Preserving Innovation in a Post-Pandemic World: The Potential of Design Thinking

There’s no denying that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused seismic shifts in the volunteer landscape. Organisations have had to re-evaluate how they involve volunteers, often dramatically accelerating the pace of progress. In many cases, long-held attachments to formal volunteer engagement and biases about what volunteers might be capable of have been set aside.

One year on – as we begin to emerge from this period of disruption and things start reverting to ‘normal’ – how can we ensure that the volunteer management profession doesn’t lose this spirit of innovation?

In this Engage feature article, Amie Frayne explores what volunteer managers can learn from the principles of Design Thinking. She reviews how this tool might foster continued creativity beyond the pandemic – while also putting volunteers’ needs at the top of the agenda.