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In my life
Volunteering in my life
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Description
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Name of the session
Volunteering in my life
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Session objectives
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MATERIALS/
RESOURCES
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General INFORMATION
This session aims to reinforce the importance of volunteering and help participants to find the space for it in their life among the many other areas they consider as important. This session works best as a warm-up session to deepen the learning reflection of participants, but can also be done as an individual session.
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Step-by-step IMPLEMENTATION
Introduction – Choose a picture (15 mins)
Lay down a lot of colorful pictures in a circle and ask participants to stand-up around them and think deeply about the question “What volunteering means in my life?” They then look for pictures or objects that in some way answer this question. If everybody selected one (or two) pictures, sit in a circle and ask everybody to introduce their picture/object and explain why they chose it.
🎩 Pro tip: You may ask clarification questions about feelings or reasons behind and let other participants ask as well. To get better quality responses, ask the same questions to the group and provide the same time for everybody.
💻Virtual version: Create a virtual collection of pictures in a digital whiteboard or instagram and ask participants to choose from them. Do not ask them to search on the internet. They can set the photos as their virtual background or a profile picture before sharing.
Shorter reflective activity - Horseshoe (Where do U stand?)
Invite participants to stand in a horseshoe, a curved line, where you define the two ends of the spectrum and ask everyone to stand at a point on the line that represents their point of view. This way everyone is more likely to be in eye contact with each other, and this makes the group discussion much easier. State the questions, like one end represents ''We performed well as a team'', the other end represents ''We are not performing well as a team”.
Ask participants to “Please make a “silent statement” by choosing to stand in a particular zone or a point on a scale. You have only 5 seconds to stand somewhere, the decision should be based on internal feelings, not by observing others.” When everybody is standing, give them 1-1 minutes to discuss their decision “Talk with a neighbor about why you chose to stand where you are.” Finally ask participants to look around at the overall pattern or at where individuals have chosen to be. “Any surprises / comments / questions?” Take as long as you want, and you feel there are quality responses.
Questions / statements to be asked:
🎩 Pro tip: Ideas are first shared with a ‘friendly’ partner with a similar view, so the quality of group discussion is better after preparation in pairs. The ‘MANY’ process is open, so have one or two ideas about how to close / finish.
💻Virtual version: In a virtual event create break-out rooms with names from 1 to 10 and after stating the question, ask participants to go to that room which number they would stand on the scale. In the break-out room give them 3-5 minutes to discuss their selection. When participants are back, share with them the distribution (how many participants were in a given group) and ask a couple of participants to share the essence of their group discussion.
Longer NFE activity - Wheel of Life (75 mins)
Introduce the next activity:
“The Wheel of Life is a great tool to help you improve your life balance. It helps you quickly and graphically identify the areas in your life to which you want to focus more, and where you might want to devote less energy. The real challenge is to transform this desire for a more balanced life into positive actions. When life is busy, it's easy to find yourself off balance, not paying enough attention to important areas of your life. While you need to have drive and focus if you're going to get things done, taking this too far can lead to frustration and intense stress. That's when it's time to take a "helicopter view" of your life, so that you can bring things back into balance.
This is where the Wheel of Life (or Life Wheel) can help. It helps you consider each area of your life and identify those areas that need more attention.”
5’ First brainstorm life areas
“Start by brainstorming the six to eight dimensions of your life that are important for you. You may identify the roles you play in life, for example: husband/wife, son/daughter, manager/colleague, team member, sports player, community leader, or friend. Or areas of life that are important to you, for example: artistic expression, positive attitude, career, education, family, friends, financial freedom, physical challenge, pleasure, or public service. Or your own combination of these (or different) things, reflecting the things that are your priorities in life.”
5’ Assess life areas
Write these down on the Wheel of Life as dimensions on the diagram, one on each spoke of the life wheel and assess each area of the Life Wheel. Different areas of your life will need different levels of attention at different times. So the next step is to assess the amount of attention you're currently devoting to each area. Consider each dimension in turn, and on a scale of 0 (low) – to 10 (high), write down the amount of attention you're devoting to that area of your life. Mark each score on the appropriate spoke of your Life Wheel and join up the marks around the circle.
10’ Think about your ideal level for life balance
It's time to consider your ideal level in each area of your life. A balanced life does not mean getting 5 in each life area: some areas need more attention and focus than others at any time. And inevitably you will need to make choices and compromises, as your time and energy are not unlimited. The question is, what would the ideal level of attention be for you in each life area? Plot the "ideal" scores around your life wheel too.
10’ Identify gaps
Now you have a visual representation of your current life balance and your ideal life balance. Where are the gaps? These are the areas of your life that need attention. Gaps can go both ways. There are almost certainly areas that are not getting as much attention as you'd like. However, there may also be areas where you're putting in more effort than you'd ideally like. These areas are sapping energy and enthusiasm that may better be directed elsewhere.
5’ Discuss the role of volunteering
“How is volunteering represented on your graph? Does it have enough attention now? Would you like to grant more energy to it?”
5’ Take action
Once you have identified the areas that need attention, it's time to plan the actions needed to work on regaining balance. Starting with the neglected areas, what things do you need to start doing to regain balance? In the areas that currently sap your energy and time, what can you stop doing or reprioritize or delegate to someone else?
Make a commitment to these actions by writing them down:
20’ Share in pairs
Devote time for pairs to discuss their wheels and action plans. You may ask them to stand in pairs or create pairs simply by pointing people close to each other. Grant 10-10 minutes for sharing their thoughts and feelings. Rotate roles.
15’ Share in a big group
After 20 minutes ask everybody to come back to the big groups and share their most surprising findings, or the essence of their learning about themselves. Ask them about volunteering especially, how it is represented, how would you like to devote more energy to it.
🎩 Pro tip: You can use the Wheel of Life as preparation for goal setting or coaching. It helps to identify the areas you want to work on and is a great way of visualizing your current and desired life. Once you are working on improving your life balance, it's also a useful tool for monitoring your life balance as it changes over time.
💻Virtual version: In a virtual event prepare a wheel for each participant on a Jamboard, where they can work. If you can label the page with their name, it’s even better. Facilitate the steps and ask them in each part to turn off their cameras when they start to work on it, when they are finished with the step turn it back. This way you have a feeling where the group average is going. Finally in the sharing send them randomly in break-out rooms and try to facilitate the big discussion at the end.
Input – Collecting ideas about volunteering needs and obstacles for participating (20-30 mins)
Draw on a flipchart a big river from the right upper corner to the left bottom corner, in 3 main curves with enough space for 3 main areas on
Ask participants to answer these questions, each idea should go on a separate post-it. Depending on the participants number and time left for the session you may ask them to share their answers one-by-one by putting it on the flipchart or simply put their post-it on the flipchart and the facilitator may share a couple of reflections and start to group them.
💻Virtual version: This could be done on a virtual jamboard as well.
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REVIEW & DEBRIEFING
At the end of the session try to emphasize why volunteering should be an important part of everybody's wheel, why it could help to find a better balance in life. Ask participants what kind of the next steps of volunteering and life changing actions they plan now. How they can find the space for volunteering in the long term and what kind of support they need.
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TARGET GROUP size & specifics
10-30 participants
workcamp participants, leaders
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DURATION
min. 180 minutes
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TO DO List
& Deadlines
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