Last Thursday, I was scheduled to lead the first part of a workshop on "Volunteer Management." Two weeks prior, I had been busy outlining the modules in my yellow-covered notebook when I suddenly stopped. The working title was "Organizing Volunteers," but the pen just wouldn't move. I asked myself: A volunteer isn't a mechanical object to be "organized" like parts in a machine. Right there, I crossed it out and wrote: "Self-Organization." This was a concept that had deeply resonated with me back in March 2026, while I was translating Elinor Ostrom’s Governing the Commons. (I hope to see it published soon.)
Why "Self-Organization"? I believe a volunteer in an organization is not "cheap" or "free" labor; they are a human being, with their own genuine concerns, anxieties, and dreams. When we talk about "organizing," it feels as if we are assembling machine parts. But when we talk about "self-organization," it means we are preparing the ground, creating the space for volunteers to find their own paths, while still operating within the organization's framework. It means helping them see themselves in the collective—to find and define their own place. Of course, in crises, command-and-control might be necessary, but in ordinary times, we must allow them to be themselves. This is the essence of facilitation in the process of volunteer self-organization.
This is where the role of the "Volunteer Manager" shifts. We are not bosses here; we are facilitators. A facilitator is someone who, upon seeing new volunteers lost or unsure of what to do, doesn’t dump a long list of "dos and don'ts" on them. Instead, they sit beside them, listen with patience and care, and help them discover their own potential—helping them identify exactly where they fit into this puzzle in a way that feels meaningful to them.
What should a facilitator do? I believe every facilitation technique helps: brainstorming with the group about the work ahead, breaking them into smaller clusters, and giving them the space to draw their own "mental maps" of the volunteer task. Even letting the group write their own ground rules.
Link to my article on Virgul about the journey from "suspension" to "belonging" in Persian
A volunteer entering an organization is often in a state of "suspension." They don't know where they stand, whether their voice will be heard, or if their presence makes any difference at all. They are, in a sense, hovering in the air, sometimes not even realizing what they are doing. If an organization’s leader adopts a facilitating perspective, they must prepare the ground for that "suspension" to transform into a sense of "belonging." Belonging means the volunteer feels this house is their own home. Not because of an organizational mandate or a top-down decision, but because of the deep spiritual bond they have formed with the people around them, and because they have grasped the deeper vision and purpose of the volunteer work. This is true self-organization.
Last Thursday, August 20th, 2026, we held the first session of the workshop on "Volunteer Self-Organization and Management." As the facilitator, I believe I gave the participants the opportunity to be the authors of their own experience. This coming Thursday, we will gather again to discuss this perspective. I believe if we learn to practice "creating the ground" for self-organization rather than simply "organizing" people, our organizations might find a new vitality—and the volunteers themselves will grow along the way.
P.S.: I wrote this on the train from Tehran to Kerman. I started early in the morning while the sunrise filtered through the compartment window, falling onto my face. Five others in the compartment were still asleep, and I didn't want to make a single move that might disturb their peace.
