From Good to Great!

1. From Good to Great! Best practices for managing your AmeriCorps members Facilitated by: Paula DeBoles-Johnson, MPA, CCM Program Consultant

2. Learning Objectives From this training participants will learn: • How to improve member effectiveness • How to promote retention and promote lifelong civic engagement • The tools to help members move from their year of service to Life After AmeriCorps

3. Member Recruitment Create a plan. Outline all the steps in the recruitment process. Make sure that each party understands their role and participates in the process. Make sure that all recruitment documents are updated. Make time to verify accuracy! Your recruitment team should have some consistency and a few new players. Make sure that there are many layers beyond completing the application.

4. Recruiting Special Populations Recruiting Males • Recruit at sites that males frequent (i.e. barbershops, cycle shops, gyms, bowling lanes, etc.) • Use males to recruit males • Visit nontraditional sites (churches, Boys & Girls Clubs) • Make the pitch to fraternities, at sporting events and male specific clubs. • Host an open house Persons with Disabilities • Contact your disability partners • Utilize other agencies that work specifically with Persons with Disabilities & place flyers there • Contact the local colleges and universities • Contact the local high schools • Post flyers in hospitals, physical therapy & doctors offices and specialized equipment businesses

5. Track Activities to Maximize Results

6. After Recruitment – What’s Next Who’s part of your screening and interviewing team? When should you schedule interviews? What questions should you ask? • "A child is having an issue with a teacher and isn't responding to that teacher, what would be your course of action?" • "If you were confronted by a distraught community member and you didn't know the answer, what would your course of action be?“ • "Please describe yourself in one word and tell us why you chose that particular word."

7. Top Choices & Next Steps • Have them volunteer for a 1-2 weeks • Get them screened (NSOPR at a minimum) • Give them something to accomplish • Others should be watching them as well Finally, the TEAM makes a decision based on performance during the volunteer period.

8. The New Team TrainingBackground Screening Volunteer Recruitment ServiceProjects Evaluations Accommodations Personal Disaster Planning Professional Development Special Requests Life After AmeriCorps Civic ReflectionReporting

9. Best Practices • Tips: • Make sure that partner sites • are aware of training dates • Start planning early for • required trainings • Give your 2nd year members • leadership opportunities as • trainers, mentors and leaders • of service projects • Spend your first two weeks • getting required trainings • done, especially First • Aid/CPR. • Set benchmarks for • evaluation early • Check in with members, site • supervisors and partners • often • Recognize excellence • often

10. Use Your Tools! What are some of the tools you need to successfully run your AmeriCorps program? Where can you find these tools? If you need assistance regarding ANYTHING related to AmeriCorps, who can you contact?

11. How to Build Exceptional Members & Programs • Great Communicators • Awesome Advisors • Terrific Team builders • Forward thinking Planners • & Managers • Exceptional AmeriCorps • Representatives

12. “The brain is like Velcro for negative experiences and Teflon for positive ones.” Rick Hanson, PhD • Focus on the GOOD! • What might happen in your own life if you looked for the good • before launching into the bad? • Relationships need a healthy balance of positive to negative • interactions. Because we deal with people, negative situations will • occur – make a conscious effort to infuse the positive! • When you catch yourself saying something negative…..STOP. POSITIVITY EVERYDAY!

13. Keeping the Energy & Excitement • Members should know what’s expected of them. Keep this in • the forefront. • Let members take the lead on projects. • Select Team Leaders for the upcoming year. This shows that • you are rewarded and promoted for good work! • Bring in motivational speakers a few times a year. (Maybe • they want to hear from someone else). • Incorporate Teambuilding activities that are informative & • exciting! • Invite other Corps to participate in Corps days and Service • Projects. • Life After AmeriCorps planning should begin as soon • as Orientation ends. • Begin with the End in Mind!

14. Preparing Members for Life After AmeriCorps • Reflecting on Service Year • Resume Writing • Professional Development • Education Award Information • Transitioning from National Service • AmeriCorps Alums

15. Celebrating the successes of the Corps is essential to retention, personal growth and program commitment! Everyone likes to know that what they do matters! Celebrate and acknowledge hard work often!

16. Roadblocksto Successful Service! • Failure to follow program policies/rules • Grievances & Inspector General Complaints • Retention • Perceived Favoritism & Inconsistencies • Lack of Information & False Information • Failure to document vital information & incidences • Loss of funding & vital partnerships • Failure to PLAN

17. Questions & Answers

18. Thank You! Please don’t forget to complete your evaluation.