Case- Supervising Volunteers They're individuals you might never have thoughtof as being part of an organization's structure, but for many organizations, volunteers provide a much-needed source of labor. Maybe you've volunteered at a Habitat for Humanity build, a homeless shelter, or some nonprofit organization. However, what if the volunteer assignment was at a for profit business and the job description read like this: "Work only a couple of hours a day at your computer answering customers' technical questions, all for no pay." Many large corporations, start-up companies, and venture capitalists are betting that a new group Of talented "volunteer" individuals who are quite knowledgeable about the Web and other technical areas will alter how customer service is provided. Businesses have become good at getting customers to do free work such as self-checkouts, self-Check-ins, and pumping your own gas (as opposed to having an attendant pump your gas, check your oil, and wash your windshield) and filling out online forms. Now, they're taking the concept even further, especially in customer service settings, by getting "volunteers" to perform specialized work tasks.

The role that these volunteer "enthusiasts" have played, especially in contributing innovations to research and development efforts, has been closely researched in recent years. For example, case studies highlight the product tweaks made by early skateboarders and moun- tain bikers to their gear. Researchers have also studied the programmers behind open source software like the Linux operating system. It seems that individuals who do this type of "volunteering" are motivated mainly by a payoff in enjoyment and respect among their peers and to some extent the skills they're able to develop, Now, as the concept of individuals volunteering for work tasks moves to the realm of customer service, can it work and what does it mean for managers?

At Verizon's high-speed fiber optic Internet, televiosion, and telephone service, volunteers" are answering customer questions about technical matters on a company-sponsored customer-service Web site for no pay.

Mark Studness, director of Verizon's e-commerce unit was familiar with Web sites where users offered tips and answered questions. His challenge was to find a way to use that potential resource for customer service. His solution was to identify "Super" or lead users who provide the best answers and dialogue in Web forums.

The experiment at Verizon seems to be working well, and these online volunteers can be an important addition to a company's customer service efforts.

Studness says that creating an atmosphere that these super users find desirable is a key consideration because without that, you have nothing. A company that worked with Verizon to set up its structure said that these super or lead-users are driven by the same online challenges and aspects as fervent gamers are. So they set up the structure with an elaborate rating system for contributors with ranks, badges, and "kudos counts."

So far, Studness is happy with how it's gone. He says the company-sponsored customer-service site has been extremely useful and cost efficient in redirecting thou- sands of questions that would have been answered by staff at a Verizon call center.

THE CASE

4-13. What do you think about using volunteers to do work that other people get paid to do?

4-14. If you were in Nlarlt Studness's ptfltitm, what would you be most concerned about in this arrangement? How would you manage that concern?

4-15. How do these volunteers fit into an organization's structure? Take each of the basic organizing con- cepts and discuss how they would affect this structural approach.