Well, unfortunately, you can discipline all you want. You can even "fire"
this volunteer. But you can't shut him up. The reality is that anyone who
knows this guy probably understands his carping. 

On the other hand, the old saw, "Keep your friends close, and your enemies
closer" is true. You might want to invite him to express his "concerns" with
you (or your Board President, or your Exec. Director.) As a result of this
conversation perhaps there is some task or project that this fellow could
take on to help "improve" your museum and make him feel more like an
"insider." 

I'm just devious enough to put him on a public relations/marketing
committee. If he had to help craft the marketing message he'd probably take
some ownership in it and want to see it succeed. 

Good luck!

Becky Fitzgerald

-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of Cait Dallas
Sent: Saturday, January 13, 2007 1:51 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Volunteer Woes

Our volunteer coordinator has had a recurring problem over the last year
with a long-time volunteer who has generating significant turmoil within our
volunteer pool.  I'm looking for some advice about how to deal with this
type of problem and how to avoid this situation in the future.  See my
specific questions below.

The problematic behaviors include:
1 - Creating "us" vs "them" divisions within our large docent pool (150
individuals) and between docents and staff. Much of this is the result of
one individual repeatedly discussing his personal discontent with the
current docent training program, some of the professional staff, and with
the management of the institution in general.  This volunteer has found an
audience within the docent pool, so the ubiquitous volunteer grapevine gets
repeatedly charged with negativity as word spreads via email and chats in
the volunteer lounge.  Fortunately, serious discontent with our museum seems
to have spread only to a relatively small number of volunteers.  However,
even those volunteers who are pleased with the museum are clearly aggitated
and expressing concern about the negativity. 

2 - Discussing his grave concerns about the museum openly in local
restaurants.  This has resulted in local business owners and employees
asking the inevitable question "What is going on over there?".  

3 - Trying to play the staff off of one another through private
conversations. 

As staff, we've rebuffed his attempts to undermine colleagues by suggesting
that he take his complaints to our President. For the most part though we've
focused on putting out the small fires that flare up in his wake.  This is
time-consuming and of course doesn't address the source of the problem.

My questions are:
- Does having a volunteer policy and handbook really help minimize this type
of problem behavior?
- Is the institution of a volunteer policy and handbook with outlined
expectations about behavior (including grounds for dismissal) likely to
cause a major disruption in the volunteer corps?  Will they be offended? If
so, how can we minimize it?
- What specific procedures have you found to be effective in disciplining or
dismissing volunteers?  

Sorry about the long-winded nature of this inquiry, but there seems to be so
little that is straightforward in the museum world.  Thanks in advance for
your help!

Cait Dallas
Curator of Collections
Ten Chimneys Foundation
Genesee Depot, Wisconsin
[log in to unmask]

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