EXERCISE 9.4
Social Responsibility
The Value of Volunteering
Purpose
To gain perspective on the value of volunteering and how it benefits many parts of one’s life.
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65 to 80 minutes and follow-up
Learn about social responsibility and its relationship to emotional intelligence. Participants reflect on their experiences of volunteering in the past and for a short time commit to a new volunteer activity. Use this exercise to help the participants understand the connection between volunteering and organizational performance as well as personal well-being. Requires follow-up.
Outcomes
- Expand awareness about the value of social responsibility
- Learn at a personal level, through conducting a volunteer activity, how this connects many different areas of one’s life
Audience
- Intact team
- Unaffiliated group
- Individual working with a coach
Facilitator Competencies 
Easy
Materials
- None needed
Time Matrix
| Activity | Estimated Time |
| Discuss social responsibility and why it’s important personally and to the organization. Note the connection with volunteering | 10–15 minutes |
| Discuss ways each individual is volunteering | 10 minutes |
| Commit to one new volunteer activity for 21 days | 15 minutes |
| Reflect | 10 minutes |
| Follow up 21 days later | 20–30 minutes |
| Total Time | 65 to 80 minutes |
Instructions
1. Discuss social responsibility and why it’s important to the organization and to each of us personally. Note the connection with volunteering. Refer to the description of this skill in Part Two of this book.
2. Discuss the ways individuals are currently volunteering if they are. This can be done one-on-one with your coaching client, with the whole group, or in pairs, depending on the size of your group. If you do it in pairs, bring them all together afterward to discuss key points as a group.
3. Ask each person to commit to one new volunteer activity he or she will initiate and continue over the course of twenty-one days.
4. Bring the group together again after twenty-one days to discuss their experiences from the activity and how these affected their engagement with their organization. Also discuss what the activity meant to them personally.