We often call volunteers in a team ‘volunteam’. We know it isn’t a real word, but the principle of it is an interesting one, and can often be a good alternative way of looking at team building.
What is the value in volunteering in a group?
Volunteering in a team can often leave you with higher energy levels, whether you are volunteering with your colleagues or some people outside of work. When you volunteer, you aren’t getting paid; you’re giving back to the community and are helping to achieve something good.
Working towards this end goal with other individuals who want the same outcome can make you feel part of something bigger, which is a positive feeling. Working in a team also means you have to communicate to others about what role each person has, and how they contribute.
What are the benefits of corporate volunteering?
For corporate teams, volunteering as a team on a project outside of work can help bring the team together and improve communication skills. It can help increase motivation and develop a cohesive team.
In addition, you are having a positive social and environmental impact, so you are contributing to these values and targets.
What can we learn from Moroccan builders?
A while ago, we visited a relief project in Morocco that was building new homes for widows and the very poor, following the earthquake in 2004. Incredibly, over 5 years later, 12,000 homes had been destroyed, and an enormous number of people were still trying to survive without a home in the hills around Al Hoceima.
A core team of local builders and labourers work throughout the year rebuilding simple single-story earthquake-resistant homes. Due to the remote position, all of the work was done by hand without machinery.
Volunteer teams from Northern Ireland and the USA travelled to Al Hoceima for a week at a time throughout the summer to help clear rubble, dig foundations and mix cement.
Despite tough working conditions, a torturous journey and no pay, many teams returned year after year because they got such a kick out of being part of a team with such a tangible mission.
While they worked, they get to meet the widows, orphans, and subsistence farmers who would be living in the homes that they were building, which really helped to clarify the purpose of their efforts.
It is interesting to contrast how a group of people can become so motivated simply by working to a clear goal and meeting the end user. Now there’s something Western managers could learn from Moroccan builders.
