Many project leaders have high hopes when they see 20+ volunteers on their projects, but they soon realize that numbers alone don’t translate into productivity. Finding a way to make your team of volunteers more productive is a constant challenge. A team of 50 or more volunteers may still yield low productivity if the project leader doesn’t understand how to lead community volunteers.

Despite the techniques managers have in leading employees, the techniques for leading community volunteers can differ substantially. Volunteers are located remotely, they work according to different schedules, they have varying time commitments, they are driven by different motivations, and they possess a variety of skill levels. Leading a successful community project requires you to take all of this into account as you orchestrate your plans. The following are seven best practices for increasing volunteer productivity.