by Marie Croke

Editor’s note: This piece is part of the series Volunteer Networks: The Heart of SFF, where writers discuss the rewards and challenges of speculative fiction volunteer work.

Read twenty-five stories a month. Copy-edit four stories an issue. Attend biweekly meetings.

These are quantifiable tasks. They can be scheduled and carefully planned around. These are examples of what I consider to be visible expectations: clearly defined and explained guidelines for a particular job. When volunteering comes with visible expectations, you can make well-informed decisions concerning your time and effort spent.

But not every volunteer position comes with laid-out expectations. You may feel that when you’re given no or lax directions (e.g., “read as many stories as you can” or “whatever hours you can spare”) it bodes well for your relationship with your team or volunteer work.

That could not be further from the truth. While there may be no or lax stated expectations, expectations still exist whether or not volunteers are aware of them and can be the cause of frustration and eventually burnout.

When dealing with invisible expectations, volunteers tend to overperform. At first. A new volunteer wants to show up and help out. They wish to make good impressions, so they tend to do more because they’re never given a benchmark informing them they’ve accomplished enough. Unlike in a regular work environment, a volunteer is there despite a lack of pay because of beliefs they hold in the project or organization. When passion or belief intermixes with free labor, the lines between what is acceptable or expected can become blurry for all parties.

Why Managers Might Use Invisible Expectations

There are two extreme possibilities. On one end are those who are worried about abusing volunteer efforts and pushing volunteers away, whose fears might lead them to be lax in their guidelines out of concern. On the other end are those using a specific managerial style that recognizes the heightened, overperforming response that can be garnered from invisible expectations and who deliberately seek to take advantage of people. Both of these extremes can lead to volunteers massively either over- or underperforming, usually resulting in burnout, confusion, or both.

Warning Signs of Invisible Expectations

Here are some warning signs to watch for when deciding whether to join/stay with a volunteer team:

1. Unclear communication. This is a red flag under any circumstances, since communication is the backbone of any working relationship. In the case of invisible expectations, communication might come fast, might come often, but will be vague. Instead of being told due dates, volunteers will be told to get to things when they can. Instead of receiving information in advance, volunteers will find out after things are publicized. A list of specific job duties won’t be forthcoming, yet the expectations that the volunteer will accomplish goals by certain, unknown times remain.

2. Last-minute requests. We’ve all been in situations when we’ve run out of time for something and know and understand the associated panic. These situations are particularly common in the publishing industry, where many magazines and small presses run on passion rather than money. However, when last-minute requests become the norm, they also come with an invisible expectation to fulfill that last-minute request, even if it’s accompanied by phrases such as “if you’re available.”

Every time a volunteer reschedules or alters their life to meet these last-minute requests, it builds that invisible expectation higher, so when the volunteer eventually says no, the asker will harbor resentment over what seems to be a lack of support—support that should never have been expected in the first place.

3. Smoke-filled promises. Another warning sign of invisible expectations is when meetings devolve from the planning of actionable certainties to discussions about dreams with no way to achieve them. These open-ended, hopeful discussions can deceive volunteers into putting forth greater effort (e.g., dreaming about illustrations for a story or cover, but never actively discussing specific artists).

Keeping to realistic goals that have firm boundaries and can be checked off increases team morale and gives members a sense of accomplishment. Unbounded conversations based on wishful thinking tend to do the opposite.

When these types of invisible expectations exist, instead of being fulfilled by the help they provide, volunteers will never feel like they have accomplished their goals, because those goals are vague, undefined, and constantly changing.

How to Handle Invisible Expectations

1. Always request a list of job duties before signing up for a volunteer job. Just as importantly, receive this explanation in writing so it can be referred back to in the future. That way, when a situation arises in which you are asked to do more than you agreed to, it is far easier to point to those defined responsibilities.
2. Kindly say “no” to repeated last-minute requests. Many volunteers will want to say “yes” constantly to help out, but never saying “no” sets them up for a long-lasting struggle with burnout.
3. Shut down open-ended and empty promises and draw conversations back to actionable items. This might not be feasible for every volunteer, but if an opening is found, use the “yes, but” method by agreeing that some unlikely event could be fantastic, but then guiding the focus back to the day’s agenda.
4. Do not apologize for not doing things you never signed up for. Do not apologize for protecting your time off. Do not apologize for having a job/a family/plans/a chronic illness/a life outside of your volunteer work.

If you find yourself constantly facing invisible expectations and managing them becomes too difficult or exhausting, it might be time to disengage from the volunteer position. At that point, be as clear as you comfortably can concerning your reasons for stepping away, while also protecting yourself and your energy.

Volunteer jobs with clearly established expectations can be incredibly fulfilling, welcoming, and even life-changing in positive ways. Find yourself a good organization with great people who allow you to get involved while still protecting your passions within this industry. Or, if you’re in a position to do so, become a person who creates the kind of volunteer environment others will love to be a part of.

Marie Croke is a fantasy, science-fiction, and horror writer with over 45 stories in publication. She is a graduate of the Odyssey workshop, first place winner in the Writers of the Future contest, and her work has been published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Apex Magazine, Diabolical Plots, Flash Fiction Online, Fireside, and Cast of Wonders among many other fine magazines and anthologies. She has also previously worked at multiple magazines, including khōréō and Dark Matter, and written articles for writers for The SFWA Blog. She lives in Maryland with her family and enjoys crocheting, kayaking, and aerial dancing in her free time.