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Orienting Volunteers

Intended audience: DataKind Volunteers

Here’s what we recommend for orienting volunteers :

  1. For a new project, start by orienting the Data Ambassador (DA) and Project Manager (PM). Copy and customize the Data Ambassador and Project Manager Orientation Slides Template following the instructions in the “notes” section of each slide of the template. You’ll find everything the DAs and PMs need to know before meeting with the rest of the team. Pay attention to the speaker notes for tips, timing, and best practices. Notice that in the action items, you’ll find the template for the Data Ambassador to use to present to the Data Experts at the all project volunteers orientation. Share this with the DA at this point, and they’ll share it with the rest of the team during step #2 below.
  2. Then, bring the whole team together for their DataKind orientation! Copy and customize the All Project Volunteers Orientation Slides Template following the instructions in the “notes” section of each slide of the template. You’ll find all the information you need in the slides and speaker notes. Likewise, the DA should customize and copy their presentation template to use to present on the project during the orientation.
  3. Finally, once the team is oriented, they’ll have their first partner meeting! This gives the partner the opportunity to present about the project and answer any questions the team might have on a call, after the team has already gotten some background information and to dive into the data for a little.
Important Elements of Volunteer Onboarding
  • Introduce DataKind Values. Explain DataKind’s mission and how the contributions of your volunteers will make the world better! A reminder that we’re all about tackling pressing social issues with data science will help build excitement and guide volunteers towards best practices.
  • Share the Playbook. Direct volunteers to the project section of the Playbook, where they can find everything they need to know about volunteering with DataKind. Establish the Playbook as the go-to source of truth for volunteering with DataKind. If you want to provide training on the Playbook, use this Playbook training slide deck.
  • Establish Commitment Level. Establish the cadence and rigor of how the volunteer team will operate, since this is a professional engagement that our project partner is relying on. Provide an estimate for how much time volunteers are expected to contribute per week, and make sure that the volunteers are willing to stick with the project to the end. Sometimes life gets in the way for volunteers, so it’s essential to make sure that every member of your team is clear about roles and responsibilities and invested in collaboration. Make sure that volunteers know to promptly inform the team of any schedule conflicts or changes in their commitment. The least helpful thing a volunteer can do is to go silent, so encourage them to be communicative!
  • Build Trust & Relationships. Volunteer orientation is also a really important time to set the energy and bonding of teams. Most likely, your team won’t be acquainted with each other, so they may need to quickly adapt to new group dynamics, working styles, time zones, etc… You’ll need to make room for getting to know one another and building trust, not just focusing on the project or work process alone.
  • Review Collaboration Guidelines & Prep Toolbox. Take time during the orientation or immediately after to review communication guidelines and the tools you’ll be using. A slide outlining the tools (slack, zoom, email, google docs, etc.) and what they’re used for is helpful, along with a brief note under each stating the associated communications norm. For example, set norms such as:
  • We communicate about the project on Slack
  • We reach out to the partner by email with everyone copied
  • We save all of our files in this location
  • All our code goes in [X] location with [X] cadence
Additional Best Practices
  • If possible, include experienced DAs and PMs as trainers in onboarding new DAs and PMs. They can share their experience and skills!
  • Think through the sensitivity of project data before onboarding the volunteers in the specific project. Are some data sources considered sensitive or offensive to volunteers (e.g., images and/or text on violence, data on abuse, intensive detailed medical answers to questions, etc.)? Have you warned volunteers of this potentially offensive and/or sensitive information? Do volunteers know where to turn if they have questions or concerns?
  • A good ice breaker idea is “first job”: it’s fun and interesting, and everyone has one, so it’s easy for people to come up with! This document has additional fun icebreaker question ideas.
  • Be mindful of inclusivity if you’re encouraging cameras on. Consider making it highly encouraged but optional, potentially ask each person to turn their camera on for at least a couple minutes to introduce themselves if possible, and then they can turn it back off. Another option is to be fine with being off camera, but to call on anyone with their camera off if you don’t hear from them, to ensure they are actually there.

Contributer(s): Caitlin Augustin, Mitali Ayyangar, Benjamin Kinsella, Emily Yelverton, Shanna Lee, Melissa, Michael Dowd, Rachel Wells

Contact us

If you would like to learn more about us, partner with us, or get in touch, email us at community@datakind.org

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