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Page 1: ESSENTIALS - Virtual Lab School€¦ · ESSENTIALS Building an Effective Team ... At first glance, the topic of motivation seems fairly straightforward. But the real work of creating

ESSENTIALS

Building an Effective Team

Daily Updates on Early Childhood EducationSign up for FREE and join 90,000 of your peers

www.ChildCareExchange.com/eed

KEEP INFORMED

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uClick on the title of any article below to go directly to that page in this document.

■The Director’s Role in Creating Community by Michael Koetje and Peter Blair

■A Director’s Game Plan — Ten Strategies for Coaching a Winning Team by Pam Schiller

■Building Effective Teams Through Delegation and Recognition by Amanda Siderits

■Assessing Team Performance by Roger Neugebauer

■Who’s Responsible for Making Your Team Work? by Roger Neugebauer

■Step-by-Step Guide to Team Building by Roger Neugebauer

■Cohesive Teaching Teams — What Makes the Difference? by Julie Powers

■Indicators of Effective Team Work by Margie Carter

■Ten Teamwork Terminators and Some Sure Cures — The Leader’s Role in Making the Team Work by Hawaii Retreat Attendees

■Referee or Team Builder? by Yvonne Jeffries

■Lifting as You Climb by Debra R. Sullivan

Exchange, 17725 NE 65th Street, B-275, Redmond, WA 98052(800) 221-2864 • www.ChildCareExchange.com

Reprinted with permission from Exchange magazine. Visit us at www.ChildCareExchange.com or call (800) 221-2864.Multiple use copy agreement available for educators by request.

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At first glance, the topic of motivation seems fairlystraightforward. But the real work of creating com-munity is much harder to address. Perhaps this isbecause it requires reflection and change on our partas leaders and because forming true communityoften runs contrary to how most leaders lead. Hereare some points to consider along the way.

Point 1:Hire good people

The first thing on our list is hiring passionate,motivated people. We want people who love children,families, themselves, and life, express a desire to bea part of something larger than themselves, andwant to join a community and contribute to itsgrowth. Then we give them lots of autonomy and sup-port them. Goethe said, “Treat people as if they werewhat they ought to be, and you help them to becomewhat they are capable of being.” Most leadersdevelop their own vision and encourage others to jointhem in attaining that vision. We feel that in order todevelop community you must develop a commonvision with your staff, one that everyone feels a partof, and thus, empowered to create change to attainthat vision.

Point 2:Help teachers see themselves

as professionals

There are a lot of ways of doing this. We both havebeen helping teachers to see themselves asprofessionals in the early childhood field. They arenot child care or day care workers. And certainly notbabysitters. Peter calls his teachers faculty. He pro-vides them with opportunities to travel and studywith other inspired educators and then empowers

them to create change when they return from theirtravels.

Point 3:Create learning communities

We encourage our teachers to share their knowledgeand new-found skills with other teachers in theprograms by acting as “learning buddies” or men-tor/coaches. As they gain skill and confidence theycan work with teachers in other programs as well. Itis a tactic we often use with children — to have themteach their newly acquired skills to a younger/lessexperienced child because it helps them solidify theirown knowledge. We have found that by treatingteachers as professionals they begin to expect moreof themselves, take greater pride in their work — andnot only their classroom environments, but theenvironment of the school as well.

This approach of treating teachers as professionalsmay run contrary to the way that many leaders lead,for empowering staff can be unsettling for somedirectors. Creating community requires directors whoare able to:

■ take criticism■ reflect on their practice■ take risks ■ empower their faculty to make decisions

independently and learn experientially.

Point 4: Build a successful team

Here are some of our strategies for developing asense of community in our centers around theconcept of community.

■ We both conduct team meetings with a focus onprofessional development rather than the minutiaof schedules and regulations.

Exchange January/February 2007

Michael Koetje is thenew Director ofDistrict Child Develop-ment Centers forPierce College inTacoma. He waspreviously ProgramsManager forSkokomish Tribal Early ChildhoodPrograms at theSkokomish IndianNation. He is a hus-band, father of threedaughters, and agrandfather to JannahRose, who it just sohappens is older thanher aunts and hermom. In kid years sheis five. He lives on anisland in the PugetSound. He has abachelor’s degree inEarly ChildhoodEducation from theState University ofNew York-Oswego andhas worked in ECEleadership roles forover 25 years.

Peter Blair beganworking in the field ofEarly Childhood in1997 as a teacher,and was named EarlyChildhood Director at the Stroum JewishCommunity Center on Mercer Island,Washington inSeptember of 2004.He is a husband andnew father. He hasworked with childrenand youth in a varietyof settings since1992.

The Director’s Role inCreating Communityby Michael Koetje and Peter Blair

Beginnings Workshop3

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■ We use the word team to include the cook, janitor,and bus driver. They are part of the team and wehave high expectations for their interactions withchildren and families as well. Very often earlychildhood folks think of community in limited terms,including only paid employees or volunteers in ourdefinition. Instead, we think of our community oflearners as made up of every person who steps intothe life of our center: teachers, parents, children,administration, community members, extendedfamily, and subcontractors. Everyone whocontributes to the life of the center is a member of our community.

■ Treat each member of our team as an equal inorder to develop a sense of ownership for the wholecenter.

■ Treat each person with respect and listen to theiropinions. While we may not agree with each otheron every decision, we try to listen to one anotherand understand their vision and how it fits in withour own.

■ Use inspiration. Michael often begins meetings witha poem, a song, an inspiring speaker, or a story thatoffers a provocation to help staff reflect. He asks

everyone to bring scenarios, or wonderings —something that went on with a child or family duringthe week — to discuss with the group.

■ Discuss the BIG issues. We dialogue about ourbeliefs about children, childhood, families, andcommunity. We talk about how we see our role aseducators of young children.

Point 5:Focus on relationships

“A community is like a ship; everyone ought to beprepared to take the helm” is the way Henrik Ibsenput it. You really have to trust and believe in yourpeople. We are in relationship. Like any goodrelationship it can’t be one-sided. There has to begive-and-take.

■ We believe in the importance of relationship as anunderlying theme to everything we do.

■ Developing these relationships — teacher-parent,teacher-teacher, administrator-parent, or teacher-child — requires time, energy, trust, and respect. Toparaphrase Ben Zander in The Art of Possibility, weas leaders have to be able to allow our people to be

January/February 2007 Exchange

Beginnings Workshop

. . . you must

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to attain that

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great. A lot of it has to do with sharing controland power, not such an easy thing for leaders todo.

■ We both believe in giving people a great deal ofautonomy. We believe that this autonomy isessential in building community; in allowing yourpeople to make decisions, you are telling themthat you trust them implicitly.

■ Strong relationships are built on trust. While wemay not be happy with every decision which ourfaculty make, this trust and respect enables us toopenly communicate when things go wrong. Thistrust and respect is apparent to parents as well, for they know that decisions made by our teach-ing faculty will be supported by the school’sadministration.

■ Parents want what is best for their children, andare in most cases their child’s only advocate. Ourcommunity respects the magnitude of parents’trust in us and operates from a place of under-standing when negotiating conflict.

■ We model the kinds of behaviors we want to seein our people. We have both found that if we wantour staff to change how they are with childrenand families, we need to change how we are withthem. Like any other evolving relationship, we talkabout how we want to be with each other. Forinstance, we as directors or supervisors can askourselves how we show that we care for our peo-ple. Another thing we need to reflect on iswhether we really pay enough attention to knowwhat really matters most to them. Do you knowyour staff? Do you celebrate the ups and downsof life with them?

■ We believe in bringing the meaningful parts oftheir lives into the life of our center. By doing thiswe create an environment where staff are treatedas people, not merely an “employee” to “serve”our “clients.” This difference is palatable toteachers and parents; true caring can be felt.

Point 6:Bring your heart and soul to work

People need to be able to bring their heart and soulto their work. We aren’t really creating a place of

work, it’s a way of life — a way of being. Michaelbelieves the same thing about intimate relation-ships as he does about work relationships. Themajority of people don’t come to intimaterelationships to have a bad time, or to be a thorn intheir partner’s side. (Of course, that doesn’t meanthey aren’t from time to time!) The same goes forwork relationships. People don’t get up in themorning and say, “I’m going to work today and bemediocre.” Robert Rabbin, author of InvisibleLeadership, goes so far as to say, “I am notinterested in appealing to anyone’s rational mind, to inform or persuade, but to evoke their wild heartof ecstatic love.”

It is a little scary for some people to utter thosewords at work: passion, love, ecstasy. At one ofPeter’s team development meetings he invited aRabbi to talk about listening to and talking to theother person’s heart, their soul. Very heavy stuff for work, but not if you are talking about a way ofbeing with each other. And not if together you areworking on creating your company’s soul. Again, this is where collective vision comes into our equation.

■ Talk openly about your hopes, your dreams, andyour desires for every aspect of our work. Thishelps create community, and thus increasesmotivation.

■ When you feel that your vision is heard — whether it be your vision for a certain physical space in the school, say, an art studio, or whether your vision is for a way of working with children — you are more likely to invest your time and energy into helping that vision be realized.

Point 7:Build relationships with individuals

We think you hire great people and then work likemad on the relationship. Easy to say, hard to do. Asdirectors we have to take the time to work on indi-vidual relationships with each member of our team,and provide opportunities for us to speak to eachother.

Human beings are meaning-making animals. We setout on a life journey that takes us on a search for

Exchange January/February 2007

Beginnings Workshop

. . . true

caring can

be felt

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meaning. We often find our most meaning in ourrelationships with other people. Today most of thoseconnections with others come from our place ofwork. This parallels early childhood philosophy.Children, too, are making meaning of the worldaround them, constructing their view of the worldbased upon their environment and their interactionswith others in “their world.”

Webster defines community as a group of peoplehaving a common interest or those sharing partici-pation or fellowship. In other words, people who arein relationship, creating meaning together. When wetalk to our team about their beliefs about childrenand families, and their beliefs about themselves, webuild those foundations of community.

Not everyone has the same ideas about what chil-dren are capable of accomplishing, or of how weought to be in our relationships with parents, eachother, and the community. But we think by really lis-tening to people in our programs, and giving them asafe place to explore their beliefs, we can come to acommon ground from which we can move forwardtogether.

We begin developing our relationships from the verybeginning: from the initial interview to exit interview.

We listen and reflect on each other’s perspective todevelop a shared sense of understanding. We cre-ate from our diverse ideas and thoughts a commonshared vision, a common meaning. And as MargaretMead said, “The need to find meaning . . . is as realas the need for trust and for love, for relationshipwith other human beings.”

In conclusion

The process of forming community is a long journey,one filled with challenges, struggles, success, andcelebration. It is also incredibly rewarding andexhilarating when it all comes together. We hopethat you will join us on this journey and empowerour entire early childhood community to nurture chil-dren and families in developing strong relationships,and in doing so have an increased understanding ofthe value of our diverse society.

References

Rabbin, R. (1998). Invisible leadership: Igniting thesoul at work. Lakewood, CO: Acropolis Books, Inc.

Zander, R. S., & Zander, B. (2002). The art ofpossibility. New York: Penguin Books.

January/February 2007 Exchange

Beginnings Workshop

We aren’t

really creating

a place of

work, it’s a

way of life —

a way of

being.

Be a mentor or coach: Teach newly acquired skills to others. Find an interestedcolleague and try it out.

Broaden the view: These authors talk about widening their view of who is part of theircommunity. Try this interesting idea out by considering the strategies they suggest.

Shared power, autonomy, trust — the ingredients of community: If these descriptorsdon’t match teachers’ experience, create opportunities to try them out.

Work on relationships: This straightforward idea isn’t so simple. Talk with teachers tofind out how they feel the relationships between staff members are working and howthey might be improved. Be candid and make a plan to work on improvingrelationships with the ideas generated. Remember that creating community is ajourney — a journey you can start today.

Using Beginnings Workshop to Train Teachersby Kay Albrecht

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Child Care Information Exchange 7/00

A Director’sGame Plan

by Pam Schiller

Pam Schiller, Ph.D., is senior nationalearly childhood consultant for SRA/McGraw-Hill, and past president ofthe Southern Early Childhood Associ-ation. She was the administrator of achild care center for several yearsand has also taught in the publicschools as a kindergarten teacher.She is senior author of The DLM EarlyChildhood Program,a full curriculum forpreschool children,as well as a numberof teacher resourcebooks.

1. Be a Good Scout

Ten Strategies for Coaching a Winning Team

Reprinted with permission — Child Care Information ExchangePO Box 3249, Redmond, WA 98073 • (800) 221-2864 • www.ChildCareExchange.com

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Child Care Information Exchange 7/00

2. Let Orientation BeYour Warm Up

3. Offer a Training Camp

4. Get Your Signals Straight

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Child Care Information Exchange 7/00

5. Use a Visible Scoreboard

6. Consult the Team

7. Stay Focused

8. Remember the

Seventh Inning Stretch

9. Be a Model

10. Create Raving Fans

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Child Care Information Exchange 7/00

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Exchange November/December 2006

the director, other teachers, and thechildren and parents as well. New andless experienced teachers can benefitfrom working closely with these skilledteachers who are familiar with centerpolicies and programming. I share thefollowing example of how I pairedteachers to strengthen their individualskills and increase the quality of theprogram.

I assigned a core staff member,Stephanie, to work as the lead teacher inthe toddler room. Under her guidance,the newer, less experienced teacher,Mandy, was able to listen to the tone sheused when talking to the children to gettheir attention. A few weeks later whenMandy was in the classroom by herself,she remembered how Stephanie hadclasped her hands together to make anelephant’s trunk to get the children’sattention. This simple technique gaveMandy the confidence to work with thetwo year olds and to communicate in away they understood.

In another example, a new teacher,Suzanne, was working with a group offour year olds on an art project thatconsisted of gluing facial features on aface. She started correcting a child whoinsisted on placing the eyes where thenose should be. The core teacher, Linda,

Building Effective Teams ThroughDelegation and Recognition

by Amanda Siderits

Staff turnover is a major problemplaguing many child care centerstoday. Replacing teachers frustratesparents, confuses children, and coststhe center thousands of dollars eachyear. No matter how large or beautifulthe facility, the biggest selling point forany center is the quality and longevityof the teachers. Unfortunately, staffingheadaches cannot be totally eliminated,but you can arm yourself with tools tobuild a more effective team.

Assign key centerresponsibilities

Core staff, as we call them, are the heartand center of the child care center — thestrongest and most reliable teachers youhave. They can be identified as theteachers who put their heart and soulinto the children and the program. Theyare the teachers that go the extra mile toreassure a nervous parent or noticeTommy’s new shoes. These teachers areyour most valuable assets.

Consider distributing your core staffthroughout your program so that thereis at least one strong, dependableteacher in each classroom. Often acenter will have a strong preschoolprogram with three core teachers and aweak toddler room with all new, lessexperienced staff. Approaching yourstrong preschool team and asking oneof them to work in the toddler roomwith the new group and assigning oneof the inexperienced toddler teachers tojoin the trained preschool team, encour-ages the group to pull together tostrengthen all of the classrooms.

The core staff are valuable teammembers and vital to the daily life ofthe center. They are trusted teachers to

Keeping a director’s journal

Amanda Siderits is the president of Youthland Academy inCincinnati, Ohio. Her mother opened the first center over

20 years ago and today the family busi-ness has grown to 16 centers and onefranchise. Amanda joined the family com-pany in 1997 and since that time hasadded nine centers to the corporation and

created over 100 jobs. She works closely with Directorsand Regional Coordinators to constantly improve manage-ment style and effectiveness. A major objective forAmanda and her company is to provide trainings andcontinue education for teachers and directors as well asdevelop staff incentives to reduce turnover. Under herguidance, Youthland Academy has established an in-housescholarship program for up to 25 teachers a year to earn a CDA. Since Youthland Academy operates a variety ofcenters from small and cozy facilities to large and state ofthe art, innovative management trainings are a top priorityfor Amanda and her team. Amanda has a Bachelor of Artsin Political Science from Appalachian State University andenjoys creating company training manuals as well asteaching management seminars.

Team Building

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November/December 2006 Exchange

Team Building

assigned time outside of the classroomto tour new parents, complete paper-work, call absent children, and work oncenter projects.

The director plays the role of chiefdelegator, and like any good delegator,he/she must understand everyoneelse’s job and monitor their perfor-mance. There are simple ways of stay-ing on top of the lead teachers such asrequiring weekly reports and conduct-ing weekly 20-minute meetings with thegroup to touch base. It is the responsi-bility of the director to define what isexpected of each lead teacher, providenecessary training, and follow throughwith consequences and rewards. Spe-cific assignments for lead teachersmight include the tasks that follow:

■ Curriculum and programming

To encourage an atmosphere of friendlycompetition, place a notice on the staffinformation board that you are inter-viewing for a Curriculum Coordinator.This gives interested staff members achance to meet privately with you anddiscuss the specifics of the job. Thisposition may require weekend in-service trainings and attendance atseminars as well as research at the locallibrary. Once you have selected theperson for the job, remember to make aformal announcement and prepre acongratulatory breakfast to recognizethe staff member’s new responsibilities.Review the job description with yournew Curriculum Coordinator and theentire staff to clarify what will beexpected of everyone.

Depending on your program structureand curriculum, you can establish theresponsibilities of this position to meetthe needs of your center. Some centersask teachers to turn in lesson plans tothe lead teacher in charge of curriculumor programming one week in advance.This allows plenty of time for reviewinglesson plans, offering input, and helping

explained that art is open to thechildren’s interpretation and creativity.In a later art project, Suzanne encour-aged the children to create a house intheir own way, even if the door was onthe third floor. She understood that itwasn’t about accuracy but aboutexpression.

These are specific examples of how leadteachers work with staff as the eyes andears of the director when she can’t be ineach classroom.

Core staff have a vested interest in thecenter because they are entrusted withkey responsibilities. Assign theseteachers to specific roles such as LeadTeacher, Curriculum Coordinator, orCleaning Supervisor. With theseassignments and recognition, you arebuilding a team that feels a strong senseof purpose.

Lead teacher versusassistant director

Reconsider the typical organizationalstructure that appoints an AssistantDirector and consider instead havingseveral lead teachers. This structure canencourage ambitious teachers who areseeking opportunities for growth oracceleration in the center. Instead ofappointing one assistant director, youcan recognize several strong teacherswith a prestigious job title andappropriate center responsibilities.

Another advantage of having leadteachers instead of an assistant directoris reflected in payroll. Assistantdirectors spend, on average, 2-4 hoursper day outside of the classroom, andare not counted in ratio at those times.Lead teachers spend almost all of theirtime in the classroom working closelywith other teachers, children, andparents. In essence, your center worksmore efficiently with lead teachers inthe classrooms. In this structure, thedirector is the only person who is

teachers gather supplies for the lesson.Often this lead teacher will use hertraining and experience to guideteachers and help them plan age-appropriate activities and design theirteacher boards for the week.

While this lead teacher will teach herown class during the day, she may havethe flexibility to spend time in otherclassrooms with teachers who need herguidance. For example, if the toddlerteacher is having trouble with childrenbiting, the lead teacher may show herhow to implement an activity or songthat keeps the children’s attentionduring times of the day in which thechildren tend to bite. The director oranother teacher would cover theprogram director’s classroom duringtimes she is working with the children.

Lead teachers are typically available byphone in the evenings if a staff memberwants to call for advice or if the directorwants to gain insight into the strengthsand weaknesses of staff in variousclassrooms.

The director plays an important role inguiding this lead teacher in trainingthose teachers who need her attentionand in helping him to focus efforts onweaker classrooms while monitoring theperformance of stronger teachers. Thedirector also assists the lead teacher indeveloping professional developmentgoals that will help him build skill invarious areas.

■ Facilities maintenance

The teacher assigned to this role gener-ally has a good eye for detail and astrong awareness of organization andcleanliness. It should be her responsibil-ity to create cleaning charts and checkeach classroom twice daily to ensurethat cleaning is done properly. Becauseshe is not the director, if another teacherfails to properly clean or close down herroom, the cleaning supervisor should

Circle 2 on Product Inquiry Card

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Exchange November/December 2006

Team Building

simply report the matter to the director.All consequences are handled by thedirector only; lead teachers are only toperform their own job and report otherswho do not.

This lead teacher should make a weeklychecklist and contribute to the cleaningof the center as well as offer new ideasfor organization of the center such asstorage closets or art cabinets. Here’s anexample of how this new position wasimplemented in one program:

The Facilities Maintenance Directordevised a plan for the cook to maintainthe kitchen and common areas in thecenter. She created a daily responsibilitychecklist with one added item each day.On Mondays she specified that therefrigerator must be wiped down. OnTuesdays the oven was to be cleanedand so on. Her new system assisted thecook in a routine maintenance plan andensured that the kitchen was leftspotless each day.

■ Creative director

This position is reserved for the mostcreative person in the center. She shoulduse her talents to involve the staff indecorating their classrooms, displayingartwork, and in bringing out eachperson’s individual creativity. The leadteacher of decorations and creativityplans and decorates the entryway andcommon areas.

In our center our creative director makesleaves out of construction paper to hangfrom the ceiling in the fall, and will askthe teachers and children to contributemonthly decorations. In September, sheassigns the preschool class to make

back-to-school posters and artwork tohang in the entryway. The creativedirector is in charge of the parent boardin the front entryway that identifies theclass that decorates the center for themonth.

In another center where this programwas implemented, the creative directorgave the preschool class ideas andstencils to use for decorating thecommon areas. The classroom made abig school bus and each child painted apicture of him or herself in the busriding to school.

The creative director also offers teachersclassroom ideas. One such idea in theinfant room was to collect familypictures for each infant and make amobile above the cribs, so that thebabies could see their family memberssmiling down on them. Many of theprojects incorporated by the creativedirector involve not only the teachersand children, but resources from theparents as well. For example, thecreative director might ask the parentsto bring in photos or wallpaper scrapsfor classroom projects.

This position of creative director is funand allows your teachers to expressthemselves and to foster children’screativity in new ways. Parents andchildren are always excited by creativeart projects and decorations andhomemade expressions to warm thecenter.

Staff orientationand training

These are just a few examples ofcreating leadership positions that

benefit the entire center. There aredozens of roles you can create andimplement based on the needs of yourprogram. The goal is to develop aleadership program that involves yourstaff in areas that encourage them totake ownership and pride in the center. Just as many preschool teachers assigndifferent tasks to the children each dayto build leadership skills, the directorcan do this with her staff. Whenever thedirector leaves the center to run anerrand or is home ill, she should assigna teacher to be in charge in her absence.Have specific instructions in a folder foryour teacher-in-charge and leave herwith the emergency phone list for centerfamilies. You will also want to leave anumber where the teacher-in-charge canreach you for advice and guidance.When you return to the center, you canask the teacher how she felt about herperformance and ask the rest of yourstaff about how they feel she did. Thisgives you feedback that you can use inoffering constructive criticism for nexttime.

Building a team creates a sense of com-munity in your center and guides yourstaff to improve performance. Assigningnew responsibilities and recognizingloyal and hard-working staff createshealthy competition, encouragesteachers to take pride in their work, andhelps to build a stronger team. Yourposition as the director is to act as theteam leader and to bring out the best inyour staff by recognizing their strengthsand promoting them.

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Does Your Team Work?

Assessing Team Performanceby Roger Neugebauer

To be effective as a leader, you needto recognize an inevitable social phe-nomenon: the staff in your center ismore than a collection of individuals— it is a small group, or, in a largecenter, an interconnecting web ofsmall groups. Being a member of asmall group significantly influences a staff member’s behavior and per-formance. To motivate employees toperform to their full potential, youmust be aware of this phenomenonand respond in a positive manner.

Small groups will develop in a workenvironment whether you want themto or not. Pretending they don’t exist,or trying to break them up and dealwith staff only on an individual basis,can have negative side effects. Left totheir own devices, informal workgroups can become the outlet for feelings of discontent, the breedingground for rumors and gossip, andthe focal point for employee unrest.

On the other hand, if the energy of asmall group is properly directed, a

number of benefits will accrue. Aneffectively functioning group can . . .

• allow creativity to flower, as differ-ing viewpoints stimulate newideas and provide a supportiveenvironment for risk taking;

• provide for stability in everydayperformance and in response tocrises;

• allow maximum utilization ofmember resources, as a group setting can allow individual members to specialize;

• provide psychological support formembers by meeting their needsfor affiliation and status; and

• reduce the burden on the leaderthrough the sharing of leadershipand motivation tasks.

To realize these significant advan-tages, a director needs to adopt a

team perspective of the supervisoryprocess. You must take positive stepsto develop a healthy team spirit. Toassist you in achieving this, Exchangeis initiating a series of articles on theteam development process. This firstarticle will provide a plan for assess-ing the current level of team function-ing at your center and some ideas forinitiating changes. Future articles willaddress the leader’s role in teamdevelopment, functional roles of teammembers, and dealing with inter-group conflict.

Rating Team Effectiveness

Team development is necessarily ateam process. A director can under-mine the spirit of what she is tryingto accomplish if she attempts to setout on her own to improve teamfunctioning. As organizational psychologist Douglas McGregor cautions, “Nothing can be gained byany kind of secret manipulation ofthe system. The process must be openand transactional.”

The initial phase of this publicprocess should be a team assessmentof its own level of functioning. Theassessment approach describedbelow is based upon rating systemsdeveloped by Douglas McGregor,Edgar Schein, Rensis Likert, and Gordon Lippitt (see References andResources), as well as upon sugges-

• Do staff members at your center freely share ideas, resources, andmaterials; or does everyone jealously guard her own turf?

• Do staff members care about each others’ success; or does the philosophy every person for herself prevail?

• In short, does your staff function as a close knit team, or as an assemblage of individuals who happen to be in the same building?

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Does Your Team Work?

tions offered by child care directorswho have field tested these systems.It is offered not as a formula to berigidly adhered to but as a suggestionto consider in developing your ownapproach.

Step 1. Delineate the “team.” Beforeyou meet with the team to begin theassessment process, you need todecide who the team is. One con-sideration is size. An effective team is often moderately small (four toeight members) in size. If a team has too few members, it may lack diversity; and if it is too large, individual members may get lost inthe shuffle. In a small center, theentire staff may be one team;whereas, in a large center, there maybe two or more teams.

A second consideration should befunction. All members of a teamshould ideally share a common task,and a common set of goals.

Finally, reality needs to be taken intoaccount in defining teams. As wasstated earlier, workers in any settingtend to organize themselves intoinformal groups. Wherever possible,you should try to keep these “nat-ural” groupings intact in organizingformal teams.

If a team has too few members, itmay lack diversity; and if it is toolarge, individual members may getlost in the shuffle.

A related question for a director toaddress is where she fits into the picture. In a small center, the directorcan comfortably function as the teamleader. However, in a large centerwhere there is more than one teamand where the director does notspend much time in the classrooms,the teams should probably be led byhead teachers or mid-level staff. In

some large organizations, the directoris the leader of an administrativeteam which consists of leaders of thevarious classroom teams.

While the director may want to takethe initiative in delineating the teams,the final arrangement should be onethat is acceptable to all involved. Ifstaff members don’t feel like a teamthe way you’ve organized them, noamount of memos and meetings willmake them behave like one.

Step 2. Discuss the process. Beforelaunching a team assessment, youneed to discuss it with the team. Theteam leader should not be bashful orsecretive but should share her specificthoughts on how the evaluationprocess might proceed. If team members have reservations with theproposal, their input should besought in redesigning or fine tuningthe process. If they adamantly opposethe idea — even after a full discus-sion — it should be tabled for thetime being, as the effort has nochance of success without theirenthusiastic cooperation.

Step 3. Define the criteria. Agree-ment needs to be reached amongteam members on the criteria to beused in the assessment. On the nextpage is a “Team Effectiveness RatingScale.” This scale, developed byExchange, is an example of the type ofassessment instrument that could beemployed. The scale could be used asis, or it could be modified dependingon what team members were inter-ested in measuring, or team memberscould develop an instrument of theirown. In any case, the criteria that arefinally decided upon should be dis-cussed in a team meeting so all staffmembers share a common definitionof the criteria.

Step 4. Rate the team. Each memberof the team should rate the perfor-mance of the team. If you are usingthe scale, for example, everyoneshould rate the team in terms of each

criteria on a scale of 1 to 7. Ratingsshould be made anonymously.

Acting on the Results

It is just as important that staff mem-bers be involved in analyzing andacting upon the ratings as in makingthem. As director and/or team leader,you must resist the urge to keep theresults of the assessment to yourself.Being open at this point can be riskyand stressful, but it can reap signifi-cant benefits for the team.

If staff members don’t feel like ateam the way you’ve organizedthem, no amount of memos andmeetings will make them behave like one.

Step 5. Tabulate the results. Pool allthe ratings. On a chart, display theaverage rating and the high and lowscores for each of the criteria rated.

Step 6. Develop a strategy. Theunabridged final results should beshared in a team meeting. The statusregarding each criteria should be dis-cussed. Particular attention should bepaid to those for which the averagerating is below 5 or for which therange of high and low scores is particularly wide. Discuss variousexplanations for why these percep-tions exist. To keep this discussion asfruitful as possible, it may be helpfulto reflect upon recent incidents whichpertain to these criteria.

When some general consensus hasbeen reached on what aspects of teamperformance need the most work,team members should brainstormabout ways to improve the situation.Hopefully, at the close of the meeting,there will be general agreement onsome specific strategies for upgrad-ing team performance.

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Does Your Team Work?

Team Effectiveness Rating ScaleRate the effectiveness of your team on a scale of 1 to 7 in terms of each of the variables listed below. Below each variableare descriptions of the worst case (rated 1) and the best case (rated 7) for that variable. You can rate your team very low(1), very high (7), or anywhere in between, depending on how you perceive the situation.

_______ 1. Clarity of Goals(1) The team has no set goals.(7) The team has challenging yet achievable goals which members well understand.

_______ 2. Level of Cohesion(1) Team members have no group loyalty, have no sense of belonging to a team, and tend to exhibit

hostility toward each other.(7) Team members exhibit a strong sense of loyalty to the team, are highly concerned with the

performance of the team, and feel responsible for helping each other improve.

_______ 3. Level of Sensitivity(1) Team members are insensitive to the needs and feelings of each other; expressions of feelings are

ignored or criticized.(7) Team members exhibit outstanding sensitivity to each other; feelings are openly expressed and

responded to with empathy.

_______ 4. Openness of Communications(1) Team members are guarded and cautious in communicating, listen superficially but inwardly reject

what others say, and are afraid to criticize or be criticized.(7) Team members are open and frank in communicating, reveal to the team what they would be

reluctant to expose to others, and can freely express negative reactions without fear of reprisal.

_______ 5. Handling Conflict(1) Conflicts are denied, suppressed, or avoided.(7) Team members bring conflicts out into the open and work them through.

_______ 6. Decision Making(1) When problems or opportunities arise, decisions are delayed endlessly, and, when made, are never

implemented.(7) Decisions are made on time and implemented fully.

_______ 7. Participation(1) The team leader makes all plans and decisions and orders their implementation.(7) All team members participate in shaping the decisions and plans for the team.

_______ 8. Evaluation(1) The team does not assess any aspect of its performance.(7) The team regularly questions the appropriateness of its goals. It evaluates its progress in achieving

its goals, the performance of individual team members, and the functioning of the team. Objective feedback is freely and frequently shared.

_______ 9. Control(1) Discipline is imposed totally from above.(7) Discipline is totally self-imposed; team members are responsible for controlling their own behavior.

_______10. Use of Member Resources(1) Team members’ knowledge, skills, and experiences are not utilized by the team.(7) Team members’ resources are fully utilized by the team.

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Step 7. Monitor progress. Periodi-cally, the team should repeat the rating process using the same ratingscale. By comparing current ratingswith previous ones, the team shouldbe able to keep track of its progress inupgrading performance and detectany new problems before theybecome serious.

Inevitably, strategies for change willrequire some work on the part of the

team leader as well as other teammembers. Future articles will provide specific ideas on the per-formance requirements of all team members.

References and Resources

Likert, Rensis. New Patterns of Management. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1961.

Lippitt, Gordon L. and EdithSeashore. A Leader Looks at GroupEffectiveness. Washington, DC: Leadership Resources, Inc., 1965.

McGregor, Douglas. The Human Sideof Enterprise. New York: McGraw-HillBook Company, 1960.

Schein, Edgar H. Process Consultation.Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1969.

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Who’s Responsible for MakingYour Team Work?

by Roger Neugebauer

In many cases, directors and headteachers share this view as well. They start believing that all theresponsibility is on their shoulders.When the staff is functioning poorly,they blame themselves for not beingable to handle all the many burdensof leadership.

Yet, numerous studies of workgroups confirm that in groups thatare effective these burdens of leader-ship are not all dumped on one per-son, but are shared widely (Likert).All members of these teams are sensitive to what needs to happen forthe team to perform well, and all feelresponsible for making it happen.

This is not to say, of course, that aleader can wash her hands of anyresponsibility. In the final analysis, it

is the leader that is ultimately respon-sible for the team’s performance. Shemust see to it that the team meets thedemands placed on it by the organi-zation of which it is a part. But shewill never be effective unless shegains the cooperation, support, andcommitment of all the members ofher team.

Roles of Team Members

There are many different roles thatmust be played by team members on an effectively functioning team. A number of these roles have beendescribed below. Those listed havebeen identified by organizational consultants as essential roles thatmust be performed in order for ateam to work well together (Benne).These roles may at times be per-

formed by one or more team mem-bers and at other times by the leader.Each team member may carry outmore than one role in any particularsituation and may play different rolesin different situations. What is impor-tant is not so much who performswhat roles but that all the roles areperformed and that participation iswidespread. No team member shouldbe required to fill too many roles atone time, and no team membershould be allowed to avoid playingany of these roles at any time.

The functional roles of team membersfall into two general categories. Someof the roles are team task roles. Theseare roles that are directly related tothe tasks which the team is decidingor has decided to undertake. Othercritical roles are team maintenanceroles. These are roles that are con-cerned with the emotional life of theteam, with how individual membersrelate to each other as a team.

Team Task Roles

Team tasks in a child care centerinvolve either efforts to solve com-mon problems or to achieve commongoals. Figuring out how to reduce thenoise and disruptive behavior in thetoddler room would be an example ofa problem solving task, and decidingwhether or not to open an infant pro-gram would be a goal setting task.

“The highly effective work group has the capacity to mobilize fully all theskills and abilities of its members and focus these resources efficiently onthe jobs to be done. Each member of this group feels responsible forassuming whatever role is necessary to keep the group operating in anefficient manner.”

In the above quote, Rensis Likert captures a key ingredient of an effectiveteam — all members of the team accept responsibility for making theteam work. All too often this does not happen. Instead, members of achild care center team assume that it is the job of the director or headteacher to keep the team on track. When problems arise, they sit back andwait for their leader to solve them.

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The following team task roles mustbe performed in order to identify,define, and make decisions aboutsuch problems and goals.

• Initiating. Someone must get theball rolling. The initiator identifies apotential problem or goal and bringsit to the attention of the team. Thisperson initiates action by stating thegoal or problem and by making someproposal as to how the team mightaddress it. For example, the personplaying this role might say, “I thinkthe activity level in the toddler roomis far too high. Let’s brainstorm about some ways to bring it undercontrol.”

In a newly constituted team, or onethat is functioning at a low level, thisrole often falls to the leader. How-ever, as the team grows and gains inconfidence, the initiating role willincreasingly be played by a broaderrange of members (Schein).

• Information gathering. Once anissue is addressed for team considera-tion, factual information about theissue needs to be collected andbrought before the team. Some of thisinformation is about the problem orgoal being investigated. For example,with the problem of the chaotic tod-dler room, information would needto be sought and shared about whenthe activity level was at its highest,whether there is any evidence thatthe teachers or the children were neg-atively impacted by the commotion,and what other centers had doneabout this problem.

In addition, information is neededabout proposed goals and solutions— “Will this really solve the problemor address the need? Exactly howwill it be implemented? How muchwill it cost?”

• Opinion seeking and giving.Someone also needs to be sure thatteam members’ beliefs and opinionsabout proposed goals and solutions

are brought out into the open. It isimportant that a distinction be madebetween facts and opinions and thatboth be sought out and considered.

• Clarifying. When proposals arebrought before the team, whetherthey are suggested solutions to exist-ing problems or proposed new direc-tions for the center, someone needs toinsure that the proposal is clear toeveryone. The person playing thisrole helps the initiator clarify her pro-posal by asking questions about itand by restating her understandingof it. This role is especially importantin the child care setting because teammembers often react emotionally tothe ideas of others and form opinionsabout these ideas before they fullyunderstand them.

• Elaborating. When a proposal isbefore the group, it is also helpful tohave one or more team members con-cerned with exploring this proposalfrom all angles, considering all itspossible ramifications, and building itinto an even more creative idea. Thiswould also involve trying to deducehow an idea would work out in prac-tice if adopted by the team (Likert).

• Energizing. The person playingthis role is concerned with proddingthe team into action, attempting tostimulate the team to greater activityor to activity of a higher quality.

• Summarizing. When a team hasbeen struggling with a problem orwith a new idea for a long time,whether this be in a long drawn outstaff meeting or in a process thattakes place informally over a periodof weeks, relevant information andviews can often get lost due to thelength of the discussion. In these situ-ations, it is vital to have someoneperiodically summarize what hasgone before. Effective summarizingwill include a review of the points theteam has already covered and whatideas have been stated, so that asdecision points are reached the team

is operating with full information(Schein).

• Consensus testing. Every once in awhile someone on the team needs totest the water to see if the team isready to make a decision about a pro-posal under consideration. For prob-lems that are particularly complicatedand for goals that will require a lot ofwork or risk if adopted, team mem-bers can procrastinate for weeks toavoid making a decision. Someoneneeds to step forward periodicallyand ask, “Are we ready to decide?”Or the person playing this role couldbe even more assertive and say, “Ican see that we have some strongreservations about opening an infantcomponent, but that, basically, we areprepared to go ahead with it. Am Iright?” The success of the consensustester will depend largely on her sen-sitivity in choosing the right time totest, although ill-timed tests are stilluseful in reminding the team that ithas some more issues to work outbefore deciding (Schein).

Team Maintenance Roles

Team maintenance roles are thoseconcerned with building team loyaltyand increasing the motivation andcapacity of the group for candid andeffective interaction and problemsolving (Benne). The main focus ofthese roles is on avoiding damagedrelationships. In a team environment,individuals can be alienated from thegroup in many ways — when twomembers angrily disagree about ateam issue, when one domineeringteam member turns off others, whenteam members’ views are ignored oroutvoted, and so on. These situationsneed to be avoided or handled withsensitivity in order to maintain thecommitment of all team members tothe team.

• Encouraging. The person playingthis role does all she can to ensureteam members that there exists aclimate of acceptance. She praises,

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shows interest in, agrees with, andaccepts the contributions of others.She demonstrates warmth and soli-darity in her feelings toward otherteam members. She gives full atten-tion and consideration to the contri-butions of others even though shemay not fully agree with them, con-veying to them the message “Whatyou are doing or saying is of impor-tance to me” (Likert).

• Harmonizing. Someone needs to beconcerned with reducing destructivetypes of disagreement between teammembers. Conflict can perform a use-ful function in generating a variety ofideas and alternative proposals.However, when two or more mem-bers of the team are fighting or takingpositions because of selfish reasons,such as maintaining their own statuson the team, it may be necessary forsomeone to step in and harmonizethe conflict before it becomes toodestructive. The harmonizer mayattempt to mediate the differencesbetween team members in conflict;she may attempt to relieve tension inconflict situations through the use ofhumor; or she may assist each mem-ber in taking stock of her own behav-ior as a way of reestablishing goodcommunication (Schein).

• Compromising. Whereas the har-monizer is a third party seeking toestablish peace between two or moreother members in conflict, the com-promiser is someone who is willingto promote agreement by backing offfrom her own position. A personplaying this role may offer a compro-mise by yielding status, admittingerror, or meeting the other teammembers “half way” in a disagree-ment (Benne).

In a child care setting, where theinteractions between adults are sointense, it is inevitable that conflictover team task issues will arise fre-quently. It thus becomes vital thatcompromising be a role that manyteam members be willing and able to

play in the interests of team harmony.If all the compromising is alwaysdone by one or two team members,these members will inevitably resenttheir role and lose their commitmentto the team.

• Gatekeeping. The gatekeeper is theteam member who keeps her eye onthe level of participation of teammembers. She ensures that those whohave a contribution to make get theirday in court. In a staff meeting, agatekeeper might take steps to ensurethat the less assertive team membershave a chance to express their viewson the matter under discussion. In adaily work situation, the gatekeepermight see to it that all team membershave an opportunity to try out theirskills and ideas.

• Observing. Someone on the teamneeds to be keeping tabs on the over-all functioning of the team. This per-son must be alert for and sensitive toany evidence that the group processis breaking down. The observer mustbe well aware of what types ofbehavior are destructive and whattypes are constructive or at least neu-tral in their impact. When sheobserves that relationships have insome way broken down, she needs tobe able to feed this observation backto the team in such a way that it willbe received constructively and actedupon. Providing feedback to the teamon its performance actually requiresas much, if not more, skill and nervethan observing the behavior in thefirst place.

Clearly, the role of the observer is onethat new or inexperienced teammembers cannot play effectively. Infact, due to the sensitivity and credi-bility required, it may be beneficial tohave the team formally designatesomeone to perform this role (Likert).

• Standard setting. Someone needsto move the team towards acceptingor setting standards that will governteam performance. Team members

need to know what types of behaviorare encouraged by the team and whattypes are discouraged. They need toknow what level of participation isexpected of them and what amountof flexibility is allowed to them inpursuing individual approaches totheir work.

Each team member may carry outmore than one role in any particu-lar situation and may play differ-ent roles in different situations.What is important is . . . that allthe roles are performed and thatparticipation is widespread.

More often than not, this role falls tothe team leader. Since the team leaderis ultimately responsible for the per-formance of the team, it is importantthat she take an active role in seeingto it that appropriate standards areset for working to achieve the tasksbefore the team.

From reviewing these roles that needto be performed by team members, itis obvious that if a team is to be suc-cessful its members will need to domuch more than simply show up andput in their seven hours every day.They must all be concerned withmoving the team forward toward theaccomplishment of its goals, and theymust accept responsibility for helpingthe team function effectively.

References

Benne, K. and P. Sheats. “FunctionalRoles of Group Members.” Journal ofSocial Issues, Volume 2, 1948.

Likert, Rensis. New Patterns of Management. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1961.

Schein, Edgar H. Process Consultation.Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1969.

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by Roger Neugebauer

Step-by-Step Guide toTeam Building

Developing a staff of individuals intoan effectively functioning team can bea rewarding experience. When a staffis functioning as a team, team mem-bers’ interrelationships can be sup-portive, satisfying, and stimulating.Team members will be motivated andenabled to use their talents to thefullest.

Unfortunately, team building is not aquick and painless process. In fact, acenter should not even consider mak-ing the effort to engage in team build-ing unless all participants are awareof how it will affect them:

• For the leader (whether this is thedirector, a coordinator, or a headteacher), this means being willing todelegate a considerable amount ofauthority to the team, being patientwhen it initially takes the team longer

to accomplish a certain task than itwould for you on your own, andbeing able to accept that not every-thing is going to be done your way.For the leader, it means functioningmore as a facilitator than as a boss.

• For subordinates, this means beingwilling to accept some leadershipresponsibilities, being more con-cerned with the interests of the teamthan with your own interests, andbeing able to be open and caring inyour relationships with other teammembers. For subordinates, thismeans functioning as an active par-ticipant in the process, rather than asa passive follower of orders.

The Team Building Process

The team building process describedbelow is designed specifically for the

child care setting. Built into it is theassumption that the organization isstrapped for time and resources —that staff members do not have a lotof free time to devote to process, andthat the organization cannot afford tosend the entire staff away for weeksat a time to engage in team buildingexercises.

In addition, it takes into account theprobability that, at the outset, staffmembers will be unwilling andunable to jump right in and assumesignificant levels of responsibility.

As a result, the following five stepprocess is designed to be imple-mented gradually and flexibly. It canbe carried out over a period ofmonths as part of regular weeklystaff meetings. It can allow variousstaff members to participate at vary-ing levels of responsibility. And itprovides a check to make sure thateveryone is satisfied with how theprocess is working.

Step #1 — Set achievable goals.

According to Troy D. Bussey, havingclear goals is the key factor to teameffectiveness. “Mutually agreed upongoals,” he observes, “constitute acohesive and energizing force for allmembers of the team.”To have this energizing force, thegoals should meet these criteria:

According to management consultant Peter F. Drucker, the team conceptof management is ideally suited to a knowledge organization — an organization that trades in ideas, concepts, and services. Such an organization — and a child care center clearly falls into this category —can extract maximum performance from its workers by managing themas important players on a team rather than as faceless members of thestaff.

Recognizing the potential value of a team approach to the management ofa child care organization, Exchange has devoted a series of articles to thetopic. In this, the third article, a step-by-step process for building aneffective team is described.

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• They should be understood andaccepted by all team members. Thebest way to make this happen is tohave all team members participate in the goal setting process. One tech-nique for doing this is outlined in“High Participation Goal Setting.”

• They should be challenging yetachievable. If goals are too difficult toachieve, team members will soongive up trying, and their motivationalforce will be lost. Likewise, if goalsare too easily accomplished, therewill not be much challenge.

• They should be measurable. If at allpossible, the team’s general goalsshould be translated into specificyardsticks against which progress canbe measured. For example, the goalTo instill a cooperative spirit in childrencould be specified as To increase theincidence of cooperative play by 25%.

• They should have diverse timeframes. Especially at the outset of theteam building process, there shouldbe one or two goals that can beachieved within a short period oftime, such as To redesign the toddlerroom so as to reduce the noise level. Byachieving some goals fairly quickly,individuals will be more inclinedthan ever to work together as a teamto achieve its long term objectives.

Step #2 — Clarify roles.

Team members work most effectivelytogether when their roles are clearand reasonably free of conflict. Ideally, each team member shouldknow what tasks she is responsiblefor, as well as what tasks each othermember is responsible for.

An opportune time to clarify roles isjust after going through the goal set-ting process. At this point, thereshould be some sense of excitementabout embarking on a new venture.Team members should be more openthan normal to reexamining andredefining their roles.

To clarify roles at this point, teammembers first should brainstormabout all the areas of responsibilitythat the team must assume if it is toaccomplish its new goals. For exam-ple, team members may list suchthings as . . .

• developing daily plans;

• developing curriculum activities;

• redesigning the classroom;

• selecting curriculum materials;

• buying curriculum materials;

• cleaning up the classroom; and

• supervising student teachers.

After the list is completed, each areaof responsibility will need to be for-mally assigned to one or more teammembers. The more that team mem-bers participate in this assignmentprocess, the more accepting they arelikely to be of the final breakdown. Inany event, the team leader will needto exercise final judgment in caseswhere team members can’t agree, orin cases where team members, due totheir inexperience, are biting off morethan they can chew.

Mutually agreed upon goals con-stitute a cohesive and energizingforce for all members of the team.

In addition to these formal roles relat-ing to the accomplishment of teamgoals, there also exists an entirely different set of informal roles. Theseroles relate to the internal functioningof the team. For example, in order fora team to function well, someone onthe team needs to accept responsibil-ity for harmonizing relationshipsamong staff members, for encourag-ing less assertive or experienced teammembers to participate actively, andfor initiating action when a problemor opportunity exists.

High Participation Goal Setting

When attempting to involve allteam members in the goal settingprocess, the most skilled and mostassertive team members may tendto dominate the process. If this islikely to happen in your center,you may want to consideremploying a variation of the Delphi Technique to set goals. Thistechnique assures that all individ-uals have an opportunity to gettheir views before the team. Theprocess works as follows:

• Have each member of the teamanonymously write down whatthey believe should be the top twoor three goals of the center.

• Read through all these state-ments, eliminate duplicates, andcompile them into a single list.

• Circulate this list back to allteam members with the instruc-tions that they select from this listtheir recommendations for the topthree center goals.

• Count how many times eachgoal is selected and then presentthe top three or four vote gettersto the team at the next staff meet-ing. At this meeting, team mem-bers should discuss these potentialgoals, agree on which ones makesense to tackle at the same time,and make suggestions as to howthese might be stated more clearly.

• Write up the agreed upon goalsbased on the comments in themeeting, and pass these state-ments out to team members fortheir final review.

• At the next staff meeting, makefinal revisions and formallyapprove the goals. Write up theapproved goals and distributecopies to all team members.

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While it does not make sense toassign these roles formally, the teamleader should continually monitorteam functioning to be sure that allnecessary roles are being performedby someone.

Step #3 — Build supportive relationships.

At the beginning of each year, ClareCherry challenged each of her teach-ers to see to it that each of the otherteachers had the best year teachingthat they’d ever had (Cherry). Thistype of cooperative spirit is exactlywhat is needed to make a team work.In an effectively functioning team,each team member draws strengthfrom the personal satisfaction of

being a part of a caring group of indi-viduals, as well as from the profes-sional support provided by teammembers.

However, it is very easy to say thatteam members should care abouteach other and support each other,but it is not so easy to make this happen. While the team leader can-not require team members to be sup-portive, she can structure situationsthat encourage this to happen, andshe can remove obstacles that oftenprevent it. Here are examples ofapproaches that some directors havefound effective:

• Feedback training. In a survey ofchild care centers in New England,

“lack of feedback on my perfor-mance” was identified by teachers astheir greatest frustration (Neuge-bauer, 1975). The same teachers indi-cated that the persons they mostwould respect feedback from are theteachers they work with. Unfortu-nately, teachers often lack the skillsand inclination to give useful feed-back. To stimulate the flow of feed-back among teachers, it may behelpful to provide training to teach-ers on how to give effective feedback(see “References and Resources”).

• Team resource people. Betty Joneshas observed that it is easy for adirector to view herself as the finalauthority on everything, when in factin many areas there are other staffmembers who know more than shedoes (Jones). To tap the expertise thatexists among team members and toget team members into the habit oflooking to each other for support,instead of always relying on the teamleader, some centers have found ithelpful to designate different mem-bers of the team as resource personsfor specific topics, such as music,large motor skills, aggression, or language. These people will be desig-nated on the basis of their currentskills and interests, and they will beexpected to do some extra research tokeep up to date.

• Best-worst incidents. In a teamwhere there is not yet a great deal oftrust and openness, it may be difficultfor team members to know enoughabout the needs and feelings of theirpeers in order to provide them sup-port. One approach many centers useto encourage team members to openup is the best-worst incidentsapproach. At a team meeting, theleader asks each staff member torelate the best thing that happened tothem at the center the past week, aswell as the worst thing.

An infinite variety of variations onthis theme could be used: What is thetoughest problem you have solved

Common Team Problems

• Role ambiguity. Sometimes certain areas of responsibility are left out innever-never land. Everyone knows that they exist but no one knows whoseresponsibility they are. This often happens with menial responsibilities thatnobody wants to touch, such as cleaning up the classroom at the end of theday and keeping the book and toy shelves well organized. Sometimes it canoccur with very important tasks that are hard to find time for. Everyone onthe team may believe that researching new ideas or evaluating the curricu-lum are important, but if no one is specifically charged with carrying outthese tasks, they just don’t get done.

• Role conflict. Conflict can occur when two or more team members believethey have responsibility for the same task. A teacher and a director may bothbelieve that it is their responsibility to bring a major concern with a child tothe attention of his parents. When this occurs, both team members may endup expending a considerable amount of energy outwardly arguing abutwhose job it is, or inwardly dealing with anger and frustration. This energydrained off unproductively into the conflict is energy that could moreprofitably be invested in accomplishing the team’s goals.

• Intergroup conflict. Conflict can also occur between groups of individu-als, i.e., between teams. If the staff of a center is divided into two teams, oneserving the preschool children and one serving the infants and toddlers,these two teams may come into conflict over the use of space, over moneyfor supplies, or over use of the kitchen facilities. This is a behavior that veryoften occurs in the early stages of team building in larger organizations.Team members become so loyal to their own team that anyone on the out-side is looked upon as a competitor. This we-they attitude is encouraging tothe extent that it shows that some esprit de corps is beginning to developamong team members. However, in its extreme form, it can be harmful tothe organization as a whole.

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Does Your Team Work?

this week and the toughest you haveyet to solve? What parent commentmade you feel best this week andwhich one made you feel worst? Notonly does this technique give all teammembers an easy way to share theirvictories and receive some positivestrokes, it also gives other team mem-bers ideas on how they can providesome support.

Step #4 — Encourage active participation.

One of the positive features of theteam approach to management is thatit can take maximum advantage ofthe abilities and knowledge of indi-vidual team members. However, thisutilization of member resources doesnot happen automatically. A teamleader needs to be resourceful inencouraging all team members tocontribute their ideas, opinions, andenergies. Here are some suggestions:

• Spotlight challenges. The creativetalents of a team are more likely to beunleashed if there is a specific task tofocus on (Uris). The team leader canstimulate team members by pointingout a specific problem that is of majorconcern to the center (the frequencyof accidents on the climbing struc-ture) or an opportunity of highpotential (the growing demand fordrop-in care in the community).

• Provide a fertile environment. Cre-ativity seldom involves the creationof a totally new idea. Organizationaltheorist James March has observedthat “most innovations in an organi-zation are a result of borrowingrather than invention.” Put anotherway, creativity involves combiningconventional ideas in unconventionalways.

Therefore, the team leader shouldensure that team members have richand varied experiences to draw upon.This would involve such steps as pro-viding a wealth of reading materialsin the teachers’ lounge, encouraging

team members to visit other centers,and making it possible for them toattend classes and workshops.

• Demonstrate interest. Nothingkills the enthusiasm of individuals indeveloping a new idea more quicklythan the realization that no one else is interested in it (Neugebauer, 1991).If one or more team members areworking on a new room arrange-ment, parent communication form, or nap time routine, the team leadershould support their efforts bydemonstrating an interest in whatthey are doing, as well as by bringingit to the attention of the entire team.

The team leader needs to nurture aclimate in the team that is accept-ing of new ideas.

• Offer help when needed. Not allindividuals have an equal ability tocome up with an inspiration, to fleshit out, and to develop it into a ready-to-implement product. A team leaderneeds to be sensitive to the creativestyles of various team members. Sheneeds to be able to jump in and offera helping hand to those who can only come up with gleam-in-the-eyestage ideas, while standing aside andletting others run with their ideasthrough to completion (Uris).

• Foster a permissive atmosphere.All team members need to feel thattheir ideas and contributions are wel-comed and valued. The team leaderneeds to nurture a climate in the teamthat is accepting of new ideas — nomatter how outlandish they may initially appear.

Spiro Agnew loudly decried theinstant analyses of television newscommentators. While one may sus-pect that he was more upset by thecontent of their analyses than theirspeed, his concern does highlight thediscouraging aspect of immediate

critical reaction. If a team memberlacks confidence or assertiveness tobegin with, he will certainly be doubly reluctant to expose his ideasto the team if he knows they will becriticized, ridiculed, or ignored.

That is not to say, of course, that allideas should be accepted no matterwhat. Certainly every proposalshould be subject to careful, objectivescrutiny by the team before imple-mentation. However, such a criticalexamination should only take placeafter the contributor has had theopportunity to explain it fully, andeven try it out if possible.

• Allow for individual interests.According to organizational psychol-ogist Harry Levinson, an organiza-tion is best served when it “permitspeople to seize and develop thosechallenges that most excite theircuriosity.” In spotlighting challengesfor the team, the team leader shouldnot restrict attention to a single prob-lem but should delineate a widerange of opportunities for usefulinnovation. Being able to follow one’sinterest is more likely to stimulate aflow of ideas than being restricted toa problem that is critical but of littleinterest.

Step #5 — Monitor team effectiveness.

You can’t build a house without occasionally stepping back to see ifall the workers’ efforts are resultingin a solid, salable product. Likewise,you can’t build a team without periodically monitoring to determineif progress is being made.

Two types of monitoring are of value.First and foremost, the team shouldbe evaluated in terms of whether it isaccomplishing its goals. It can bevery rewarding for team memberswhen they see that their cooperativeefforts are really making a difference.This can provide all the more incen-tive to work hard at making the team

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Does Your Team Work?

work. Conversely, it is vital for teammembers to know as soon as possibleif their efforts are not moving themcloser to the accomplishment of theirgoals. The sooner they know theirefforts are misdirected, the less timethey will waste before making neces-sary corrections.

Monitoring progress against goals, orprogram evaluation, can take manyforms. Ideally, the team should beable to express its goals in measur-able terms so that there can be somedirect yardstick of progress. Forexample, a team’s goal might beexpressed as reducing incidents ofaggressive behavior by 30%. At thebeginning of the year, someone couldobserve the number of incidents ofaggression occurring in a classroomover a set period of time. Then, everytwo or three months, a similar countcould be made to see if the number ofincidents of aggression was actuallydeclining.

More often than not, however, goalsin early childhood settings are notmeasurable. In these cases, the teammust rely on less direct indicators ofprogress — parent satisfaction sur-veys, comparisons of behavioraldescriptions from diaries, periodobservations by outside consultants,etc. While such techniques may notyield any cut and dried indications ofprogress, they can provide team

members with significant amounts ofhelpful feedback.

The second type of monitoring whicha team can and should engage in isthe assessment of team functioning.At least two or three times a year,team members should take time outto assess how well they are workingtogether as a team. The longer thegap between assessments, the morelikely it is that minor shortcomingswill degenerate into major problems.

Monitoring of team functioning neednot be a complex process. Typically,what happens is that team membersanonymously rate the team using achecklist of functions and then dis-cuss the findings and their implica-tions at a team meeting. One suchchecklist for rating team effectivenesswas presented in “Assessing TeamPerformance” (see page 5).

As can be seen from the precedingdiscussion, getting a team approachlaunched and up to speed is not asimple process. It requires time,patience, and the willingness of allinvolved to open themselves up tonew ways of working and relating toeach other. However, in a professionthat demands so much creativity, somuch flexibility, and so much interms of interpersonal skills, the teamapproach offers an excellent vehiclefor achieving peak performance.

References and Resources

Bussey, Troy D. “Building a WinningTeam.” Nonprofit World Report,January/February 1984.

Cherry, Clare. “Promoting Harmonious Staff Relationships.”Fostering Improved Staff Performance(Reprint #3). Redmond, WA: ChildCare Information Exchange, 1991.

Drucker, Peter F. Management. NewYork: Harper & Row, Publishers,1973.

Jones, Elizabeth. “Creating Environ-ments Where Teachers, Like Children,Learn Through Play.” Developing StaffSkills (Reprint #7). Redmond, WA:Child Care Information Exchange,1990.

Levinson, Harry. The Exceptional Executive. Cambridge, MA: HarvardUniversity Press, 1968.

March, James and Herman Simon.Organizations. New York: John Wileyand Sons, 1958.

Neugebauer, Roger. “Assessing TeamPerformance.” Child Care InformationExchange, November 1983.

Neugebauer, Roger. “Guidelines forEffective Use of Feedback.” FosteringImproved Staff Performance (Reprint#3). Redmond, WA: Child Care Information Exchange, 1991.

Neugebauer, Roger. “How to Stimulate Creativity in Your Staff.”Fostering Improved Staff Performance(Reprint #3). Redmond, WA: ChildCare Information Exchange, 1991.

Neugebauer, Roger. OrganizationalAnalysis of Day Care. Arlington, VA:ERIC Document Reproduction Ser-vice, 1975.

Uris, Auren. The Executive Deskbook.New York: Van Nostrand ReinholdCompany, 1976.

What Is the Optimum Team Size?

There are no hard and fast rules about what is the best size for a team for itto function most efficiently. Organizational psychologist Peter F. Druckersuggests that if a team has more than 15 members (the maximum size ofaboriginal hunting teams), it becomes unwieldy. Teams larger than this tendto exhibit a lack of clarity, little sense of responsibility by team members,and an over concern with internal procedures and politics.

Although small teams seem to work best, they can also become too small.They should not be so small that team members collectively do not possessall the skills needed to perform their common tasks. Nor should they be sosmall that team members fail to exhibit a diversity of experiences, talents,and perspectives.

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Child Care Information Exchange 5/96

What Staff Need

1. Caring

CohesiveTeaching Teams —

What Makes the Difference

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2. Commitment to ideasand professionalism

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Acknowledge the Importance of the Teaching Team

For Further Reading

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STRATEGY:Develop, distribute, and role play

communication guidelines

Indicators of Effective Teamwork

by Margie Carter

Ideas for Training Staff

Clear Communications

Child Care Information Exchange 1/01

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Respectful Interactions andDemonstrations of Trust

STRATEGY: Identify the elements of

respect and trust

Using Conflicts to Discoverand Negotiate Different

Perspectives

STRATEGY: Explore different values

Child Care Information Exchange 1/01

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STRATEGY: Play with different

communication styles

Building on Each Other’s Ideas and Strengths

STRATEGY: Pass the paper to build on ideas

� � �

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Child Care Information Exchange 1/01

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Reliability and Responsibility

Child Care Information Exchange 1/01

Margie Carter is on the adjunct facultyfor Pacific Oaks College NW and SeattleCentral Community College. She travelswidely to speak and consult with earlychildhood programs. Her newest bookwith Deb Curtis, The Art of Awareness:How Observation Can Transform YourTeaching, is published by Redleaf Press.

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The leader’s role in making the team work

Teamwork is one of those all-American concepts like motherhood, applepie, and developmentally appropriate practice. No director should leadon without it.

How to be a team builder was the focus of a Child Care InformationExchange management retreat in Hawaii in February of this year.Participating directors shared a wide range of experiences and insightsat this retreat, and these form the basis of this article.

One interesting insight at the retreat was that, as much as a directormay want her staff to function as a team, she may be the biggest stum-bling block to making it happen. Participants identified ten behaviorsthat directors may engage in that unwittingly undermine team perfor-mance, as well as some keys to making the team work.

1. Playing Favorites

Nothing sours team spirit morequickly than a perception that someteam members enjoy a privilegedstatus. If you consistently single outone or two teachers for praise, givethem preferential treatment inscheduling, or tend to seek theirinput more than anyone else’s, otherstaff members will feel more likeoutsiders than team members.

2. Tolerating Laxity

If one staff member frequentlyarrives late, fails to help with cleanup, or is lax in attending to thechildren, and you let this misbehav-

4. Fuzzy Roles

To the extent that there is confusionabout roles and responsibilities,energy that could be directed towardworking with children and parentswill be consumed by anxiety andfrustration. For teachers to feelsecure and focused, they need toknow exactly what is expected ofthem. They need to know what tasksthey hold final responsibility for,what tasks they share responsibilityfor, and what decisions they mustclear with someone in authoritybefore going ahead.

5. Inconsistency

In January, the director announces tostaff that building self-esteem isgoing to be the center’s number onegoal. In February, she holds a staffmeeting in which she shares herexcitement about implementing anew environmental awarenesscurriculum.

In March, she decides it’s time thatthe center took a stand on violence inthe lives of children. Such vacilla-tion, whether it be over curriculumgoals, operating practices, or person-nel procedures, contributes to asense of uncertainty among the staff

Ten Teamwork Terminatorsand Some Sure Cures

by Hawaii retreat attendees

Single copy reprint permission from Child Care Information ExchangePO Box 3249, Redmond, WA 98073 - (800)221-2864 www.ChildCareExchange.com

Multiple use copy agreement available for educators by request

ior go unchallenged, other staffmembers will resent having to workharder. They will blame you forcaving in and will be less inclined towork hard for the common good.

3. Cowering from Conflict

Teacher A lashes out at Teacher Band stomps out of the staff meeting.You continue as if nothing has hap-pened. Afterwards you make smalltalk with the two teachers separatelyhoping to jolly them out of theirangry moods. Efforts to maintain anoutward appearance of harmonymay ease tensions in the short run,but the hostility remains and maydraw others into the conflict.

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and a loss of credibility for theleadership.

6. The Tyranny of Taboos

Teamwork tends to bring out thebest in people, to motivate teammembers to work hard for thecommon good. The focus of theteam is on uniting the talents ofindividual team members. Team-work is promoted by focusing onachieving goals, not on obeyingrules. Directors who attempt todirect staff by promulgating rulesand by punishing misbehavior willnot build team spirit.

Staff who are motivated by teamspirit will focus their energies onaccomplishing goals. Staff who aredirected by rules and admonitionswill focus their energies on avoidingpunishment.

7. Holding On to the Reins

Many early childhood leaders have adifficult time releasing the reins ofauthority. They want to have thefinal say on every decision. Bytightly controlling every activity, aknowledgeable director may assurethat everything is done right — butwith a significant cost in terms ofstaff morale. Staff will get themessage that they are not trusted.They will see themselves more asdispensable machine parts than asvalued team members. The bottomline is: Just let go.

8. Fake Participation

Even more demoralizing than anauthoritarian director is a directorwho goes through the motions ofinviting staff participation in shapingdecisions and then ignores staffinput when the final decisions aremade. More often than not suchbehavior is not intentional.

A director may believe in the valueof staff involvement and genuinelyreach out for advice. However,when it comes to the final decision,he may be so locked into his ownpoint of view that he can’t under-stand or be influenced by conflictingviews. But whether or not thebehavior is deliberate, the impact onthe staff will be the same. Staff willfeel misled, frustrated, and angry —certainly not in the mood to workhard for the team.

9. The Hindering Hierarchy

To be an enthusiastic team player,you need to believe that yourcontribution makes a difference.You need to feel valued and re-spected. In an organization with aformal or informal hierarchy it ishard to develop team spirit amongstaff who perceive themselves tobe on the bottom rung of the lad-der.

Many centers have evolved into aquasi caste system whereby theadministrators are viewed as thebosses, the head teachers as theeducators, and the teacher aides asthe workers. In such a system, theworkers will not feel valued orrespected, and certainly will not bemotivated to become team players.In addition, any feelings of superior-ity the educators possess willget in the way of their ability toparticipate with fervor in a teameffort.

10. Lack of Recognition

Being part of a smoothly functioningteam is a gratifying experience.Working together to try out newideas, to solve problems, to helpeach other grow, and to achieveresults can be invigorating and fun.However, sometimes, especially inthe early, rocky stages of teambuilding, these intrinsic rewards

are not enough. Team memberswho feel their hard work andspecial contributions are not appreci-ated will eventually want off theteam.

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Keys to Building a Successful Team

• Make team building a priority

Teamwork doesn’t just happen. A staff will not naturally evolve from a collection of individuals into a well-oiled team. The leader needs to identify teamwork as a high priority, gain the support of staff for the idea, anddevelop a deliberate process for making it happen.

Built into this process will need to be (1) an open assessment of the talents and interests of all team members; (2)the development of goals that all team members are committed to accomplishing; and (3) the organizing of tasksand responsibilities in such a way that the talents and interests of all team members are put to best use.

• Keep your finger on the pulse

Periodically the leader should encourage the staff to stop and take a look at how the team building process isgoing. Initially you may want to use a simple instrument such as the “Twenty Questions about Team Spirit”that appears with this article (you have the permission of Exchange to reproduce this freely for internal use).

Ask staff members if they would agree to fill this out, and ask them to do so anonymously. Tabulate the resultsand share them, unedited, with the entire staff. Focus on the areas where good things are happening, and thentalk about those areas where progress needs to be made.

Elicit from the group first what suggestions they might have, add in your thoughts, and then try as a group toarrive at some specific steps to make. (Note: If at this point you simply step in and say, “Okay, here is whatneeds to happen!,” staff members may not be inclined to share the responsibility for results.)

Try to use the same form to measure progress every six months or so. Then as your team begins to jell youshould be able simply to hold open discussions periodically to air concerns and develop solutions.

• Make meetings meaningful

Staff meetings that are boring, unfocused, or unimaginative actually can sap team spirit. Who cares about beinga part of a team that can’t get excited or that isn’t fun to be with.

Staff meetings are the connection points that enable teamwork to develop. They should be the hub of yourdeliberate team building process.

To be successful, staff meetings must engage the interest and enthusiasm of all participants. They must providea safe environment in which staff members can challenge basic assumptions, take risks, stretch their thinking,ask stupid questions, and share their feelings.

Establish ground rules for team building staff meetings that provide everyone equal opportunity to be heardand all ideas to be open to question. Every meeting appoint a different staff person to be the process monitor tomake sure in a kindly way that these ground rules are observed.

Make meetings unpredictable so that people come to meetings eager to see what will happen next. Movemeetings around to different rooms, different locations. People are more open to new ideas if they come inexpecting something new than if they come in turned off expecting the same old stuff.

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Twenty Questions about Team SpiritA Child Care Information Exchange Center Evaluation Form

____ 1. I understand the curriculum goals of the center.____ 2. I am in agreement with these goals.____ 3. I am proud to be associated with this center.____ 4. I have no fear about expressing my opinions and concerns at the center.____ 5. When I have something to say, people here really listen.____ 6. I am kept up to date on developments at the center.____ 7. I find staff meetings to be informative and productive.____ 8. I have a clear understanding of my role at the center.____ 9. My full range of skills is tapped in my work at the center.____ 10. When important decisions are made, I am consulted, and my opinions are taken

seriously.____ 11. When decisions are made, new policies announced, or new goals set, the director

sees to it that they are implemented.____ 12. When conflicts arise between adults in the center, the director moves quickly and

effectively to resolve them.____ 13. When other problems arise at the center, the director moves quickly and effec-

tively to solve them.____ 14. When dealing with a problem, the director involves the appropriate staff members

in helping work out a solution.____ 15. I believe that I am treated fairly as an employee.____ 16. I have not observed anyone else being treated unfairly.____ 17. I don’t believe any employee is granted favored status.____ 18. I enjoy a friendly relationship with other staff members.____ 19. I receive support from other staff members when I need help.____ 20. I consistently receive valuable feedback about my performance.

The most important step the organization could take to improve team spirit is . . .

I am eager for team spirit to improve at our center, and here is what I am willing to do tohelp . . .

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different conclusions about the same ele-phant is a good example of why conflictis so commonplace, indeed inevitable.We, like the nine men, suffer fromdegrees of blindness. This blindness is aresult of our own personal experiences,ethnic, cultural, geographic, and reli-gious influences, education and training,gender, age, personality, and other fac-tors that contribute to our interpretationand response to individuals and situa-tions. In addition, the very nature of theorganization may make conflict bothcommon and inevitable. An organiza-tion’s survival, growth, and sustainabil-ity are due, in large part, to its abilityand willingness to compete in the mar-ketplace. To this end, it:

■ Employs individuals for their interestin the work, their expertise, experi-ence, drive, creativity, and willingnessto get the job done.

■ Expects each employee to worktoward the achievement of the mis-sion, promote the values, carry out themission and to do so in conjunctionwith 10, 50, or 100 other people, eachof whom has his or her own opinions,perspectives, and professional agen-das.

■ Develops and implements an internalsystem of distributing rewards andprivileges that fosters some degree ofcompetition.

Referee or Team Builder?

by Yvonne Jeffries

Nine blind men encountered an elephant.Each walked around the elephant, rubbing,studying, and talking to it before announc-ing, with confidence, his conclusion. Eachoffered one of the following descriptions: Abig city, a giant snake, a flexible spear, a tree

trunk, frayed rope, abig fan, a thick rug, amighty pillar, a solidwall, a wide sail.— A tale from theoral tradition

There are as manydifferent definitionsof conflict as thereare reasons forconflict. For thepurpose of thisdiscussion, I offer thefollowing definition:

“Conflict is thestruggle for some-

thing that is scarce or thought to bescarce. In a group, it may be attention,power, status, influence, the right to fill arole, and so on” (Johnson, 1992).

Do these scenarios sound familiar?

■ Barbara and Claire can’t stand eachother.

■ Sarah has the children in her classroombless the food before they eat.

■ Management wants this today and thattomorrow.

■ Before Donna can do something, shehas to ask a million questions.

■ Four months ago, you scheduled theconference room for 2 p.m. today. A red“Do Not Disturb” sign hangs from thedoorknob.

■ Jennifer makes you uncomfortablebecause you never know what she isthinking.

■ George and Gloria disagree on how toimplement the Parent Literacy Program.

These situations speak to potential sourcesof staff conflict: access to and control overresources, differences in individual per-ceptions, interpersonal relationships,personal versus organizational values,preferences, expectations, communicationbetween and among management andstaff, and behaviors and mannerisms thatsimply get on your nerves.

Given the range of things that can causeor contribute to staff conflict, and thelikelihood of workplace conflict, I offerthe following principles:

Principle:Conflict is common if not

inevitable.

The familiar tale of the nine blind menwho, as shown above, came to nine

Yvonne Jeffries is amanagement consultantwho has provided trainingand technical assistancein the areas of organiza-tional development,program development,staff development, andcommunity developmentfor the past 23 years. She lives in Chicagowhere she serves on theadjunct faculty of severalChicago-area colleges.She hold degrees ineducation, counseling,and social work.

Staff Development

The director’s role in managing staff conflict

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Staff Development

process, the disequilibrium is man-ageable.

George and Gloria’s conflict, morethan likely, stems from differences inphilosophy rather than personal dis-like. Both may experience any or allof the emotions mentioned above.Even so, in and of itself, their conflictis neither good or bad, right orwrong. Of greater concern than theiremotional response to a difficultwork-related situation should be thepotential negative, far-reaching, long-term impact their conflict can have onindividuals, teams, program partici-pants, and the organization as awhole if their conflict is unresolved or poorly resolved.

The reasons for a conflict tend to bemore important than the conflictitself. How many times have youheard, “He’s just doing this becausehe doesn’t like her.” This kind ofremark relegates someone’s conflict tothe status of a personal problemrather than professional differences. Ifthe conflict is assumed to be personal,professional differences such as philo-sophical, ethics, historical influences,position in the organization,longevity, and style of work are notconsidered. For example, it is possiblethe only reason Donna asks all thosequestions is to get on your nerves, butthat is not the perspective from whicha resolution should be approached.Directors do not have the power,responsibility, or obligation to changepersonal relationships. Directors’responsibility is running the center.Therefore, directors need to concen-trate on identifying reasons thatmight be at the root of the conflict.

Principle:There are conflict-makers and

conflict-avoiders

Conflict-makers and conflict-avoidersrepresent the extreme ends of a con-

■ Exercises its right to renegotiateand/or terminate its relationship withemployees whose performance fallsbelow what it designates as acceptable.

Principle:Conflict is often an opportunity

for constructive change

Conflict occurs when differences in per-ceptions and perspectives threaten staff’swillingness and ability to continue towork towards common goals and desiredoutcomes. Because of the nature of theworkplace and the individual differencesmentioned above, one can expect profes-sional disagreements, challenges, lobby-ing, and other behaviors that individualsmay employ to gain acceptance for theirpoint of view. While these interactionscan be uncomfortable and disconcerting,they can also encourage discussion,broaden perspectives and lead to con-structive change for individuals, groups,and organizations. For example, there isprobably more than one way to imple-ment the Parent Literacy Program. There-fore, George and Gloria’s conflict is alsoan opportunity to exchange programdevelopment ideas, learn more abouteach other’s style of work, and benefitthe program and its participants.

Principle:Conflict is neither good or bad,

right or wrong.

There seems to be a general discomfortwith conflict, an assumption (maybeeven a belief) that people in conflict donot like each other or do not get along.Conflict and anger are often seen as syn-onymous. Too often, we find someone toblame for the conflict. Directors and stafftoo often take sides — or are perceived astaking sides. These dynamics reflect abelief that conflict is not good. In conflict,people often display emotions such asanger, frustration, defensiveness, andresistance. This can certainly lead toorganizational and individual disequilib-rium. But if conflict is understood as partof the learning/changing/growing

tinuum. There are individuals whoseprimary purpose seems to be creatingconfusion. Conflict-makers aredisruptive. Their interest in keeping upthe confusion tends to negatively affecttheir job performance. There are alsoindividuals who will go to almost anylength to avoid conflict. Conflict-avoiders are also disruptive. Theirinterest in keeping the peace tends tonegatively affect their job perfor-mance.

Most of us, however, would placeourselves in or near the middle of thecontinuum. Most people prefer towork without conflict and when itoccurs, want to resolve it as quicklyand amicably as possible. But thedesire to do so is often complicated bypersonality characteristics, personalhistory among co-workers, personalinvestment in the outcome, and othervariables. A director who managesconflict effectively understands how tohelp employees work through theconflict that occurs and at the sametime avoid unnecessary conflict.

There is constructive resolution anddestructive resolution. When the goalis constructive resolution, the individ-uals involved want to resolve theconflict and protect their workingrelationship. There is high regard foreach other’s point of view, and theexpectation is that the outcome will bean improved working relationshipfrom which program participants willbenefit. When the goal is destructiveresolution, each person wants to win,even at the expense of others. Conse-quently, they are not able to focus onlife after the conflict. Their resolutionbehaviors consist primarily of blam-ing, shaming, and attempting to frameeach other as incompetent. While thereare probably very few conflicts thatare 100 percent constructive ordestructive, all conflictual situationshave the potential to be destructive.

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Staff Development

Principle:Conflict costs

Every person arrives at the workplacewith a conflict resolution style that isinfluenced by how conflict was managedin their family of origin. Some strategiesused in personal situations (e.g., notspeaking, withholding, telling, walkingout in the middle of the confrontation,emotional tantrums, threatening, andsaying whatever you think) are not appro-priate in the workplace. When we getinvolved in a conflict, our emotions aretriggered. Dealing with the conflict andmanaging our emotions can bechallenging. Efforts to help employeesunderstand how to handle conflictprofessionally need to begin at orientationand to be reinforced over time.

The cost of conflict varies. Its cost is mea-sured in time, money, productivity, cus-tomer and/or employee relations,opportunities, and image. Employeesmight ask themselves, “What am I willingto let this conflict cost the organization(program, department, team or me)?”

The director who recognizes conflict, doesnot judge it as good, bad, right, or wrongand deals with it from the perspective ofjob performance is generally able to keepthe cost to a minimum.

Managing staff conflict

Managing staff conflict effectively beginswith a clear understanding of how yourorganization views conflict and how itexpects conflict to be managed. Thisbecomes the framework for how directors,regardless of comfort level, manage con-flicts.

Effective directors make expectations asclear as possible. They do not concentrateon feelings and the personal aspect of therelationship. They do not focus on chang-ing attitudes. Instead, they help employeesproblem-solve so they can get at the rootcause of the conflict while managing their

emotions. When conflict is managed inthis way, employees can afford to viewconflict as a natural part of the creativeprocess.

One cannot talk about staff conflictmeaningfully without talking aboutorganizational culture. An organizationthat addresses conflict directly throughplanning meetings, individual andgroup supervision, written communica-tion, and policies and procedures, ismore likely to resolve its conflicts con-structively. When staff at all levels of anorganization have authority that iscommensurate with their level ofresponsibility, the potential for conflictdecreases and the potential for con-structive resolution increases.

There needs to be consistency betweenan organization’s identity and its will-ingness to deal with conflict. If, forinstance, an organization identifies itselfas innovative, creative, forward think-ing, customer-centered, community-based, and/or relationship-based, it ispotentially inviting conflict and must beprepared for the conflict a particular phi-losophy may generate. Organizationalefforts that require staff to cross class-room boundaries, forge new communi-cation networks, promote dialogue andcollaboration, implement a new frame-work, and wrestle with issues aroundinclusion are taking risks. Change andconflict tend to go hand-in-hand.

There are a variety of conflict manage-ment styles. One model describes thesestyles as avoiding, competing, accom-modating, compromising, and collabo-rating. The value of each style isdetermined by the situation to which itis applied. Directors who are responsiblefor modeling effective conflict resolutionneed to have the skills to use the stylethat is most appropriate for the situa-tion, even if it is not the style with whichshe or he is most comfortable.

Conclusion

Staff conflict is one of the realities oforganizational life. Conflict will arise inorganizations that are striving to man-age day-to-day operations efficientlyand effectively and strategically planfor the future at the same time. Thequestion and the challenge is: Howdoes a director manage conflict con-structively with the professional sensi-tivity needed to avoid alienating staff?

Because staff conflict can occur at anytime and for a variety of reasons, itmight be helpful to remember:

■ A director is meant to be a teambuilder, not a referee.

■ Conflict resolution is a process. Itbegins with hearing each person’spoint of view and ideally ends whenthe agreed-upon actions are imple-mented. People are different. Thevisible part of a conflict may be overbefore the emotional part. Keep thefocus on the work.

■ The level of the organization at which the conflict occurs very oftendetermines how it is handled.However, job title and positionshould not be the sole criteria fordetermining how and when a conflictis handled.

■ Interpersonal skills are a factor inhow a conflict is handled.

■ The moment people in conflict begintalking about their differences, theyare engaging in conflict resolutionand can, with support, resolve theconflict constructively.

■ Third party intervention should beused only when necessary. The thirdparty should be selected very care-fully.

■ Constructive conflict resolution ismore difficult to achieve in a win-loseculture.

■ Conflict episodes are not behaviorproblems. They are potential jobperformance issues and should behandled as such.

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November/December 2004 Exchange

Staff Development

■ Anticipate conflict and build conflict-resolution strategies into theorganizational structure.

■ People do not have to like each other to work together effectively.Personalities clash. Sometimes peoplejust do not jell. This does not have toresult in conflict. Organizations andindividuals have to be careful not to engage in “who likes whom”conversations. Avoid giving theimpression that liking each other ismore important than workingtogether.

■ A key to effective conflict resolution ismanaging the conflict — not theemotions of those engaged in theconflict. It is not productive to say,“You’re being defensive,” “You don’thave to get mad,” or “You’re tooemotional, I just can’t talk to you.”

■ Not all conflict situations require thedirector’s attention. Identify thosethat do and provide timelyintervention.

Reference

Johnson, C. (1992). Social work practice: A generalist approach. Boston, Allyn &Bacon.

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At our Exchange Panel of 300 Recep-tion in Dallas, Texas, last November, we had very interesting conversations about leadership and several key themes emerged. This will be the first of a series of articles addressing those leadership themes and answering leadership ques-tions presented to Exchange by the Panel members who attended the reception. There is an old proverb that encourages us to lift as we climb: “While you climb a mountain, you must not forget others along the way.” With that in mind, it is not surprising that one of the recurring themes was mentoring. Here are some of the questions about mentoring that came up as we talked:

n What is a mentor and how do we identify mentor leaders?

n How do we grow leaders in early childhood programs?

n How do we get more people of color into leadership positions?

n How do we coordinate career devel-opment and mentoring?

n How do we support leadership in various positions within a center or program?

n What are some ‘Next Steps’ to growing more leadership through mentoring?

What is a mentor and how do we identify mentor leaders?

A mentor can be many things to some-one interested in developing as a leader:

n A mentor can be a teacher, a trainer, a coach, or a friendly colleague who wants someone else to be as success-ful as possible.

n A mentor can provide guidance, advice, and counsel.

n A mentor can be a source of strength and advocacy.

n A mentor is a leader who creates new leadership.

If you want to find a good mentor leader, look for a great teacher or administrator who works well with adults. They can be fairly easy to spot

— easier than you might think! Look for those who:

n Are patient. Patience allows you to take the time needed to mentor another who may have some catching up to do.

n Experiment with different ways to ensure that learning happens. Mentors who make sure learners learn tend to try different teaching strategies to meet diverse learning styles.

n Like working with adults. In the early childhood field, there are those who work best with children and those who work best with other adults. Mentor leaders often work well with both children and adults.

n See others’ qualities and strengths. Those who can see what others bring to the leadership table are more aware of the various requirements of leader-ship and provide others with the opportunity to practice leadership from a place of strength.

n Want to mentor. Not everyone who is a good leader or teacher wants to mentor others. I have met many great administrators and master teachers who prefer to focus on their own work. Mentoring others may not be #1 on their list of priorities. Pay close attention to the leaders and adminis-

Child Care Exchange is all about community and Dr. Debra Ren-Etta Sullivan is Exchange’s Director of Com-munity Development. She is also the co-founder and President of the Praxis

Institute for Early Childhood Education. Dr. Sullivan has a doctorate in Educational Leadership, a master’s in Curriculum and Instruction, and a bachelor’s degree in Cultural Anthropology. She has 30 years experience as a teacher, researcher, curriculum developer, and an administrator. Her book, Learning to Lead: Effective Leadership Skills for Teachers of Young Children (by Redleaf Press), is a self-directed guide for early child-hood teachers, aides, assistants, and care providers.

ulifting as you climbby Debra R. Sullivan

LEADERSHIP EXCHANGE MARCH/APRIL 2009

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trators others turn to for help, advice, guidance, suggestions, and/or input. Those are your mentor leaders, even if they haven’t taken on an official title. When potential mentees go to the same people time and again, you’ve identified a mentor leader. Make it official!

How do we grow leaders in early childhood programs?

We often talk about ‘growing our own leaders,’ but this seems to be more difficult to implement than it sounds. Growing our own leaders means that current leaders need to mentor the next generation of leaders. This is difficult in many professions, but seems to be more so in early childhood. It can be difficult to intentionally create your own replace-ment when you’ve worked so hard to establish yourself. And, given the economy, job security may begin to take priority. Of course, this usually happens when we fall into the trap of what I call ‘scarcity thinking.’ Scarcity thinking happens when we impose limits — in this case, limits on how much leadership is needed. Scarcity thinking tells us that there’s only ‘room’ for so much leader-ship so we have to hold on to what we have. Children require an abundance of leadership. ‘Abundance thinking’ allows us to realize that the more leadership we have, the better off we will be. Abun-dance thinking relieves the pressure of making sure you’re indispensable now that you’ve finally made it to the top, because you realize that more leadership makes us more powerful and effective advocates for the children and families we serve.

Our first task is to recognize and seek out great gardeners. Gardeners thrive on the anticipation of what they can grow and what can be done with what they grow. Growing leaders in early child-hood programs will be the great con-tribution of those who seek a bountiful harvest. To grow leaders, you must sow

seeds — leadership seeds. As teachers of young children, we have expectations that children will grow cognitively, socially, and emotionally, and develop the critical thinking and decision-mak-ing skills that will help them be success-ful. To grow leaders in early childhood programs, we must have similar goals for adults. In a recent training, I was asked to talk about developmental goals for children and I was struck by how much we need to focus on some of the same goals for growing leaders. As do children, our future leaders need:

n to learn about themselves n to learn about othersn to learn about communicating, and n to acquire and increase critical

thinking skills.

We grow leaders in the field of early childhood when we provide opportuni-ties for teachers to grow and have high expectations that they will grow, that they will become the next generation of leaders, and that there is ‘room’ for limitless leadership in the service of children. We just need to put on our ‘gardening gloves’ and start planting seeds — planting the seed of leader-ship development in the minds of all those who work with and serve young children.

How do we get more people of color into leadership positions?

Historically, in the United States there have always been people of color in the early childhood profession and many of them have served as remarkable and renowned leaders. However, for most of our history, we have been unaware of the leadership provided by people of color because of the segregation that limited our experiences to people who looked like us. In present times, we are more likely to work with a diverse group of colleagues serving an increas-ingly diverse group of children. The time has come to rethink our definitions

and descriptions of leaders and leader-ship. I have met many women and men of African, Asian, Indigenous, and Latin descent who have served as leaders in other environments or who have remarkable leadership potential. Some were born in the U.S., some are immi-grants, and some are refugees. Many are currently serving as instructional assistants, teacher aides, and inter-preters, or have another supporting role in our early childhood classrooms.

Getting more people of color into leadership positions in the early child-hood field requires increased focus on access, opportunity, and expectations. Increased access happens when more highly skilled teachers and administra-tors from many different cultural and racial groups are placed in leadership positions. More opportunities to practice leadership happens when we step aside or move out of the way so that others have the opportunity to demonstrate their leadership — or learn from their mistakes. Increased expectations means working on changing our perceptions of what a leader and leadership looks like. Different cultures have different expectations of who can be a leader and how leadership is demonstrated. If we truly want to get more people of color into leadership positions in early child-hood, we have to recognize that leader-ship looks different to different people, looks different at different moments in history, and looks different in different situations around the world.

How do we coordinate career development and mentoring?

To coordinate career development and mentoring it is very important to know where people want to go, who they want to be, and what they want to do. Often, career and professional develop-ment is provided to increase program quality, and that is a very, very good decision. However, if you also plan to match career development with mentor-

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ing, it is important to understand staff members’ professional development priorities. And there will always be those who aren’t sure where early child-hood education is leading them. A good mentor always helps others ‘see the next step’ in their careers.

I’m always intrigued when I’m working with a teacher who cannot see herself with an Associate of Arts degree until she finally completes the Child Devel-opment Associate Certificate. All of a sudden, she begins to think about the possibility of taking the next step. One of the challenges that I hear time and again is that if ECE classroom teachers get a degree, then they will leave the field. I think we should expect people to leave and we should be willing to let them go. If we are truly growing leaders, we should have the next generation of entry-level teachers and aides already lined up! Find out what individual staff members want to do and match them with others who do their jobs well! And make sure you have a very good evalu-ation process. A superb performance evaluation process includes next steps for career development and mentoring.

How do we support leadership in various positions within a center or program?

A key ingredient to supporting leader-ship in various positions within a center or program is recognizing that everyone has leadership potential and responsibil-ity and that leadership is needed at ev-ery level of a program or center. It is true that a chain is only as strong as its weak-est link, so excellence, accountability, responsible decision-making, passion, dedication, commitment, and creativity must be present at every level and must live in every individual. A mentor leader understands that leadership can happen vertically, horizontally, diagonally, and outside of any box we create. I cannot begin to count the number of times I’ve heard early childhood program staff dis-

count a leadership opportunity because “I’m just a cook” or “The custodian’s work doesn’t have anything to do with leadership.” I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: To a young child, all grown-ups are leaders and all grown-ups have the power, resources, ability, skill, and means to do whatever they want. Chil-dren do not distinguish between roles, positions, and levels like adults do. To a three year old, all grown-ups have superhuman powers. A creative mentor leader makes sure everyone has an op-portunity to be in charge of something and provides opportunities for every adult to be successful and shine.

What are some ‘Next Steps’ we can take to grow more leadership through mentoring?

The answer to this question calls for a two-pronged approach: One for po-tential mentors and one for potential mentees.

First, potential mentors:

n Reflect on your knowledge of human development. Growing leaders takes time, much like facilitating children’s social, emotional, and cognitive development.

n Remember self-care. While you are mentoring another, do not neglect your own professional development. You’ve heard it more than once: Put on your own oxygen mask before as-sisting others.

n Step aside! Let others lead, pay attention to the leadership skills and qualities of others, and let them prac-tice. This may mean sharing control and/or power, so start adjusting now.

n Provide opportunities for others to be in charge and do not, under any circumstances (barring physical harm and damage or extreme loss of resources), step in and take over.

On the other hand, do not set mentees up for failure. A mentor leader does

not put mentees in positions they aren’t trained for or give them projects that outweigh their qualifications.

Have high expectations for your men-tees and trust that you have mentored them well. I once coached a teacher who had more than 40 years of training and mentoring experience in early child-hood. A few years ago she told me that she was thinking of retiring, but felt she couldn’t because she didn’t believe the next generation of trainers could make the right decisions for the organization. Trust in your ability to mentor and trust in your mentee’s ability to lead.

For potential mentees:

n Find a leader in your center, program, or organization and ask for mentor-ing! So often, I meet potential leaders who have never asked for mentoring, guidance, advice, or counsel from ol-leagues or supervisors.

n If you are not ready to ask for a mentor, pay attention to those whose work you admire and make note of what makes that person a good leader, a good teacher, a good administrator, a good family support advocate. Focus on successful skills and qualities and start practicing!

n Pay attention to the people who others seek out for guidance, counsel, advice, suggestions, and input. That person may be your future mentor!

n Look for opportunities to be in charge of a project or shine in some area where you know you have talent. Stepping up to a leadership role will help you get noticed and find a men-tor leader.

n Remember that it is your leadership that will guide children’s futures, so don’t wait for a mentor leader to find you — go find a mentor leader!

n Remember that you, too, have knowl-edge of human development, so have patience and give yourself time to grow and develop.

LEADERSHIP EXCHANGE MARCH/APRIL 2009

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LEADERSHIP MARCH/APRIL 2009 EXCHANGE

I have to remind myself that mentoring and growing leaders requires attention and reflections on both sides. Mentors must remember to step back and let new leadership emerge. Mentees must remem-ber to step up and practice leadership when the opportunity presents itself. We can have a strong leadership base in early childhood education if we all do our part and lift as we climb.

Order Debra Sullivan’s bookLearning to Lead: Effective Leadership Skills for Teachers of Young Children

from the Exchange web site:www.ChildCareExchange.com/catalog


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