This is a great question Nick. It's something we all grapple with as the answer is nuanced at every institution and for every role. I like to differentiate roles by taking a look at the staff job descriptions or work plans, then creating a position description for volunteers that takes into consideration some of the points below. Whenever possible, I do this with the staff supervisor or we review together what I've created.
- Volunteer roles involve less responsibility than staff and don't involve significant decision-making.
Staff should be making decisions around how the work should be carried out, in what location, etc. Staff may even select a range of options for what the work can be and how it can be done, while allowing volunteers some autonomy to chose their preference, but ultimately the decision-making around the project or task has been done at the staff level.
- Volunteers are supervised and reviewed by a staff person and their work is a component of a larger project or operation.
Volunteers shouldn't be the sole responsible party for a project or operation. A staff supervisor should be accessible at all times during volunteering. Some exceptions being micro-tasks for virtual volunteers done at any time of day. Volunteers require a supervisor to direct, correct, or consult during a volunteer shift. Volunteers should be working on a piece of the project or completing a task that is then reviewed or assessed by staff at relevant stages.
- Volunteers should have a lesser commitment than staff.
Sometimes volunteers are very excited about their volunteering. They are looking for something to fill their days. However, volunteers should be contributing less to a project than paid staff in similar roles. In general, the number of hours volunteers contribute to a project should be carefully considered according to the needs of the project and in relation to staff on the project. One thing I like to look at is what is the lowest commitment asked of staff (beyond a contractor/on-call type position). For instance, for the purposes of budgeting there are often different tiers of employment, 12 hours/wk, 18 hrs/wk, 20 hours/wk, 22 hrs/wk, etc. that all have different implications for staff related to how PTO is accrued and access to other benefits. In general, I do not want to see any single volunteer putting in more than the lowest band of staff in a similar position. In my opinion no volunteer should be putting in anything near 12 hours a week, but I understand there are different needs at different museums that have very few staff. But in general I try to think about commitment and time as an indicator of a volunteer role vs. staff. Volunteers shouldn't be putting in more hours on a project than staff working in a similar position.
An example pulling these things together:
There is a large digitization project at a museum, that requires decisions to be made around what will be digitized, equipment used to digitize, in what order it will be digitized, and which format the content will be stored in.
There is a collections management staff manager. They supervise a team of 10 volunteers and 2 paid staff people in mid-level positions who are responsible for the digitization.
The staff manager decides the framework for the project including the budget and timeline (ideally with input from their staff). They assign work to the 2 paid staff and provide suggestions on how they might delegate some of the tasks to volunteers.
The 2 mid-level staff use the criteria for selection set by their manager to determine what will be digitized, what format the resulting files will be in, how it will be stored etc. They also decide which tasks will be acceptable for volunteers and create a position description for volunteers with those details.
They decide that volunteers will help with adding meta data once the digital images have been added to the object record. Volunteers will receive training, and their work will be supervised and quality checked.
Volunteers might also be able to contribute their thoughts on which objects should be prioritized based on their experience in a particular field or their experience with visitor interest and requests.
Some volunteers come in once each week for 4 hours, while a few others come in 3 times each week for 2 hour shifts.
Hope this helps Nick, and you'll certainly see more on this topic from AAMV in the future. It's an important question and something that isn't always easy to achieve with competing priorities within organizations. Let me know if you want to discuss further if you have a specific situation you're trying to work through. I'd be happy to hop on a Zoom call if you want to chat more.
Best wishes,
Brandi
