ICT Management > Getting Support

Using volunteers for network IT support

By Lasa Information Systems Team
Liz Sutton

Case study of a small charity’s use of volunteers to help support their network.

Many small organisations struggle to find the right person (or indeed anyone) who can look after their internal IT support requirements. In addition to having the right skills, it’s often hard to fund the post or find a member of staff with enough time to do the job. Even if you have an external technical support company, as Women’s Environmental Network (WEN) do, will you also need internal support? Is it possible to find a volunteer with the skills and commitment to take on this important role? We spoke to Liz Sutton, Central and Communications Co-ordinator at the Women’s Environmental Network (WEN) about their experiences of IT support volunteers.

How many IT support volunteers have you had during the past couple of years?

There have been three. The first was with us for 6 months and left to have a baby, the next was fairly short term as it didn’t work out and we now have a volunteer who’s been with us for 6 months. Our current volunteer is with us three days a week.

How did you go about recruiting them?

We advertised on the WEN website (www.wen.org.uk) and Reach Online (www.reach-online.org.uk) which I think also forwarded the details to other websites.

What were their responsibilities?

We prepared a job description which is based on the list on the Knowledgebase. Precise responsibilities have varied according to the skill set of the individual and the amount of time they could spare but for all of them the main responsibility was overseeing the network, troubleshooting problems for colleagues and liaising with our technical support company.

How valuable have they been to you?

Incredibly so. WEN doesn't have funding for a network administrator but is totally dependent on its network. Nobody on the staff team has the time or ICT expertise to take on the role - I have management responsibility for ICT but too many other responsibilities and not enough time or the right skills to give it the attention it deserves or demands - and we have found out to our cost that old and outdated equipment/software and inadequate housekeeping can seriously disrupt people's work and eat their time trying to sort out or get round the problem.

Has it impacted upon WEN's staff and volunteer management?

Although managing our ICT needs is still time consuming it is more focused.  I am more relaxed about ICT than I was so other staff are less likely to be on the receiving end of one of my outbursts of computer rage! Previously, knowing the buck stopped with me, I felt stressed because I didn't have the knowledge to even understand why the server was down or someone couldn't get into their email let alone know how to sort it out. It has also eased the IT frustrations of other staff and volunteers, therefore easing the management of those frustrations, as we have been able to replace old equipment and get things running more smoothly.

The manager needs to allocate time to manage and direct the volunteer's workload (see next question). I have learnt a lot about managing longer-term volunteers, particularly about workload, protecting them from distraction and making sure they feel valued and their input is recognised and valued by others.

Any problems or issues?

One of our volunteers didn't have the software and people skills the role demands, though neither she nor we realised this before she started. She was more interested in working with hardware so we weren't offering the volunteering experience she needed.

The brief was too wide initially - really what we need as a busy organisation of about 15 users with frequent changes of users is a full or nearly full-time paid network administrator - and we have narrowed it since, depending on the skills and abilities of the individual. There is a danger that the volunteer will get pulled in all directions, as individual staff pester her to sort out their particular problem, or lose sight of her top priorities without regular support and direction from her manager.

One volunteer's first language was not English and her English skills were limited. We didn't initially think it would be a problem but it was, as both she and other staff/volunteers struggled to understand each other when trying to describe technical problems or solutions.  ICT jargon is a language in itself; the network administrator needs to be fluent in both it and in English.

Do you have any advice for other organisations thinking about using volunteers for IT support?

Yes!  Be specific about what you want them to do and don't give them too wide a brief.  Interview and, if necessary, test them - if they don't pass, don't take them on. If you can, get an IT specialist to help draft interview questions and conduct the interview with you.

Be prepared to provide intensive management support at the start and to check in with them regularly to see how they are doing, keep them on track, and support them. Be clear with other staff and volunteers about what their role is and how much or little help people can expect from them. Be prepared to act as gatekeeper for them (certainly in a network admin role, this may not apply to other volunteers) by filtering staff requests for IT assistance or troubleshooting.  Look for people who can give a commitment of at least three months, preferably longer, unless it is for a discrete project.