ADVICE FOR PROJECT LEADERS

1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) 10) 11) 12) Take Responsibility.................................................................................. 1 Who Can Be Involved in Solidarit?......................................................... 1 Projects, Activities, Promotion and Funding Criteria ................................ 2 Find Specific Goals .................................................................................. 2 Use the Project GPS - three steps to help guide Projects........................ 3 Action: Before the activity - At the activity - Follow-up ....................... 4 Looking after Health and Safety............................................................... 5 Solidarit Meetings .................................................................................. 5 Promote Awareness of Your Project ........................................................ 6 Project Leaders Key Responsibilities at the End of the Project............... 7 Life as a Project Leader Tips and Leadership....................................... 7 Conclusion ............................................................................................. 10

1)

Take Responsibility
Enjoy the Project. Put yourself into the Project. Allow everybody to contribute, draw people and resources together to follow the vision and goal of your Project. Solidarit relies on the collective responsibility of individuals like you. Dont be afraid. All information is provided to help you out. Be yourself, make friends and go for it.

2)

Who Can Be Involved in Solidarit?

Solidarit Projects and activities are open to all trainees and staff within the EU Institutions, former staff, ex-trainees, family, friends, civil society, NGOs, International Organisations or other responsible people introduced by trainees or staff of the EU Institutions where appropriate. Project leaders are trainees. Assistant Project leaders could be EU Institutions staff, friends or NGO staff. Ensure that Solidarit is particularly presented and open to every trainee within the EU Institutions.

3)

Projects, Activities, Promotion and Funding Criteria

All Projects, volunteer work and humanitarian or social issues can be supported, carried out, funded or promoted by Solidarit (including on the Solidarit website) if they are compatible with and in accordance with: i. ii. iii. iv. v. The Solidarit Mission Statement, Philosophy and Regulations The Universal Declaration of Human Rights1 The European Treaties / Constitution EU Institution policies, activities or projects, Common sense and general consensus at the Solidarit General Meeting

If necessary, the Solidarit General Meeting can decide whether or not a particular project, cause or issue meets this criterion and makes a contribution to humanitarian and social issues based on consensus and common sense.

4)

Find Specific Goals

Less is often more - simple ideas and practical involvement often generate the best results. Where necessary, establish the start and finish date of the Project or activity. Aim high, but do not over-extend yourself. Remember Solidarits Mission; firstly, Actions - Solidarit aims to change the world and achieve solidarity of humanitarian awareness and action by showing how easy it is to do simple things, and how those simple things can really make a difference. Note that the greatest focus for Solidarit is involvement actions to help others in the belief that there is benefit for both the receiver and the doer of the actions. The second emphasis is awareness we cannot change what we dont acknowledge. It is experiences that influence us and change us. The more emotive the experience and the more ownership people have for the experience, the more our consciousness is enhanced and the more likely one is to remember the experience and be influenced by it. The third aspect of Solidarit is raising resources whilst this has its place, this should not jeopardise achieving the first two objectives.

1 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the general underlying criteria of course behind the selection of any cause that Solidarit supports and any activity supported should operate within the realms of that declaration; "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty." Any concerns may be also guided by the International Bill of Human Rights (consisting of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights).

5)

Use the Project GPS - three steps to help guide Projects

Clarify the Goal Suggestions: i. Clarify The Goal a. ensure the goal is both realistic and consistent with Solidarits Mission b. Contemplate target groups if relevant c. Project goals and activities should be SMART: Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic Time constrained ii. Plan Project Activity - develop an action plan - get together with others a. Plan actions to be taken, how and why - ensure the plan is realistic b. Check what resources are needed, how and why - ensure the plan and project are aligned to the resources available c. Set targets and any budget for efficient and realistic resource allocation d. Keep volunteers informed (and involved) with regards to decision making. (This is a major motivational factor; if volunteers have some insight into how the Project works they generally feel more comfortable in their environment.) e. List short-term, mid-term and long-term outcomes, including how and why to achieve them iii. Study And Pass On The Results a. Evaluate and monitor the Projects progress against your plan and see where learning or changes in the environment require a change in strategy b. After the activity, evaluate performance and compare with the performance of similar Project activities. c. Gather lessons from the mistakes and successes of activity d. Create or Update your Project guideline and pass on lessons learned to help Solidarit continually learn and improve Plan Project Activity Study and Pass on the Results

6) Action: Before the activity - At the activity - Follow-up

Before the Activity: preparing for volunteering activity Preparation ensures the activity is as productive as possible for both any organisation being helped and for the volunteers. Prior to the activity it is worth taking the time to: - check that any materials needed are available and in working order - ensure that key contact people have the information they need to inform others - let volunteers know what they need to bring or wear, what facilities are available for refreshments, where and when they should meet, who they should contact if there are last minute changes - provide volunteers with information that will make their time or day more interesting; e.g. why certain trees are being planted on a tree planting day or how the funds raised on a fundraising activity will be used by the organisation - make sure that Occupational Health and Safety requirements are taken care of; for example, who can provide first aid and where the first aid kit is kept - provide the volunteers with telephone numbers as necessary. "The most successful programs are developed in close consultation and collaboration with the specific communities, projects and organisations."2 At the Activity While volunteers will generally be very motivated and positive about being involved, they need a certain amount of guidance and support, both before and during Project activity: - welcome the volunteers - outline the Project, give background and explain the responsibilities and time required - explain their tasks - ensure they know where to get a drink, something to eat and where the toilets are - introduce others to them and their role - if appropriate, provide a tour - distribute any materials - thank them for their contribution Follow-up Both the volunteers in your Project and the organisations you may have helped appreciate feedback, particularly when it is positive! Feedback helps for monitoring and evaluation and to reinforce positive benefits. It can be worthwhile to: - send photos of the project to newspapers, provide an article for newsletters etc - give feedback and formal thanks to people that helped and any organisation - take time to talk with volunteers and to find how the activity went for them - pass on the experience and information to others
2 Jerry Marston, Community Investment Director, Whitbread plc, UK and Chair of the Corporate Responsibility Group UK.

7) Look after Health and Safety

If there is an accident of any sort, your first responsibility is to whoever has been injured or distressed. Be calm. Provide assistance and support and seek medical advice and treatment where required. Do so immediately and where there is some concern expressed by the injured person, express your concern and ensure that where there is any doubt, medical opinion is sought. Where there is a need to phone a family member or a friend, do so as soon as practical and do so in a caring manner. Stick to the facts in any conversation and avoid discussion on possible liability or blame. If an incident does occur that even remotely may lead to an insurance claim, record the incident. In doing so stick to the facts of what happened. Don't attempt to allocate blame on any person or piece of equipment and avoid making personal comments or opinions. Do this in conjunction with any organisation that you are working with and the Stage Committee / Stage Office as soon as possible. These steps are important not only for the injured person but also Solidarit and any organisation you may be helping.

8) Solidarit Meetings
Good communication helps to create good organisation. Solidarit General Meetings you can The Solidarit General meetings are a meeting for everyone involved. They are a means by which you take ownership of Solidarit. Solidarit is built on friendship and the meetings are a way to meet with others who share the same ideals and vision and to combine energy. Solidarit meetings are an opportunity for Project Leaders to share their ideas and any questions - they are a place of encouragement and support. You are the link between your Project and everyone else; its important to stay linked. If you cannot attend a meeting, inform the Coordinators of any news and if possible arrange for someone from your Project to attend. At Solidarit General Meetings you can i. Help to co-ordinate the energy and actions of different people and Projects. ii. Update everyone on your Project. iii. Request a loan or funds to run your Project Project Meetings. Project Meetings are meetings of Project Leaders with their team of Volunteers. Project Leaders and Assistant Project Leaders of course meet together with Volunteers to work on their specific Project whenever and wherever they like. Keep in touch with your Volunteers. Establish a team spirit. One of the most important things is that the Volunteers feel encouraged and supported.3

3 We must see people in terms of their future potential, not their past performance. J. Whitmore.

9) Promote Awareness of Your Project

As a leader, theres a need to communicate. Simplify your message, make it clear and consistent so that it can be properly understood and absorbed by everyone. Suggestions: i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. vii. viii. Explain information briefly and clearly. Make it easy for the reader - be short and straight to the point. Target your emails to specific groups. Put the essential details in the email. Use the What, When, Where, Who, Why, How Much document if you like. Be sure to put contact details in case people want any more information. Write polite follow-up emails after a week if you have not received a reply. Keep information up to date. Keep it interesting. Work with the Coordinators. Put them in cc copy of your important e-mails.

Other Promotional Steps i. Seek the support directly and immediately of 'powerful people' if necessary. They may make the implementation and publicity of your Project or idea much easier (you may be surprised who might support you and they may know a surprising 'network of people'). You may be able to get help from people in your Department. Where practical and possible, seek a senior person to sponsor or act as patron for your event or Project. ii. iii. iv. v. Otherwise increasing humanitarian awareness and publicity for your Project is open to your imagination. The Coordinators should be consulted on matters relating to contacts with the media. Clearly articulate your Projects purpose and your Projects results as necessary. Creating an impact with your Project - both in terms of results and awareness requires clarity of purpose, a focus on performance and an ability to communicate success succinctly.

10)

Project Leaders Key Responsibilities at the End of the Project

Update or create the Project Guideline Project Guidelines are living documents to pass on to the future. Add any new information and delete any irrelevant information. Keep the same formatting and leave the Guideline as simple as possible. Email your updated Project Guideline back to the Coordinators. It is easier to update the Project Guideline information as the Project progresses. Update any Other Useful Electronic Information Files If you have Other Useful Electronic Information for your projects, please update them, delete them or create files that are relevant and useful. Email the Other Useful Electronic Information files back to the Solidarit Coordinators. Update any Website Information Make sure any information about your Project on any Website is welcoming, relevant and very clear for those that may want to be involved in the Project in the future. Share your experience Please share your knowledge and opinions with the Coordinators about ways you think we can improve or update any part of Solidarit. If possible, pass on your knowledge in person with the next Project Leader on the next Traineeship.

11)

Life as a Project Leader - Tips and Leadership

i. Some key traits of great leaders: They understand the words of Lao Tzu When the best leader's work is done the people say, We did it ourselves." They have ambition first and foremost for the Project and the people involved and concern for its success rather than for their own personal renown. They are aware of the idea that "You can accomplish anything in life, provided that you do not mind who gets the credit." Truman by David McCullough They act with quiet, calm determination; they rely principally on inspired standards, not inspiring charisma, to motivate. They channel ambition into the project, not the self; they set up successors for even greater success in the future. They are brave: we welcome risk-taking, experimentation, and learning from both success and failure and we encourage others to do so too. We are biased towards action, insatiably curious, and willing to challenge the status quo.4

4 The Australian Centre for Social innovation, http://www.tacsi.org.au/our-values/

Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others. Jack Welch5 The very essence of leadership is that you have to have a vision. Theodore Hesburgh Be the change you want to see in the world. Gandhi. Gandhi also believed that the means is as important as the result. They apportion credit for the success of the project to other people, external factors, and good luck.

ii.

Leadership advice from former US President Bill Clinton: Surround yourself with a team of people who have strengths you don't have. Ask yourself, 'What am I honestly good at, and what am I not so good at?' and seek out people who are good at what you are not so good at and then make them feel part of the team. Encourage people who disagree with you. Let them feel they can fully speak their mind comfortably and remain a strong part of the team. "And the more you do that the more people will be loyal to decisions once they are made." Have a vision of where you want to go, and where you are, and be able to paint a picture of it. (That is, a holistic or big picture or a long-term approach). Have a strategy for getting there. Have the ability to marshal a team, a plan and tactics to carry that strategy through. Learn to deal with the unexpected.

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Innovation is simply group intelligence having fun. Michael Nolan One of the aspects of being a leader is to stand for someone else and to trust them6. The best leaders foster a sense of teamwork in their groups while also getting the job done.7 One of the keys to running an effective Project is finding the right people to help take leadership roles. Actively seek out the most committed, the busiest, most willing and capable people you know to help you. Remember though the main ingredient for the success of the Project is a mix of commitment and peace from you. All Projects are only limited by who is willing to come forward as Project Leader, Assistant Project Leaders and Volunteers. Most of the Projects have Guidelines and are established and in many cases Solidarit Volunteers have worked with any NGOs before. Manage your time productively. Start early. Remain determined to do the most important things first and to do them well.

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5 Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal. It has been defined as a process. Defining leadership as a process means that it is not a trait or characteristic that resides in the leader, but is a transactional event that occurs between the leader and his or her followers. Process implies that a leader affects and is affected by followers. It emphasizes that leadership is not a linear, oneway event but rather an interactive event. When leadership is defined in this manner, it becomes available to everyone. It is not restricted to only the formally designated leader in a group. 6 Gytanjali, LandMark Forum. 7 A cooperative relationship between people or groups who agree to share responsibility for achieving some specific goal.

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Consult with whomever you should and share the responsibilities. Email exchanges, meetings and sharing information are commonplace and to be effective the best thing is to integrate them in an efficient manner into your weekly activity. Don't be afraid to make quick decisions. Decisions are often more easily made amongst smaller groups of people. Keep the Coordinators informed. Communicate. Communication builds understanding. Understanding builds teamwork. The wider the doors of communication are open the better. Let everyone know they can come to you if they have a problem. Actively seek out ways to solve any conflict calmly. Many hands make light work. When looking for volunteers, the more notice you give everyone the better it is. (However, even if you need people at the last minute still communicate your request and ask for help (you may even get a bigger response at the last minute as people sometimes come running to help). Be receptive and welcoming to the skills and ideas of others as they support the Project. Projects are based on a sense of community and common humanity to bring about social change and improve people's lives. Involve staff, trainees and others from diverse backgrounds and encourage them to work with heads and hearts on the Project and build a sense of community and shared ownership in the Project for the benefit of others. Be open to criticism. If it is constructive, it can be the best thing you hear some days. Ask Five Times Why - the Japanese system of asking five times why something went wrong or kept happening the way it did, in order to find new solutions. Solidarit is meant to be a compliment to your work; it is not full-time. Encourage, train and acknowledge those involved. Always thank everyone - people put a lot of themselves into activities and a lot of thought, preparation and actions often go unnoticed. You may want to have a meal etc to show appreciation for volunteers. Working with Other Organisations: The simplest way to understand the issues that will influence the decisions and actions of any organisations Solidarit works with is to ask them what they are. Projects that actively engage in dialogues and invest in building relationships with an organisation get the value of receiving unique perspectives on activities and identification of opportunities that may have otherwise remained unidentified. A good understanding of issues leads to clear objectives. Where necessary ask the organisation to provide the Solidarit Volunteers with any necessary briefing, support and training so that the volunteers can help them.

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Solidarit is a continuing process, you don't have to change the world overnight, sometimes the best idea is to turn back, not do something or start again elsewhere (then we know where not to go and what does not work efficiently, we can save or direct energies elsewhere). (It is in moments of confusion and crisis that we often learn the most and are most creative). Freedom for creativity is important. This includes allowing people to work on developing the structure and thereby the content of the system they find themselves in. All those involved in Solidarit must therefore have input into Solidarit, be a part of its development and have a feeling of belonging to it.

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Sometimes ideas can get bogged down in bureaucracy; that's normal in big organisations like the EU Institutions, don't let it worry you. You may need to be flexible; aware that there are many ways to get to an ultimate destination. Perhaps consider not what the Project is, but why do it at all; why is it important for us and the people we help? Be motivated and confident; a good idea and a good Project have their own power; believe in your Project, believe in the Project Team and believe in yourself. The key is effective leadership. Without successful leadership, people tend to be uninspired, unsure of their role and may lack commitment. Successful leadership requires positive attitudes about people... if people are viewed and managed as creative, motivated people who seek responsibility; they are likely to exhibit high levels of performance. On the other hand, if the volunteers are treated as if they dislike their work, are lazy and must be coerced to perform, then their behaviour may reflect that. The way to achieve effective leadership is related to how you see yourself as a professional - then act accordingly even if you start with baby steps and changing your speech and vocabulary, that is a definite step forward. Always remember that others have been there before you, that there are experts in the field.8 TEAMWORK. TRUST. LEADERSHIP. COMMITMENT. Go for it.

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12) Conclusion
Solidarit is you. It functions through the collective responsibility of individuals like you. The principal enemy of the work of Solidarit is not lack or resources or time or possibilities, but the person with responsibilities who does not care. Solidarit can bare fruit not because it exists in one of the worlds leading institutions, not because it has the benefit of hundreds of intelligent people from all over the world to contribute to it it bares fruit because people like you, believe in it and love the possibilities. Solidarit is a team effort, it is solidarity amongst people from all around the world; you can dream up together whatever you can dream. It is an opportunity to get together and share ideas and thoughts in order to do, and to improve upon existing Projects and/or to come up with new ideas and any new Projects you like. A most important thing is that Solidarit remains positive; that as a group you stick to the spirit of Solidarit. Share your ideas, challenges and friendships. Dont be afraid. Prosper. Take initiative. We can create solidarity of humanitarian awareness and action amongst the staff and trainees of the EU Institutions of which we can be proud and which can be taken into our future. If you put your heart into something, the results will come. Bon courage & bonne chance. Be yourself, go for it, andhave fun!

Your world is yours to change

8 Ride The New Wave Of Volunteer Management, Miss Leticia Vargas and Mr. DJ Cronin, paper submitted to Volunteering Australia National Conference, 2008 http://www.volunteeringaustralia.org/html/s02_article/article_view.asp?art_id=3540&nav_cat_id=210&nav_top_id=55

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