Making a Valuable DifferenceBobbi Sabatini – Seneca College

Introduction

Each of us has value How we share that value impacts all aspects of our

lives The difference between offering services and making

a difference ‘Can I help you?” OR “How can I/we be of value to you today?”

Outline

Getting involved

Balance

Give and take

Identifying opportunities

Initiating innovative changes

Refining

Putting your skills to use

Sharing

Coming together to multiply benefits

Getting Involved

Why volunteer?

A passion for helping others

A desire to share your skills and talents

A need exists…

Why do more than what is expected?

A move away from “what’s in it for me?” to:

“how can I make a difference in this person’s life”

Making every encounter count

Benefits for patrons or people in general

Benefits for those volunteering

Origami Step One

A quick contact is sometimes all that is needed to start the process and provide the basis of all that is to come from that point

Take your paper and fold it in half lengthwise, then unfold

Balance

Balance in life is more important than ever

Work

Helping to the best of our abilities and getting regular tasks done

Life

Everyone helps out so individuals don’t feel overwhelmed

Volunteering

20% of the volunteers do 80% of the work

How do we strike a more equitable balance, or make it easier for people to volunteer so the workload is not overwhelming

Origami Step Two

Origami is very much about balance, what you do to one side, you will generally do to the other

Take the top corner and fold it down towards the middle line you made in step one

Do the same to the opposite corner

Give and take

Every interaction is an opportunity Give what you can

Information Help Skills Talents

► What do you take away?

► Increased job satisfaction

► Feeling of making a difference in someone’s life

► People are more likely to come back, organizational success

Origami Step 3

Bring up the bottom corner to the middle

This is a place holder and will be unfolded later

Identifying Opportunities

Every day offers opportunities to help an make a difference to someone’s life, from holding a door open, a smile when it’s unexpected, doing something you don’t have to in order to make someone else’s life better in some way

At Work

Going that extra mile is not only good for direct benefits, but the return on the investment keeps coming back

At Home

It is easy to get stuck in roles, only doing what is your ‘job’, however even a small change can make a big difference

Volunteering

Choose something that suits you. Ask questions about commitments, don’t assume it is going to be too much work, many places are happy with any amount of help

Origami Step 4

Being flexible and open to opportunities improves your chances for success

Fold the point down to meet the place holder from step 3, unfold the place holder

Initiate Innovative Changes(where and when possible)

Offering your skills and talents to improve a process, event or even a simple task

It seems easier to do things the way they have always been done

Sometimes the hardest part is convincing others to change processes

Communication is the most important piece!

Examples

Fundraising changes – event details, ways to raise money, tracking

VLS – challenges of a small community, what works, what doesn’t

Friends of the Library – making sure everyone feels valued even when roles change

Origami Step 5

Turning over a new leaf sometimes brings a new perspective to an old process

Turn the paper over

Refining

Once improvements have been identified and put into action, they must be monitored for any possible refinements

Fundraising

Adjusting the database for items donated, what is included, not included

Did the effort taken to get new sponsors work? Why or why not?

What information is the most useful to have included

VLS

Talking to other libraries of similar size

What works best, are there other opportunities out there

Friends of the Library

Changing roles can bring out new strengths or identify weaknesses

Origami Step 6

Refining takes precision and patience. Taking the time to do it right means it is more likely to turn out the way you would like it to

Take the top corner and fold it down towards the middle. Do the same to the other top corner

Refinement part 2 – evaluation

An important part of making any changes is to evaluate if those changes were successful

Did it make a difference and add value?

For example, book sales asking for donations only make more money overall and are less work

Is there something else that might be adjusted?

Origami Step 7

Further refinements are often necessary to make sure everything is still on track

Fold the top flaps down again to meet the middle

Putting your skills to use

Having skills and talents are great, the trick is putting them to the best use

Identifying opportunities

Offering your help as opposed to having to be asked

Innovating

Be open to change and trying new ways to do things

Initiating

Being the first step is sometimes the hardest, but is already moving in the right direction - forward

Origami Step 8

Turn the paper over

Fold the bottom in half, sliding under the triangle flap that has been created. Fold it in half again, and in half once more

Sharing

We don’t know what skills and talents others have unless we ask

Social media offers an opportunity for people to advertise skills and talents

Don’t forget to share in person as well!

Coming together to multiply benefits

When everyone is working together towards a common goal, the results can be extraordinary

Each of us has value, putting that value together can lead to exponential rewards

Origami Step 9

Putting it all together

Take the left end at the bottom and tuck in into the front flap of the triangle on its left.

Take the end of the left piece and tuck it in behind the piece on the right

Do this for each of the five pieces

Origami Step 10

Complete!

Conclusion

Making a valuable difference can be a part of everyone’s life

If we are each willing to do a small part, the workload is shared and so is the success

Any Questions?

Contact Information

Bobbi Sabatini

blsabatini@hotmail.com

Origami websites

The first is my favourite, look for Money Origami down the left side under Types of Gifts

www.homemade-gifts-made-easy.ca

www.origami-instructions.com