Discussion Guide: Setting up and running a Volunteering Development Team

Review who has Welcome Conversation accreditations once a quarter​

Set up a closed social media group with everyone who is part of welcoming new volunteers 

Promote Our Volunteering Culture activities to new volunteers to help them think about what it means for them​

Encourage everyone who is part of welcoming new volunteers to do Growing Roots learning so that they can better support new volunteers​

Attend local events to promote Scouts 

Encourage buddies to share good practice on putting Our Volunteering Culture into action

Run online workshops with Groups or Districts to share tips on how to recruit​

Do a presentation about the welcome journey to Lead Volunteers and Team Leaders ​

Run a role play exercise to practice the welcome conversation ​

Organise a meeting every quarter with everyone who is part of welcoming new volunteers to check how things are going and share top tips 

Run workshops or webinars to explain our approach to safe recruitment​

Attend a Leadership Team meeting to chat about what’s their role in safe recruitment​

Run demo sessions to show how to use scouts.org.uk to recruit and appoint volunteers​

Regularly check in with Team Leaders and ask if they need any support with appointments 

Run a webinar on what reviews are and how they help with having an enjoyable volunteering experience​

Share guidance on running reviews​

Run an ideas generation activity for Team Leaders and Lead Volunteers to share tops tips on running formal and informal reviews​

Offer one to one support to those running reviews to help them prepare​

Use the data at scouts.org.uk to monitor when formal reviews are due

Send a questionnaire or social media poll to ask what volunteers are interested in learning​

Organise chats with Lead Volunteers and Teams Leaders to reflect on what skills their teams would like to develop​

Research if other organisations are offering learning opportunities that your local volunteers might benefit from​

Use the dashboards at scouts.org.uk to check how volunteers are progressing with their learning​

Review who holds Trainer and Learning Assessor accreditations quarterly​

Meet with volunteers with Trainer and Learning Assessor accreditations to plan out learning opportunities​

Discuss with the team how you can offer a wide range of learning opportunities (such as skills workshops, peer networks and buddy system)​

Run a webinar or drop-in sessions to explain Growing Roots learning 

Encourage Team Leaders, Lead Volunteers and Chairs to use the thank you and recognition resources available on scouts.org.uk and Brand Centre​

Run an idea generation activity to come up with ideas on how to informally thank and celebrate success​

Use social media, local newsletters or other communication channels to say thank you to your volunteers​

Collaborate with the Support Team to organise a local celebration event​

Collaborate with the Programme Team to identify opportunities to celebrate our volunteers and include them as part of the programme​

Reach out to other Districts and Counties to share ideas 

Do a presentation to showcase and explain our awards to other teams and encourage them to nominate their team members for awards​

Run a workshop about how to write award citations​

Offer one to one support to help with an award nomination​

Ask Team Leaders and Lead Volunteers to help with identifying and giving out Good Service and Length of Service awards and other award nominations​

Review who has the Awards Parcel Recipient accreditation each quarter

Do the Our Volunteering Culture: Well Done You! and Let's Do the Challenging Ones activities as a team to help reflect on what the team does well and what the team can improve on

Map all tasks this team needs to complete and discuss with team members who are interested and available to complete them​

Discuss with the team what the priorities are and come up with a plan to achieve them together​

Agree with the team what communication channels you’ll use to share updates and where you’ll store online documents​

Discuss how often the whole team will meet​

Offer opportunities for informal chats (like an online ‘cuppa and chat’)​

Agree on when the team will meet to review how things are going and check if you’ll need to do any changes on how you volunteer together 

Discuss what accreditations this team might need to share tasks​

Identify volunteers who might be interested in getting these accreditations ​

Decide if volunteers with accreditations will be part of the Volunteering Development Team ​

Agree on how you’ll communicate with volunteers with accreditations and set up communication channels​

Agree on how you'll create opportunities for volunteers with accreditations to share top tips amongst them

Organise quarterly catch up meetings with District or County/Area/Region (Scotland) Team Leaders to celebrate success and discuss challenges​

Set up closed social media groups with Team Leaders to share updates and ask for support​

Invite District or County/Area/Region (Scotland) Team Leaders to meet with the Volunteering Development Team Leaders as part of their induction​

Organise a yearly get together with District or County/Area/Region (Scotland) Team Leaders to discuss how things are going and check where you can combine efforts to avoid duplication of tasks

Reach out to a neighbouring District or County/Area/Region (Scotland) to organise meet ups to share top tips​

Offer drop-in sessions for other Volunteering Development Team Leaders and Lead Volunteers to ask questions and share ideas​

Organise a regional Volunteering Development Team meet up or event​

Set up a closed social media channel with other Volunteering Development Team Leaders