Supervision of Community-Based Volunteers: Training Guide

This guide, published by International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in 2009, contains eight modules for a two-day workshop, each designed to introduce the supervisor to concepts associated with quality and effective supervision of volunteers. The purpose of the Training Guide is to prepare Red Cross and Red Crescent supervisors at the community level to undertake effective supervision of the volunteers who carry out the work of the Red Cross and Red Crescent worldwide.
According to IFRC, the training targets community-level supervisors and branch coordinators. It is intended to give participants methods to guide, supervise, and monitor the quality of volunteers' work at household and community level. It should help to develop volunteers’ practical skills as well as improve the overall quality of the programme.
The guide includes the following eight modules:

• Module 1: Welcome, introductions and needs assessment.
• Module 2: Implementing supervisory styles. This module introduces the concept of stages of progress of volunteers, and how this affects their management. Four different supervisory styles are introduced, with an activity to show how supervision and stage of progress must match up to maximise volunteer impact. Hints on giving feedback to volunteers are discussed.
• Module 3: Teamwork and good communication.
• Module 4: Motivating, retaining, and recognising volunteers. This module describes why people volunteer, and by means of role-play shows ways that the supervisor can help to keep volunteers motivated. The role of supervisors in the recognition of volunteers as an important retention technique is described.
• Module 5: Preparing and running an effective meeting. The role of the supervisor in running effective meetings is highlighted, as well as the importance of a well-organised and comprehensive orientation meeting.
• Module 6: Solving problems with volunteers. This module describes ways of minimising problems and works to discover solutions to common problems when working together with other people.
• Module 7: Volunteer workplans and evaluation.
• Module 8: Tracking volunteer performance and using data.