Volunteer Services

Intro

Open Hand is a non-profit organization that’s mission is to help their clients prevent or better manage chronic disease through Comprehensive Nutrition Care program. They aim to reinforce the relationship between informed food choices and an improved quality of life through home-delivered meals and nutrition education.

Volunteer Services is the channel everybody goes through; from clients and volunteers to drivers and community service members. All calls are sent directly to us. This could prove problematic since the drivers are our main concern. They are the ones who deliver meals to clients who are not able to leave the home, much less their beds. This is why we need to implement a solution that weeds through calls so that we have a uninterrupted connection to our drivers.

We have both staff drivers and volunteer drivers. Staff drivers are hired by the company to deliver meals on a route permanently assigned to them. Since they are very familiar with their route, there are very few instances where they need to contact us for. One instance would be to notify us that their has been a change of address with a client. We especially need to know if there has been a change to their meal plan, which is prescribed by their doctors then sent to us to collaborate on the appropriate diet plan catered to their specific needs.

Volunteer drivers, on the other hand, are drivers that are new volunteers and have never delivered a route. They are going to need answers to questions or even notify us with unplanned changes with one of their clients on their route. Not delivering a meal is never an option. Since we are their only source of food, our clients can not afford to miss a meal, because our meals are detrimental to their health. We must also be careful not to mix up meals because most of our clients are on dialysis or diabetic. These meals are specifically catered to their health needs and it would be disastrous if a mixup were to happen.

Process Explanation

Volunteer Services Call Handling

Supplier

Inputs

Process

Output

Customer

Volunteer Services

Calls

Phones

Computer

Scenario Scripts

Process Scripts

Client Database

Volunteer Database

Start call with standard greeting

Understand the query/request/complaint

Verify the customer’s identity

Check for relevant information

Provide solution/order confirmation

Provide reference number for requests/complaints

End the call

Document call

Register Volunteers

Schedule Volunteers

Schedule Drivers

Community Service

Client Services

Information Requests

Customer Information Updated

Businesses

Individuals

Families

Clients

Community Service

The above SIPOC chart illustrates Open Hand’s incoming call process. Volunteer Services is all callers first contact. We answer the call with a uniformed greeting. We then inquire the reason for their call. If they need a different department, we then transfer their call to the appropriate division and end the call. If Volunteer Services is what they are looking for, we first verify their identity and check their information. If we cannot resolve their problem, they are transferred to HR, which we document. If possible, resolve their issue and inquire for anymore help. If they do not need anymore assistance, we end the call and document the transaction. The process itself is straightforward over quickly.

Identify Problem, Improvement Goal-project map

The problem is that Volunteer Services funnels through all incoming calls. Calls for job inquires, meal orders, events and donations would need to be directed to the appropriate departments. We answer calls from potential volunteers whom are asking general information about the organization and directions to the location, as well as volunteers needing help registering, scheduling, or loging in. But we also have calls from our drivers that we absolutely need to make priority.

Calls regarding registration and scheduling usually take about 10-15 minutes to complete. We only have 3 Volunteer Services employees who answers upwards of 100 calls between them. These employees also deliver 2 daily orientations, organize 50 route deliveries, send out drivers, and operate the phone lines effectively. They would each need close to 6 hours allocated just for answering phones. The responsibility load distributed to these workers is far too vast, thus showing in their efficiency and output level. The goal would be to implement a process that weeds out all unimportant calls from our drivers’ calls so that Volunteer Services is able to fulfill all other responsibilities efficiently and effectively.

The Process Map below is an ideal representation of how the process will work when we implement a plan that fits best with the company.

Measures you will use to Quantify the Problem

Below is the results of the check sheets to measure the frequency of telephone interruptions. Interruptions include calls regarding scheduling, registration/login,