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I've been involved in organizations that rely on volunteers for over four decades. Decades ago, when I sat on the Board of Directors of my local food coop I attended a workshop on how to effectively manage teams of volunteers. The leader of that workshop offered a surprising argument, just as individuals who don't do their share represent a problem, he suggested there was a certain class of volunteer who endangered their organizations because they worked hard to do more than their share. He warned that these volunteers would seek out key positions, work hard at them, and make themselves indispensable, or at least appear indispensable.
One danger is that if these volunteers perform their tasks too well, the rest of the organization forgets how to do that task. If they are no longer available, because they have to move, or they get ill, get married, take on a more demanding day job, or get hit by a bus, the organization can be left in a real jam -- particularly if they were the volunteer treasurer, or volunteer purchasing agent, or some other role where they did not work as part of a team.
Another danger is that some of these super volunteers start to feel that since they have worked extra hard compared with the rest of the volunteers it was appropriate for them to feel an extra sense of entitlement.
- Some of these super volunteers start to feel that the ordinary rules don't apply to them;
- Some of these super volunteers start to feel their extra effort entitles them to use their position to advance a personal agenda;
- If they have spending authority some of these super volunteers may even feel entitled to embezzle from the organization;
- And, commonly, some of these super volunteers start to feel a sense of bitterness. Sometimes they engage in disruptive activities, to draw attention from the rest of the organization as to how hard they are working.
In the decades since that workshop I have thought about this surprising warning. I repeatedly find myself noticing volunteers whose eagerness to do more than their share looks like it will become a problem, or have already become a problem.
In my opinion if ten percent of our administrators are doing 90 percent of the administrator chores then we have a problem. If the overly active administrator scaling back their efforts leaves tasks undone, then nominate more administrators to pick up the slack.
For the good of the project I think it would be best if all our volunteers who are at risk of having made themselves indispensable, or are at risk of feeling indispensable, would start to relax, and scale back their efforts to match the commitment of other volunteers.