Volunteer engagement is instrumental in developing a collaborative and vibrant community. The designated leaders on the board have strategies and committees in place to accomplish the many tasks to sustain the user group, but it is with the strength and energy of the volunteers that the community will be more than just maintained. The user group will provide more than just education regarding technologies and products as well as opportunities for personal development and growth. In technology fields, users might be more focused on implementing and engineering solutions and do not have as much time to develop leadership skills. Even with technology focus there are ways to take initiative to solve problems and mentor others leading to soft skill development. The user group can provide a place to cultivate leadership skills and then be able to demonstrate them in volunteer positions or in the day-to-day work environment. Even without the management title or specific managing responsibilities everyone can be a leader and can improve leadership skills. User groups are an ideal place to advance , continue to learn, and to prepare volunteers for leadership and other roles.

User groups are for sharing ideas and experiences so that you do not have to be isolated and do it alone. There are more examples and cases seen in the group than you would see in one company. The network available through the user group is instrumental for understanding different views and situations.Most people do not like going to the movies alone but probably have gone at least once. Why would this happen? Because the movie was something that we wanted to see, and maybe there wasn’t anyone else around who was interested in the same movie. Some people might prefer to go to a movie alone. However, after seeing the movie alone and being excited about a scene or thinking about how that technology dashboard in one of the superhero movies would be really cool if you could have it in real-life. What about that security hack, it could never happen in a company. These topics leave us wanting to discuss with others and find out what they are thinking. Movies might be more fun to discuss than work-related items, but those involved in user groups feel they have found their calling, and it is something that they can always talk about and be excited about. This is how involvement starts, realizing that in the user group there are others extremely excited and enthusiastic about what they do. They have a passion, and that passion is even fueled by teaching others, and sharing what they have experienced.It is exhilarating to talk to others and solve a problem or a challenge that would not have happened without additional input.

Once we have recognized that the user groups is a place to get information as well as increase our excitement and work with others to share, this will allow us to build up the volunteer base and fuel the passion that the group has about the mission and goals of the user group.

Volunteer Activities

The education or hearing about a use case might have attracted a person to the group in the first place. They see the people speaking and those on the board meeting people, talking and planning, and cannot really imagine themselves doing anything for the group. They are worrying about any time commitment, see some of the benefit but have not yet experienced it for themselves yet. Because of this, activities for volunteers need to be planned in appropriate sizes and areas to be able to include several different types of users.

This means planning small tasks to get volunteers started. Tasks need to be something specific, because it gives the responsibility and ownership to the volunteer. In just saying we need volunteers, for what? Having the activities planned out to say we need volunteers to run a webinar, or we need volunteers to read ten articles to provide comments on. These are very specific things and someone hearing that, reading ten articles about stuff I want to learn about, I can do that. Or run a webinar might have a couple more questions, but in stating need someone to feed questions to the speaker or ask a question if no one chimes in. Again, the activity is the right size and specific for someone to think that is an easy step. Asking a volunteer to immediately jump in and speak at several webinars or run monthly meetings for a regional group, might be too much at one time. Other volunteers might be ready to take on whatever you can give them, and groups of activities can be setup for these different volunteers. Appropriate size of a small might be something that can take a volunteer less than 30 minutes to do. Then there might be regular activities to introduce speakers on the webinars, or help send out messages on social media or be part of a twitter chat. The next chapter talks about some of the activities with social media, and it that should give you a few more ideas for tasks for volunteers.

There might be people in the user group that have great experience and knowledge, and it would be ideal to have them volunteer to speak at an event or even webinar. They might not feel comfortable speaking, which could be a great development and building opportunity, but they could also provide online content, either in the form of a blog or an article. Other ways might be partnering volunteers to work on a presentation together, builds confidence, encourage volunteers and as we will see later develops leadership too.

Some more examples of some volunteer tasks could be reading through papers and presentations for gathering the tips and tricks, contacting speakers to confirm participation in conferences or webinars. The best part about these easy tasks is that the knowledge that is gained by the volunteer. They start learning and wanting more information and want to read more. There might also be a very popular speaker that the group really respects and the volunteer has the opportunity to either meet the speaker directly or virtually. As conversations like this start to happen, there are chances to ask questions. What a great volunteer bonus to get a bunch of research done and one on one time to ask a couple of questions of these superstar speakers. Figure 3-1 shows examples of activities with the smaller ovals being those with less time commitment. This is also not meant to be an exhaustive list.

Another activity might be providing feedback on topics of interest or what they feel are hot topics and areas that continue to be important for all members of the community. This might not seem as important, but if you consider the current projects the volunteer might have, they might be getting extra help in this area or be able to be in contact with the vendor on specific information that will help them with the project. They might influence a track for the conference on the topic, but chances are if there are a few projects out there with this focus there are many more, so this would benefit more of the community too. This seems like a good way to engage volunteers, to be discussed more in the next section of this chapter, but it highlights the activities that they can join in and be a part of for the community.

There are other volunteer activities that are to be expected from a user group, and these require more of a time commitment. Speakers and bloggers are going to be the experts on the products and vendor and are willing to share their ideas. Presentations and blogs take quite a bit of preparation, and without these volunteers user content would be at a minimum and there would need to be more reliance on the vendor. Conference volunteers help plan the content, select the speakers and schedule the tracks to provide the best experience for the users. Special interest groups that have a specific focus area need to be organized, and volunteers can help lead the special interest groups. Specific activities for special interests groups would be designing the group based on a charter, recruiting other volunteers for the group and planning webinars. Webinars are normally more of the activity of the special interest group because this is more of an online community but has presence at the conferences and other events.

Volunteer Engagement

Finding volunteers sometimes can be easy. They can get involved quickly because of other users who they know or if they have already experienced some benefits of the group. There are rewards that can be granted to volunteers, and other volunteers will see the leadership of the group being a way to advance in their careers.

Volunteer engagement takes other volunteers. If the group is just beginning, engaging volunteers might be the most difficult part. One of the leaders of the Independent Oracle User Group (IOUG) recruited me as volunteer. They knew of an area they thought I would do well in and asked me if I was interested. It is difficult to say to an expert that personally asks you to be involved. There is also the confidence that was given with stating that you would be good in this area or expressing that they think you would be good for a specific role. There is some thought that goes with it, and need I say planning again to learn how to engage people. It didn’t take much for them to draft me for the list of people who would enjoy helping out in any way possible. I was getting a chance to learn more, having conversations with the group’s experts and it was learning to manage time to make this a priority because of the benefits.

Additional strategies can be used to motivate and encourage users to get involved. Sometimes it is offering conference registration, drinks, coffee, food, access to the vendor, and marketing opportunities. It is important to make it a position that others would want to enjoy being in.

The fact that I was encouraged to participate more in the group, I am looking to encourage others as well. It is great to be part of the community that has the same interest, then to be able to contribute to the group, to quote another leader in the Oracle community, “it is awesome”.

I like to use Ray as an example of a volunteer that every group needs. I met him at the user group conference, and now he introduces me to others as well. He had excitement about being part of the group, and when you would ask him to do things he would.

I was looking for a good member to help as a volunteer for pulling together content for an up and coming topic. Ray wasn’t as familiar with the topic, but was willing to learn more. So he became important in pulling together speakers for the track. It was very successful, and he recruited more volunteers from those speakers to be focused on a special interest group. The next task was to investigate other special interest groups that Ray was able to help out with, and he didn’t just say yes because he didn’t know how to say no; he was able to learn by participating in anything that he could. This also set Ray up to be to be more engaged in conference committee. Then there was a need for someone to take over the user group journal, and whose name came to mind right away: Ray’s. He was able to get writers excited about the journal, and not only encouraged them to write but also managed the volunteers properly to meet publication deadlines and communicate what was needed. He started to develop strategies around the journal and look at ways that benefits for the volunteers would help them with management of them. He even trained his replacement for the journal, so that he could find another opportunity.

It was easy, when looking for another board member, to nominate Ray for the position. It was fantastic to watch Ray grow with every new opportunity. He brought passion and excitement to everything that he did. From his position, he was grateful for each new chance and working with others. It was amazing to see him speak and mentor the new speakers getting involved in the conference. I am absolutely confident he will be representing the membership on the board, and bringing new ideas and thoughts to participate on the board. In his role, he is working with others to make the user group stronger, and getting others excited about participating too. I can’t take credit for his willingness to learn and wanting to be involved, but I like to think that we can each find something for a volunteer to do to be encouraged and valued by the group. I can also hope that this example will inspire others to seek out the members of the community to participate.

Now for the funny part; something that I really like about this story and example. When I rolled off the user group board, I was recruited by Ray to participate on a committee. I am not sure he was worried about me not feeling as connected with the group or didn’t want me disappearing from the user group scene, but to include me again in an activity was very special. It was his turn and he even recruited me for a couple of panel sessions at the IOUG–Collaborate Conference.

Leadership Strategies

It is important to understand that even when not in a leadership position, leadership skills help in day-to-day communications and interaction with team on how work gets accomplished. Developing a strategy to develop leadership skills for members is a great start. This will continue to build a base of leaders.

Figure 3-2 shows the progression from member to board of directors.

This upside-down pyramid demonstrates why members are at the top: this figure shows a filter. There are going to be more members than the board of directors, which makes perfect sense. As members grow in their understanding of the user group and benefit of volunteering, they move through the filter. The members are also at the top because the members are the community to be supported by a strong base of volunteers and leaders. Leadership is not about being on the top. It is about serving others and working for the benefit of the group. The leadership strategy is to demonstrate and teach the leadership skills to cultivate the volunteers. As the members become engaged in the group and start to participate in more events and discussion. Members that are engaged already provide an overall benefit to the user group by attending and participating, and it shows the interest areas and what topics are important. Engaged members will filter down into volunteers. They will start to see opportunities where they can participate, and as they learn the leadership skills and start to participate in the communities’ leadership strategies. Even if engaged members do not move into volunteer roles, they can still learn the planned leadership skills to help them in their companies and with their careers.

Technologists normally have their focus on the technology, code, and learning new technologies and versions. Developing the leadership skills in the group can get you noticed in your organization, not only as the expert in the technology but also as someone with the skills to provide leadership to the team and proper direction. Critical decisions can be difficult, but as these skills are developed as part of the technology learning, these decisions get easier and help with stressful work situations and architecture decisions as well.

Leadership can be learned and it is a skill that can be practiced. Regardless of the role, leadership can be practiced by anyone and develop the consistent behaviors. The user group can provide opportunities to participate in volunteer activities to continue to practice. As leaders are cultivated as part of the strategy, the user group will grow just because of the engaged members and volunteers.

Leader Volunteers

Learning how to create and nurture collaborative relationships with others is an essential leadership skill. This can be done with other volunteers and members, and brought back to you day-to-day job. The importance of collaborative relationships seems to be understated in most cases. There are several groups in an organization that rely on other groups. There is so much potential to be gained by building and developing these relationships. Building collaborative relationships involves reciprocity or helping others. The teams that appear to be working in a silo are going to be the most difficult to reach out to but it just takes starting the conversation. The benefit to the organizations is going to be incredible if the relationships are built and continue to be maintained.

Motivation to work as a leader and collaborate with others in a company comes from producing a successful project, product or service. There is also the pay factor, to earn money, for a job well done. Money is not a motivation that can be used with volunteers and in a user group. The product of the group might just be the overall strategy and goals, but there are not always projects. Many technology professionals must want to learn and grow. The continued learning is part of the ever advancing technology field. Once we stop learning, our skills become obsolete. To be able to be self-directed in these areas help for motivation to participate more in the user group and develop into the leader volunteer. The mind-set of the volunteer is to pursue a vision and know that there are others wanting to do the same. From the board of directors standpoint it is imperative to share the overall goals, vision, and strategies with volunteers to help them stay engaged and motivated.

Volunteers have to want to collaborate, even if it means reaching out to others that you may not know. It will involve stepping out of a comfort zone to continue to learn and grow. It means helping others to do the same and wanting to help others and not for the sole purpose of your own personal gain and career advancement. The motivation to be in a volunteer role will come from helping others succeed; this will lead to authentic long-lasting relationships. If you think about how you would like others to collaborate with you and build relationships with you, you can turn that around to create the new relationship and your authenticity will be very apparent. As leader volunteers, the interest in helping others solve problems and find solutions will show through and make strong relationships.

I found myself in a job that was very task-oriented. In technology there is nothing wrong with staying on task to provide stable, consistent environments, and not all technology professionals are going to want to pursue more outside of completing their checklists and task oriented activities. However, I had felt that there were talents not being utilized, areas that I wanted to grow into and career goals I had set. My current position and career plans were a big driver behind me looking for other activities to cultivate the leadership skills. This is what was driving me to learn and adapt by finding something outside of work with the user group to advance and start using some of these skills. Not only was I pursuing the new technology information and learning about the different skills, but I was really becoming a leader. It was the motivation to collaborate, help others, and use my talents for the vision of the community that help do what needed to be done and continue to work in planning for the user group.

Leader volunteers have a drive to learn, adapt, and advance. They set goals based on the strategies of the user group and are willing to feel uncomfortable and push through the issues. As the work is accomplished, the goal is reset and evaluated to see what is next. Possessing adaptability helps advance your knowledge and reframe these experiences as opportunities to learn.

Leader volunteers develop the following skills:

• Collaborative relationships
• Motivation coming from achieving goals
• Ability to reset goals and reframe experiences
• Adaptability to different experiences and situations
• Opportunities to bring others along
• Constant drive to learn

User groups should be providing leader volunteers the opportunity to grow and practice the skills that they learn. The roles and different committees provide the leader volunteers a way to participate and develop. Leaders are only growing if they are learning. There is always something new to discover about you, new ways to adapt, and new relationships to cultivate.

Working toward a personal vision doesn’t support the user community. As a leader volunteer you want to work toward the vision of the group and continued learning and adapting is key here. Think beyond the technology and the basic skills and try to understand how these skills and technology can advance your business, department, or team. Become a leader volunteer by understanding the vision for the user group organization and bring others along. Helping others in the user community is really what a user group is about.

Leader volunteers need a place to practice their leadership skills and it needs to be part of the user group culture. These volunteers are going to be the ones to get members engaged, excited and bring them along for growth and development in the user community.

Summary

The leader volunteer is going to be passing along enthusiasm to other volunteers and the members. Understanding the opportunity that is out there to be part of the user community and appreciate the benefits to be able to continue to learn and collaborate with other teams. Leadership development skills are not just for the potential volunteers but provide a valuable skill set for the community to learn. Everything from communication to building collaboration relationships with workplace partners, teams and community members.

There opportunities to participate in user group activities and get more involved. Leader volunteers comprehend the strategies and visons of the user group and participate in the activities such as leading special interest groups, writing a blog, writing an article, or speaking at an event. These activities all find ways to help continue the growth and practice leadership skills. The initial planning of the group, governance, culture, and vision provide what the group needs to support volunteers and start engaging the volunteers for more involvement. Beginning groups will need to work harder and smarter to engage key volunteers and communication will be very important as the group is developing.

I look back at the engagement areas as I was pulled, maybe gently pushed, into in order to get out of my comfort zone, and how the collaboration between the other members and leaders, really made a difference. Being encouraged by leaders or others in the community increased my motivation to wanting to continue to learn and develop these skills. Because it is others in the community and volunteers that is encouraging the involvement, I wanted to also give back, and just like my example with an awesome volunteer Ray, I was excited about opportunities to bring others along too. Watching the different members grow into volunteers and then grasping the concept of leader volunteers as the leadership skills improve.

It really is incredible what a volunteer could do in building the user group community. Engaged and leader volunteers are what makes up the community. Planning to utilize the different skill sets and levels of engagement allow different strategies and activities to be used. Education around the product and vendor is definitely important for the day to day knowledge that is needed, but to become an expert or demonstrate expertise in these areas, the soft skills of leadership, communication and collaboration are what is needed. The user group needs to have a strategy to educate members around these skills and provide areas to practice and to cultivate these skills.

The user group purpose, strategy, governance have been discussed in previous chapters. With this chapter we talked about the volunteers that are needed and their engagement. Next we will look at the planning of the events and other activities that the user group can do based on this initial setup and getting the group started as the user group and community are starting to take shape with others being involved and promoting and growing the group.