Volunteer reflection - United Nations Volunteers

12 . UNITED NATIONS VOLUNTEERS: VOLUNTEER REFLECTION■ How has volunteerism been expressedin my assignment?■ I am a volunteer. In what ways is mebeing a volunteer important to theobjectives of the assignment?■ What challenges have there been tovolunteerism in my assignment?■ Why is volunteering important todevelopment and peace?■ In what ways has my volunteerassignment contributed todevelopment/peace? Be specific andgive concrete examples.■ How has my volunteer experiencechanged me and those around me?By going through some of thesequestions, you may be able to come upwith some clearer ways to integratevolunteerism into your personal plans. Formore reflection questions, see Appendix 4.2. Review your Personal Learning Plan:A review of your personal learning planwill highlight which learning objectives youhave achieved and which have beenneglected. You may notice that there arelearning objectives that you originallyforgot in your plan, but now realize areimportant. Revise the plan and budget.3. An After Action Review is a discussionor review of a project or an activity thatcan enable you and other individualsinvolved to learn for themselves whathappened, why it happened, what wentwell, what needs improvement, and whatlessons can be learned from theexperience. Lessons learned are not onlytacitly shared on the spot by theindividuals involved, but can be explicitlydocumented and shared with a wideraudience. After Action Reviews are anexcellent basis for, and often feed into, thedevelopment of Lessons Learned papers(see below).What are the benefits of After ActionReviews?After Action Reviews are an excellent wayof reviewing an activity or a project in asystematic way and allowing you tocapture the main strengths, weaknessesand lessons. Learning can be capturedbefore a team disbands, or before peopleforget what happened and move on tosomething new. Despite the name (‘afteraction’), they do not have to be performedat the end of a project or activity. Rather,they can be performed after an identifiableevent within a project or major activity,thus becoming a live learning process inwhich lessons learned can be immediatelyapplied. Conducting regular After ActionReviews throughout your volunteer