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From the Olympics Toward Tomorrow
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Diversity in relationships of equality
- NAOC and its volunteers
"Volunteers are neither simply employees nor are they in the lower echelon. Imposing instructions that portray authoritative and coercive attitudes get in the way of our goal to warmly receive guests." "We would be disappointed to see an attitude that volunteers are simply convenient and free workers."
14 Olympic test-events were held during the 1996-97 winter season. Nearly 2400 volunteers supported and helped manage these competitions. NAOC passed out volunteer questionnaires after each event was finished.
The opinions portrayed went from, "It was great to participate" to as far opposite as some jam-packed with demands, dissatisfaction and discontent. The notes painted NAOC and government administrators as pursuing a "top-down" organizational style, and to that end making some volunteers feel belittled.
A questionnaire distributed to Olympic volunteers, the results of which convey feelings of being slighted and kept in the fringes.
Yamanouchi-machi, Shimotakai-gun was the site of mid-February's World Cup Snowboarding event. Some of the local men acting as volunteers feel that they had their "pride trampled upon." City, town and village employees expecting to be appointed to volunteer posts by NAOC for the Olympics and test events had decided to participate with a goal to learn something new.
"All of the sudden an administrative employee jumped in with an attitude like (he) was in charge of everyone, giving orders and whatnot. I mean, if we had the chance to study and learn a bit from each other someone from our group could have surely taken the lead. But there were no study sessions. Shouldn't it be necessary for that administrator to sign up as a volunteer just like the rest of us?"
Administrators are lost about how much responsibility to share with the volunteers. One Nagano City employee assigned to the Bobsleigh World Cup event said, "I don't know how much I can ask them to do. I usually just end up doing things on my own." There was also a trend to have volunteers just do "leftover work" that administrators didn't get to.
Koji Sugimoto, Chief of NAOC's Personnel and Volunteer Section declares, "There is no such thing as taking our volunteers lightly here." However he admits that in some cases relationships based on equality may be late in coming around, and there may be a need for more mutual understanding. He adds that most dissatisfaction "comes from a lack of communication."
Shoji Takei (age 41), a printer in Nagano City who had hoped to be a volunteer in the World Speed Skating Championships last January eventually received a letter of response from NAOC. Inside there was only one photocopied sheet of paper. It said simply that he had not been selected as a volunteer.
Due to his work schedule he was unable to take more than three days off. He thought, "Even so I ought to be able to help out somehow," and applied to be a volunteer. He was so excited that he told his family, employees and regular customers he'd be taking some time off during the competition. He relates, "After that I was so disappointed, I couldn't say a word."
Volunteer hopefuls for test events like speed-skating and the International Ice Hockey- Nagano Cup numbered about 600 more than were needed. Event organizing committees put together by NAOC usually consisted of 150 to 200 volunteers. People who could commit to long periods of time, including weekdays, were given priority. For speed skating in particular, approximately 450 people were turned down for volunteer positions.
Olympic volunteers are usually used to provide a higher level of management efficiency and control. However, in actuality there are many different kinds of demands and requirements made by them. Volunteers for the "Hiroshima Asia Games" were asked to apply only if they could commit to four days or more, but after all was said and done, organizers ended up having to take those who could only work for one or two days.
Chief Sugimoto of NAOC says, "We would like to find jobs for short term participants during the Games. The key to success in an event of this type is in how you accept participant's enthusiasm and how you entrust them with the work. We want to build a feeling of friendship among the groups by creating teams of volunteers early on."
NAOC and Nagano City have been holding employee study group sessions to help them understand "volunteerism." Responses to the questionnaires were given to those in charge of different stations for reference. Lessons learned at each test event were then applied to upcoming meets. Criticism has since been on the decline.
Olympic volunteer registrants, including those who registered as groups, number 22,648 persons. NAOC and various types of volunteers, whose way of thinking and conditions for participation fundamentally differ are building a relationship based on equality and are bringing together their strengths. On that point, the "New Volunteer Spirit for the Twenty-first Century" theme widely published, is now testing the viability of the Nagano Olympic movement.
No part of the article, photographs, or illustrations presented here may be printed or used without permission.
Copyright 1999 The Shinano Mainichi Shimbun