Open Forum

Hi George:

We go through quite a few padded hangers for our collections work, so we sometimes have the volunteers sew them together.  We get everything assembled and pinned together, then have them do the sewing, which is the time consuming part.  We've also had them sew other random things when there is a need.  We sometimes have paper tags come separated from the strings, so we have them assemble those. 

The thing that's always crazy to me is that it'll be a task that would take me most of a day (maybe longer) to complete because it's not the only thing I can concentrate on, but sometimes they're able to bang it out in half a morning.

I hope you're having a great Monday!

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Geoffrey Woodcox
Assistant Curator of Collections
State Historical Society of North Dakota
Bismarck ND

Original Message:
Sent: 09-16-2016 11:36 AM
From: George Wright
Subject: Tasks for Volunteers

We're brainstorming for ideas wherein our volunteers who work admissions and gift store (near each other) are given hands-on tasks to keep them busy during slack times. Any and all; creative ideas sought.

George Wright, Director

Coos History Museum

Coos Bay, Orgon

George,

Not a task per se, but to keep our volunteers engaged during slack times, and we hope, burnish their store of museum-related knowledge for future interactions with visitors, we continually provide fresh articles for them to read relating to our collections or upcoming exhibitions.  

I hope that helps!

Andrew

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Andrew White
Volunteer Coordinator
The Rosenbach
Philadelphia PA

Original Message:
Sent: 09-19-2016 09:16 AM
From: Geoffrey Woodcox
Subject: Tasks for Volunteers

Hi George:

We go through quite a few padded hangers for our collections work, so we sometimes have the volunteers sew them together.  We get everything assembled and pinned together, then have them do the sewing, which is the time consuming part.  We've also had them sew other random things when there is a need.  We sometimes have paper tags come separated from the strings, so we have them assemble those. 

The thing that's always crazy to me is that it'll be a task that would take me most of a day (maybe longer) to complete because it's not the only thing I can concentrate on, but sometimes they're able to bang it out in half a morning.

I hope you're having a great Monday!

------------------------------
Geoffrey Woodcox
Assistant Curator of Collections
State Historical Society of North Dakota
Bismarck ND

Original Message:
Sent: 09-16-2016 11:36 AM
From: George Wright
Subject: Tasks for Volunteers

We're brainstorming for ideas wherein our volunteers who work admissions and gift store (near each other) are given hands-on tasks to keep them busy during slack times. Any and all; creative ideas sought.

George Wright, Director

Coos History Museum

Coos Bay, Orgon

Hello

We have task cards for our floor staff that detail daily and weekly cleaning assignments that we need to get down and that get documented to assist in our overall cleaning and maintenance schedules. We also have some of our front desk staff attend to administrative tasks such as membership mailers etc... These are task for staff so you may wish to check to see if it is within the guidelines for your volunteers to do.

Sandra

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Sandra Bonnici-Hoecherl
Associate Director of Education and Access Diversity and Inclusion
Madison Children's Museum
Madison WI

Original Message:
Sent: 09-16-2016 11:36 AM
From: George Wright
Subject: Tasks for Volunteers

We're brainstorming for ideas wherein our volunteers who work admissions and gift store (near each other) are given hands-on tasks to keep them busy during slack times. Any and all; creative ideas sought.

George Wright, Director

Coos History Museum

Coos Bay, Orgon

Question - did they ask for more stuff to do during quiet times? 

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Shannon Stout
Membership Manager
Museum of the American Revolution
Philadelphia PA

Original Message:
Sent: 09-16-2016 11:36 AM
From: George Wright
Subject: Tasks for Volunteers

We're brainstorming for ideas wherein our volunteers who work admissions and gift store (near each other) are given hands-on tasks to keep them busy during slack times. Any and all; creative ideas sought.

George Wright, Director

Coos History Museum

Coos Bay, Orgon

The analogy that I like to use is that of training cats. Stay with me here. I once heard an interview with an animal trainer for movies and TV. He said that you could pretty much train dogs to do whatever you wanted, but with cats you need to figure out what the cats like to do, and let 'em do it. That's how I work with my volunteers--find out what interests them and let them do it.

Of course there are restrictions, but talk to them and see what they might like to do. You'll never run out of tasks so see if you can't find something that fits you both. I have a friend who had a volunteer who didn't like what it was he was doing, even though that's what he'd signed up for. As it turned out, she put a paintbrush in his hand and he was happy as a clam at high tide. It wasn't what they'd first agreed upon, but valuable work was done and everyone was happy!

Sorry I can't offer any specific ideas, but be flexible and I'm sure you'll find something that will work.

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Mel Glover
Superintendent
Wyoming Pioneer Memorial Museum
Douglas WY

Original Message:
Sent: 09-19-2016 02:54 PM
From: Shannon Stout
Subject: Tasks for Volunteers

Question - did they ask for more stuff to do during quiet times? 

------------------------------
Shannon Stout
Membership Manager
Museum of the American Revolution
Philadelphia PA

Original Message:
Sent: 09-16-2016 11:36 AM
From: George Wright
Subject: Tasks for Volunteers

We're brainstorming for ideas wherein our volunteers who work admissions and gift store (near each other) are given hands-on tasks to keep them busy during slack times. Any and all; creative ideas sought.

George Wright, Director

Coos History Museum

Coos Bay, Orgon