Volunteers are the lifeblood of any children’s ministry. Without them, we wouldn’t be able to accomplish a fraction of what we do with a thriving team. Follow these 8 simple steps to keep your volunteers from Boredom Burnout.
Boredom Burnout happens when a volunteer is placed in a position with no consideration of their spiritual gifts, passions, experiences, personality or goals. It usually happens when a leader gives away the boring, lackluster tasks that need to get done and keeps all of the important, fulfilling, exciting jobs for themselves.
1. Allow your volunteers to participate in relevant, stimulating, fulfilling, and challenging work.
2. Delegate more than brainless, mindless work. The excitement is not in the task, but in the results. Give volunteers an opportunity to create results.
3. Periodically move your volunteers around to keep them challenged and fulfilled.
4. Ask your volunteers to let you know when they feel bored or need a new challenge.
5. Keep short accounts and get feedback concerning:
6. Organize the work so that everyone feels essential to a goal they believe in. Make sure every volunteer knows what they do plays a part in a bigger plan. That when the nursery is successful, the entire children’s ministry is more successful. That when the check in area runs smooth, it sets all other ministries to run smoother.
7. Allow volunteers to direct and manage significant parts of your ministry. A person doesn’t need to get paid to direct or manage ministry. By giving significant parts of the ministry away you free yourself up to do the ministry that only you can do.
8. Be strategic in volunteer placement. Identify what is unique about each volunteer and pair them with the right position for their uniqueness. More about volunteer placement can be found in the post, “Strategic Volunteer Placement”.
How do you keep your volunteers from “Boredom Burnout?” What do you do to keep your volunteers engaged and stimulated? Share your comments below.