Identifying effective strategies for developing leadership and management skills in volunteer volunteer managers

This thesis investigates how organisations support volunteers to develop the skills of those volunteers who lead and/or manage other volunteers, or volunteer volunteer managers (VVMs). There is little research into volunteer management/leadership (Posner, 2015) and most research is based on the premise that paid staff manage volunteers. There even less research into leadership and management development (LMD) within the sector (Alizadeh et al, 2021). This research considers best practice in LMD outside the voluntary sector and what might be appropriate for VVM development. The following research questions were identified to investigate these gaps: 1. How are the terms “Leadership and Management” and “Leadership and Management Development” interpreted in the voluntary sector? 2. What leadership and management roles are volunteers undertaking, and what skills are needed to fulfil these roles? 3. How are leadership and management development skills developed in volunteers and how effective are these approaches? 4. How could these approaches be changed or improved to develop volunteers’ leadership and management skills and skill development? The research was conducted with 16 participants from nine different organisations, all of whom had or currently held a VVM role. The literature review helped construct the interview questions; informal conversations with other stakeholders also took place. Key findings support the lack of research in the sector and identify that whilst VVMs understand leadership and management, organisational clarity is lacking. This and missing role documentation exacerbates a lack of role clarity. Provision of LMD for VVMs was mixed, as was the quality. An implicit expectation that leadership/management skills are brought from outside volunteering is evident. The thesis concludes by discussing implications for practice and theory outlined by the study. VVMs need role documentation, support identifying learning needs and provision of appropriate, timely LMD. Recognition of the emotional labour in managing volunteers would be beneficial.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

PhD

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

Doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Wolverhampton

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Adams, Nicky

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Firth, Janet

• volunteers
• leadership
• management
• learning and development
• leadership and management development

Statement dc:rights

• Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

Licence

• https://wlv.openrepository.com/bitstreams/acf53be0-7760-4278-af3f-f3a899147dcb/download