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Board Manual

  • Mission, Vision, Values

Operations

  • Protected: Locks (Password Protected)
  • Opening & Closing
  • Inclement Weather Policy
  • Address & Location
  • Change Management
  • Preferred Flatpack Furniture
  • Protected: Furniture Outreach Toolkit
  • Planning Volunteer Tasks
  • Inventory Values Explained
  • Protected: Paint
  • Beds
    • Bed Policy
    • Cribs
    • Bed Intake & Outtake Procedures
  • Client Scheduling
    • Protected: Client Conference Line (Password Protected)
    • Appointment Reminder Email
    • Appointment Scheduled Email
    • Client Directions to New Life
    • Self-Moving (U-Haul) Email
    • Preparing for Your Virtual Appointment
    • Preparing for Your Delivery
    • Bed Policy
    • Recordatorio de la Cita (Appointment Reminder)
    • Confirmación de Cita (Client Confirmation)
    • Protected: Scheduling Deliveries
    • Confirmacao do cliente (Appointment Scheduled)
    • Nao esqueca do Apontamento (Appointment Reminder)
    • Agency Resources
      • Agency FAQs
  • Furniture Build
    • Table Leaf Coffee Tables
    • IKEA Dressers
    • Protected: Paint
  • Health & Safety
    • Bed Bug Procedures
    • Fire Safety
    • How to Safely Lift
    • Dollies
    • Tools
    • Elevator Procedures
    • Volunteer Age Restrictions
  • Recycling & Re-donation
    • Smash It 2 Protocol
    • Blessing Barn Protocol
    • St. Vincent de Paul Protocol
    • Lovell’s Flowers, Greenhouse, and Nursery Protocol
    • Welcome Home Protocol
    • Savers Protocol
    • Trash Procedures
    • Wrentham Country Store Protocol
    • Fiddleheads Fine Home Consignment
    • Misfits
    • Textile recycling
    • FY2023 Sorting Procedural Updates
    • Trash & Recycling
    • Protected: Scheduling a Dumpster
  • Repair
    • Paint allowed on-site
  • Technology
    • P-Touch Printer
  • Trucks
    • Truck Maintenance
    • Driver Prerequisites & Training
    • Truck Start & Exit Checklists
    • Mileage Log
    • Driver/Mover Onboarding
    • Metal Recycling Procedures
    • Protected: Retail Partner Pickup Procedures
    • Delivery
      • Protected: New Life-Funded Delivery Request (Password Protected)
      • Protected: Scheduling Deliveries
      • Delivery Procedures
    • Pickup
      • Bed Frames
      • Scheduling Pickups
      • Pickup Procedures
      • Donation Guidelines (What We Accept)

Organization

  • Protected: Info Line Cheat Sheet
  • About
    • Mission, Vision, Values
    • Tax Information
    • History
    • New Life Brand Book
  • Communications & Marketing
    • Social Media & Website Management
    • Preferred Terminology
    • Protected: Client Testimonials & Stories (Password Protected)
    • New Life Colors & Fonts
    • Logos
    • New Life Brand Book
  • Events
    • Dover Days
    • Westwood Day
    • Outreach Event Toolkit
  • Fundraising
    • Protected: Client Testimonials & Stories (Password Protected)
  • Outreach
    • Protected: Furniture Outreach Toolkit
    • Protected: Volunteer Outreach Toolkit
    • New Life Brand Book
    • Donation Guidelines (What We Accept)
    • Drop-off Town Tally
  • Town Halls
    • Town Halls

Volunteers

  • Inclement Weather Policy
  • Software Shortcuts
  • Volunteer FAQs
  • Welcome Letter
  • Volunteer Parking Pass
  • Client Hosting
    • How to Access the Software
    • Protected: New Life-Funded Delivery Request (Password Protected)
    • Questions, Comments, Concerns?
    • Virtual Client Host Guide
    • Client Appointment Troubleshooting
    • Client Host Onboarding
    • Accessing the Store Before an Appointment
    • Client Host Schedule & Scheduling Procedures
    • Bed Policy
    • In-Person Client Procedures
    • Helpful Resources
      • Bed Sizes
      • Appointment Reminder Email
      • Inches to Feet Conversion
      • How to Disable AutoFill/AutoComplete
      • How to Clear Past Autofill Info in Chrome
      • Appointment Scheduled Email
      • Client Directions to New Life
      • Dining Table & Chair/Stool Heights
      • Self-Moving (U-Haul) Email
      • Cribs
    • Info for Clients
      • Client Directions to New Life
      • Preparing for Your Virtual Appointment
      • Preparing for Your Delivery
      • Recordatorio de la Cita (Appointment Reminder)
      • Confirmación de Cita (Client Confirmation)
      • Confirmacao do cliente (Appointment Scheduled)
      • Nao esqueca do Apontamento (Appointment Reminder)
  • Drop-off
    • Bed Frames
    • Team Leader/Duty Officer Report Template
    • Saturday Drop-off Shift
    • Donation Guidelines (What We Accept)
  • Furniture Matters (Medfield HS Club)
    • New Life Colors & Fonts
    • Logos
  • Inventory
    • Bed Frames
    • How to Attach Stickers
    • Furniture Inventory
    • Trash Procedures
    • Dining Table & Chair/Stool Heights
    • Rugs
    • Inventory Counts
  • Sorting
    • Dish Sets
    • Starter Kits
    • Silverware Sets
    • FY2023 Sorting Procedural Updates
    • Packing 101
    • Glass Sets
  • Team Leaders & Duty Officers
    • Protected: Locks (Password Protected)
    • Opening & Closing
    • Inclement Weather Policy
    • Team Leader/Duty Officer Report Template
    • Team Leader & Duty Officer Guide
    • Elevator Procedures
    • Saturday Drop-off Shift
    • Donation Guidelines (What We Accept)
  • Uploading
    • How to Access the Software
    • Dining Table & Chair/Stool Heights
    • Rugs
    • Dish Sets
    • Starter Kits
    • Uploading Artwork
  • Volunteer Management
    • Volunteer Role Descriptions
    • Senior Service
    • Volunteer Age Restrictions
    • Volunteer Welcome Letter
    • Planning Volunteer Tasks
    • Schedules
      • Client Host Schedule & Scheduling Procedures
    • Volunteer Groups
      • Group Interest Form
      • Preferred Flatpack Furniture
    • Volunteer Training/Onboarding
      • Client Host Onboarding
  • Home
  • Volunteers
  • Team Leaders & Duty Officers
  • Team Leader & Duty Officer Guide

Team Leader & Duty Officer Guide

Remember, the goal is for every volunteer to leave wanting to come back.


Roles #

New Life is a volunteer-led organization. Duty Officers and Team Leaders are encouraged to take the lead, while staff can provide additional guidance as needed.

  • Team Leader: Lead a specific task and, in some cases, is the only leadership present
  • Duty Officer: Oversee a shift, including Team Leaders, with multiple tasks at once

Prerequisites #

  • Must be 18+ years of age for liability reasons
  • Must be trained by a staff member or someone directed to train to ensure lines of communication, safety, and consistency
  • Experience volunteering at New Life – no set minimum

How to Run a Shift #

  1. Ensure everyone signs in and wears their nametag somewhere visible. If they don’t have a name tag on (and the printer is working), that means they did not sign in.
    • Volunteers must sign up in advance.
    • If a volunteer already in the system shows up without signing up, politely remind them they will be turned away if they don’t sign up in advance next time.
    • If a volunteer shows up that’s not in the system, thank them for their interest and politely tell them volunteers need to sign up in advance from our website for liability reasons.
  2. Introduce yourself and get to know your team of volunteers.
  3. Review safety & guidelines
    • Dollies – riding/standing, distributing weight, loading/unloading elevator
    • Elevator – only trained operators
    • Lifting – work together, posture, bend at the knees
    • Tidiness – fire and tripping hazards, “Leave it better than we found it.”
    • Software – only Inventory/Sorting Team Leaders, Duty Officers, or Uploaders may use the iPads
  4. Explain what they’re doing and how it connects to the mission
    • Duty Officer – what’s happening overall
    • Team Leader – how to do a specific task step-by-step
  5. At the end, thank them for coming and express that you hope to see them again.

Management Strategies #

The Basics #

  • Never put down a volunteer. Tone and choice of words can change how a volunteer interprets what you say.
  • Avoid terms of endearment and physical contact, especially with volunteers you don’t know well. Regardless of intentions, calling someone “honey” or putting a hand on their back can make people uncomfortable.
  • Be mindful of pronouns. If someone introduces themselves or indicates they use specific pronouns, make an effort to use them. e.g. she/her, him/his, they/theirs
  • Volunteer info, just like client info, is confidential. Do not discuss another volunteers’ personal information with other volunteers.
  • People are imperfect. Let the small things go and bring any concerns to their attention. People cannot fix what they don’t know isn’t working.

Disengaged volunteer? #

  • Redirect to a new task
  • Find out interests and see if there’s a task that aligns with those
  • Explain importance of the task

Unsafe volunteer? #

  • Repeat safety instructions
  • Don’t yell at/discipline a volunteer
  • Instead, tell them why they’re being unsafe and how it affects others and New Life
  • Humor helps (when appropriate)! “I don’t want to have to do paperwork.”

Misunderstood directions? #

  • Direct an experienced volunteer to work with them
  • Re-explain the instruction in a different way

Concerns about a volunteer? #

  • Make the best of the situation and notify the Volunteer and Development Coordinator afterward, unless it’s an emergency.
  • We do not turn away a volunteer unless the reason is safety. If a volunteer has a hard time understanding instructions, lacks self-control, isn’t following directions, or doing anything else that poses a risk to themselves or others, contact the Volunteer and Development Coordinator afterward.
  • If they pose an immediate danger, ask them to leave politely and contact the Volunteer and Development Coordinator immediately.
Volunteer and Development Coordinator
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Updated on May 23, 2022

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Table of Contents
  • Roles
    • Prerequisites
  • How to Run a Shift
  • Management Strategies
    • The Basics
    • Disengaged volunteer?
    • Unsafe volunteer?
    • Misunderstood directions?
    • Concerns about a volunteer?
  • Return to main website
New Life Furniture Bank of MA
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