Making a Valuable Difference

1. Making a Valuable Difference Bobbi Sabatini – Seneca College

2. Introduction • Each of us has value • How we share that value impacts all aspects of our lives • The difference between offering services and making a difference • ‘Can I help you?” • OR • “How can I/we be of value to you today?”

3. Outline • Getting involved • Balance • Give and take • Identifying opportunities • Initiating innovative changes • Refining • Putting your skills to use • Sharing • Coming together to multiply benefits

4. Getting Involved • Why volunteer? • A passion for helping others • A desire to share your skills and talents • A need exists… • Why do more than what is expected? • A move away from “what’s in it for me?” to: • “how can I make a difference in this person’s life” • Making every encounter count • Benefits for patrons or people in general • Benefits for those volunteering

5. Origami Step One • A quick contact is sometimes all that is needed to start the process and provide the basis of all that is to come from that point • Take your paper and fold it in half lengthwise, then unfold

6. Balance • Balance in life is more important than ever • Work • Helping to the best of our abilities and getting regular tasks done • Life • Everyone helps out so individuals don’t feel overwhelmed • Volunteering • 20% of the volunteers do 80% of the work • How do we strike a more equitable balance, or make it easier for people to volunteer so the workload is not overwhelming

7. Origami Step Two • Origami is very much about balance, what you do to one side, you will generally do to the other • Take the top corner and fold it down towards the middle line you made in step one • Do the same to the opposite corner

8. Give and take • Every interaction is an opportunity • Give what you can • Information • Help • Skills • Talents ► What do you take away? ► Increased job satisfaction ► Feeling of making a difference in someone’s life ► People are more likely to come back, organizational success

9. Origami Step 3 • Bring up the bottom corner to the middle • This is a place holder and will be unfolded later

10. Identifying Opportunities • Every day offers opportunities to help an make a difference to someone’s life, from holding a door open, a smile when it’s unexpected, doing something you don’t have to in order to make someone else’s life better in some way • At Work • Going that extra mile is not only good for direct benefits, but the return on the investment keeps coming back • At Home • It is easy to get stuck in roles, only doing what is your ‘job’, however even a small change can make a big difference • Volunteering • Choose something that suits you. Ask questions about commitments, don’t assume it is going to be too much work, many places are happy with any amount of help

11. Origami Step 4 • Being flexible and open to opportunities improves your chances for success • Fold the point down to meet the place holder from step 3, unfold the place holder

12. Initiate Innovative Changes(where and when possible) • Offering your skills and talents to improve a process, event or even a simple task • It seems easier to do things the way they have always been done • Sometimes the hardest part is convincing others to change processes • Communication is the most important piece! • Examples • Fundraising changes – event details, ways to raise money, tracking • VLS – challenges of a small community, what works, what doesn’t • Friends of the Library – making sure everyone feels valued even when roles change

13. Origami Step 5 • Turning over a new leaf sometimes brings a new perspective to an old process • Turn the paper over

14. Refining • Once improvements have been identified and put into action, they must be monitored for any possible refinements • Fundraising • Adjusting the database for items donated, what is included, not included • Did the effort taken to get new sponsors work? Why or why not? • What information is the most useful to have included • VLS • Talking to other libraries of similar size • What works best, are there other opportunities out there • Friends of the Library • Changing roles can bring out new strengths or identify weaknesses

15. Origami Step 6 • Refining takes precision and patience. Taking the time to do it right means it is more likely to turn out the way you would like it to • Take the top corner and fold it down towards the middle. Do the same to the other top corner

16. Refinement part 2 – evaluation • An important part of making any changes is to evaluate if those changes were successful • Did it make a difference and add value? • For example, book sales asking for donations only make more money overall and are less work • Is there something else that might be adjusted?

17. Origami Step 7 • Further refinements are often necessary to make sure everything is still on track • Fold the top flaps down again to meet the middle

18. Putting your skills to use • Having skills and talents are great, the trick is putting them to the best use • Identifying opportunities • Offering your help as opposed to having to be asked • Innovating • Be open to change and trying new ways to do things • Initiating • Being the first step is sometimes the hardest, but is already moving in the right direction - forward

19. Origami Step 8 • Turn the paper over • Fold the bottom in half, sliding under the triangle flap that has been created. Fold it in half again, and in half once more

20. Sharing • We don’t know what skills and talents others have unless we ask • Social media offers an opportunity for people to advertise skills and talents • Don’t forget to share in person as well!

21. Coming together to multiply benefits • When everyone is working together towards a common goal, the results can be extraordinary • Each of us has value, putting that value together can lead to exponential rewards

22. Origami Step 9 • Putting it all together • Take the left end at the bottom and tuck in into the front flap of the triangle on its left. • Take the end of the left piece and tuck it in behind the piece on the right • Do this for each of the five pieces

23. Origami Step 10 • Complete!

24. Conclusion • Making a valuable difference can be a part of everyone’s life • If we are each willing to do a small part, the workload is shared and so is the success Any Questions?

25. Contact Information • Bobbi Sabatini • blsabatini@hotmail.com • Origami websites • The first is my favourite, look for Money Origami down the left side under Types of Gifts • www.homemade-gifts-made-easy.ca • www.origami-instructions.com