Team leaders can play a critical role in the success of your project. We would define team leaders as the people at a service site who are responsible for managing the service.

Usually you want a team leader for every 10 - 15 people serving, especially if your are doing renovation type projects. You will also need to adjust the number of team leaders if you have children serving - assuming that they might need more supervision and training than would adults. It is preferable to identify your team leaders as much in advance of the project as possible and on the day of service have them identified by some visual difference - like a colored T-shirt that is different from regular volunteers or a cap.

The person designated as the overall service or project coordinator should be responsible for providing advance training for team leaders. A detailed training for team leaders is very important. This training should include information on the message of the day, educational information about the service and the site and details about the project. Since team leaders are likely to manage the evaluation, you should also walk through the evaluation tool determining the amount of time it will take to complete it. Address liability issues with team leaders and procedures for handling emergencies. After the team leaders are trained, they will train their volunteers on the day of the project. Training for team leaders should take place a week before the project so there's still time to work through last-minute questions or details. Team leaders should meet again the day before the project or in the morning before the kick-off to touch base and run through the activities for the day.

Before the day of your service project, team leaders may be expected to be the primary communicators between the agency and the overall Martin Luther King, Jr. Service Day activities. Team leaders keep the agency informed about the goals of the day, how many volunteers to expect, and what the volunteers will expect of the agency. The more communication between the agency and the team leaders, the more likely things will run smoothly on Martin Luther King Day. The volunteers' experience will be better if the team leaders are attuned to the mission and services provided by the agency.

On the day of service, in addition to managing the service project, team leaders could be expected to manage the orientation of volunteers, on-site reflection about MLK Day and the service they provide, and distribute and collect evaluations.
Possible team leader tasks

Before the service day:

• Do a site assessment of the agency
• Communicate regularly with project site
• Make sure site expectations are met
• Participate in a team leader training
• Open the possibility of an ongoing relationship with site
• Recruit volunteers for the site
• Get supply list

On the service day:

• Coordinate and manage volunteers on site
• Manage orientation and reflection for volunteers
• Check for adequate supplies
• Instigate on-site learning
• Ensure safety and well-being of volunteers
• Act as the liaison between the agency and volunteers on site
• Make sure that the site is cleaned up
• Administer evaluation to volunteers
• Hold a reflection session for volunteers
• If the project is not finished, assess what is needed to complete it

After the service day is over:

• Meet with other team leaders to reflect on the success of the day
• Complete site evaluation with agency
• Send thank-you letters to the site
• Return equipment