in my experience, providing clear cut and well-defined missions to volunteers will reduces the 'stepping on my toes' phenomenon which can lead to conflicts.

Enrolling and Anchoring the volunteers to the objectives of the organization is an important means of developing the sense of common purpose. Involving older volunteers in enrolling new volunteers and ensuring clarity of roles is important. Conflict is an integral part of coexistence and hence preparation of the team to consistently plan for clarity and take timely efforts for conflict resolution is a key.

Long term volunteers may feel invested in systems and traditions they have built; new volunteers may have been excited by the idea of offering fresh ideas and new energy. It’s not surprising to see resistance from long standing volunteers leading to disappointment and frustration from newcomers. What about a buddy system which pairs the new people with the experienced ones and encouraging them to brief each other on their aspirations for the future and observations of the organization. I’ve been both a new comer and an old timer and managed to step on toes in both situations.

The collective effort of volunteers can lead to significant improvements in community life. Time commitment and volunteer work have rewards in mission impact.

It’s important to first understand what is the basis of the conflict between the volunteers. This will clarify the next steps to take. Without this you will flounder around trying to find a solution.

This was a situation when i was performing duties of additional General secretary in my District bar association. It was a meeting and i was leading that meeting. Dispute arose between a lawyer and an internee lawyer on a question of what can make the situation better to convert an internee to a good criminal lawyer. The new internee has idea while the senior lawyer was opposing that idea. Since it was a big meeting and the dispute was inline with the agenda. Being a chairperson, i gave 5 minutes to both of them to explain their version. And after their explanation i quickly goes for showoff hand voting. And at the end almost 85 percent of vote comes in the favour of new law internee and disputes solves in 10 to 15 minutes.

Effective strategies for managing volunteer conflicts include facilitating open communication, clearly defining roles and expectations, promoting team-building activities, and fostering mutual respect through training and collaborative problem-solving.

One thing I’ve tried to foster in my volunteer environments is the process of regular review of our processes and procedures. It’s not uncommon that when a long time volunteer has been doing something for a long time they’re not as open to the thoughts of those who are seeing things through fresh eyes. I also foster the mindset that it’s OK to experiment with new ideas, it doesn’t mean that you’re committed to them or that you know this is the best road forward, but what it does do is give you permission to try things out without concluding that this is the new and best way to do it and it gives you permission to stop doing something.

A little bit of each of these, especially working on active listening in a group, where you can learn about the other person. Value their strengths and learn about their story, recognize your peers as equals.