There’s an App for that! 2-Way Delegation App (Apple Store or GooglePlay - $4.99) Everything you wanted to know about DELEGATION, but were afraid to ask!! Structure: Analyzing your needs The process of delegating Following up Contains many aids; Worksheets Videos Exercises Ease of getting to what you need through an effective Table of Contents

Summary Spreading the workload is critical to short-term and long-term success Build a Team at the DC Level Encourage your LCs to do the same at the Site Level Delegating and involving others does not often happen overnight Start now and build the team over time Don’t just rely on just your existing team Recruit volunteers for all roles