How much can be done by one person? and then more than one?

How much can be done by one person? and then more than one?

Roger_jg 04 Jul 2007 05:01

My experience as a regular Internet user is that I often receive emails from friends, relatives or colleagues asking for something. It could be the address of a good Hotel in Bangkok, where to find information about something I am knowledgeable of, or if they can come and stay over for the weekend.

All these friendly demands requests time. MY time. And if most of the time I am happy to oblige I need to factor that in my day/week schedule.

I believe it is the same for an online volunteer who has decided to give part of his free time to do something online. Now this free time is not unlimited! It is then reasonable that online work must match what a volunteer is happy to give.

This raises the question of Task vs. Project. A project will require a lot of time whilst tasks are less time demanding. I agree that a project can be cut into small parts, but there is still a need for someone to oversee the project and ensure it is going the right way. I am not thinking here about a facilitator or a Moderator as discussed elsewhere, but of a real project manager.

Is that something a Online Voluntary Organisation (OVO) can afford? If not what kind of "projects/Tasks" such OVO can take on? Does it limit the scope or ambition of the OVO?

What you say?

~R

Re: How much can be done by one person? and then more than one?

Roger_jg 20 Jul 2007 08:56

From the ongoing discussion in the Nabuur blog, it is more and more obvious that the time a volunteer is ready to spend on online volunteering is a critical factor for the success of a project.

This amount of time is not boundless but it can be shortened or extended depending on the motivation of the nabuur which itself depends on the reward the volunteer get and how close (s)he is to the project.

I believe that closeness is more important. Someone who is really involved with the work done with a community will always find the time to contribute.

if the volunteer is not treated properly, if he thinks he is wasting his time his enthusiasm while decrease as will his contribution.

Then there is the need of putting the volunteer skills to good use.

This reflexion is somewhat changing my perspective of who is leading what. The community may be leading the project, but what is leading to success is the volunteers.

Roger_jg

Last edited on 20 Jul 2007 12:42 by Roger_jg Show more

Re: How much can be done by one person? and then more than one?

Teresa Flanagan 20 Jul 2007 13:26

Hi Roger: I agree with you that the amount of time a volunteer can give to a project will be a factor in determining its success. As you stated, the amount of time offered will be related to the motivation of the volunteer. Motivation is stimulated by a number of factors, some of which are: having some expertise/knowledge in an area or perhaps just a willingness to learn about an issue ( ie HIV in Africa, education), believing that you can offer something tangible to the project, and a group of likewise minded individuals to work and connect with. The second factor is an important one, in that, generally it is the everyday man (the weekend warrior!) who is online volunteering. Only a select few of those people will have experience in writing project proposals or business plans etc. These are difficult and very time consuming tasks, and require a fair amount of expertise. The average volunteer is not going to be interested in being asked to contribute to a lengthy project proposal if they only have a few hours of time per week to give to the project. They are not going to want to take the time to learn about the intricacies of writing successful proposals. So volunteers need to have a good comfort level with the scope of the project, such that they feel they can successfully take on and finish a task, even if it is just a small or simple one. I think we need to know our audience! As far as good group dynamics are concerned, somehow I feel that sometimes it is just fortuitous that a cohesive group of people come together online. I think it can happen, and when it does, it really has to be cared for and nourished, and that requires special skills to do.