The Root Issue

Volunteers consistently had a lot of questions for staff about how to sort the clothing on the racks for the retail store. As a result, staff bandwidth was being drained by fielding the same recurring questions, persistent across volunteers and shifts. Ultimately, the issue contributed to ineffective restocking of the retail floor and created a backlog of items to restock.

This all pointed to problems with communication and volunteers’ understanding of the task at hand. The volunteers and staff didn’t share a mental model of what needed to get done, and the disconnect was causing confusion and frustration for both parties.

The “Why?” from reDirect

We build our mental models over time through repetition and experience. And once we understand how to do something, it’s easy to forget what it was like not to know it. As reDirect cofounder Rachel Kaplan writes:

“When someone doesn’t understand something that’s “obvious,” it’s easy to forget that the same something wasn’t always obvious to us. Similarly, the assurance that a task is “really easy” wasn’t very convincing when we were given the same advice. Communication depends on shared familiarity, and falters when it doesn’t align.

Familiarity is inescapable and indispensable. Extensive repetition is the basis of expertise, and as our expertise grows, we often encounter communication hurdles with those less knowledgeable. There are ways to deal with the implicit imbalance (if we recognize it), but, unfortunately, we often ignore the “others” who are affected. They are the people who might complain about not being respected, appreciated, consulted, “heard,” or “seen.” Sometimes we are those people. Other times we are the ones who let “I hear you” substitute for listening.”

When shared mental models are missing, feedback and collaboration to break down “expertise” challenges between parties can help build a bridge.

The Small Experiment

CCC met with all impacted staff seeking feedback and various perspectives on the issue. Reflecting on the challenge as a team, they realized they needed to provide more structure and guidance to help volunteers work independently. The system needed to be easy to grasp, without relying on staff involvement.

So, they devised a truly small experiment: they added labels to the clothing racks. By creating ten simple categories of clothing types, they gave volunteers a clear visual cue for how to sort the items. Additionally, they devised a simple system to prioritize the workflow. Volunteers would start a shift with the number of empty racks labeled and set out to be filled. This way, the categories of clothing most needed on the retail floor were pre-determined by staff. The system was easy to understand and implement, and it helped volunteers and staff work more closely in sync.

Prior to launching the experiment, CCC proposed the idea to staff and volunteers to get buy-in from those impacted, while assuring them that it was a short-term experiment to try. They also stayed open to feedback from staff throughout the process which helped establish ownership for the experiment from the start.

Evaluation and Results

To evaluate the success of the experiment, the CCC chose a few simple metrics: 

1. Count the number of restocking questions received by volunteers and compare it to the amount of questions received previously

2. Observe if clothing racks are unloading more easily on the retail floor

3. Get feedback from staff and volunteers
   

Their results showed that the simple labeling system helped address the confusion and made volunteers feel more capable in their work. And as they had hoped, morale improved too! They recognized that relationships between volunteers and staff could have become more strained, if they hadn’t addressed the confusion.

Reflecting on her experience with the cohort, Volunteer Engagement Supervisor, Sam Packard, said:

“The best guidance I could offer another organization is to take a step back and look at the bigger picture first. What is something small that you are missing that would impact the whole operation of your agency?”