Marcia Hebert's Blog

Happy Spring!

Each year I look forward to the first day of spring – longer daylight, peepers, tree frogs and, yes, spring cleaning!

Part of my spring cleaning ritual has always included reflecting on my work, and taking stock. Spring is my time for tossing out what doesn’t fit or work anymore, and thinking about what I might add instead. Reassessing my career goals, my long-range purpose in life, always gives me the big-picture view. From that vantage point, I can then add the details that will take me there.

As directors and leaders of early childhood programs, we entered our field with a profound sense of purpose – to craft an exemplary program; to make a difference in the lives of children; and to build a successful business. Often, as the years go by, we can begin to lose sight of our original goal. We can become consumed with the day-to-day hassles, the minutiae, so much so that survival seems our only course. We are, as they say, “in the weeds.” The big-picture has been lost to micro-management.

That’s why it is helpful to periodically step back and reassess where we are heading. Spring is my time for reflection.

If my earlier goals no longer seem realistic or important, what should I do with the rest of my life? Where do I picture myself in the next five years? What do I need to do to get there? Can I do this in my current position?

Make yourself unique. Work to acquire a set of skills and talents that no one else has – things that interest and excite you, and might become your next “work.” The more we can reinvent ourselves in our lifetime, the more options we will have – and the more successes we will enjoy.

Sometimes, reflection will reveal to us that we want to stay on as the leaders of our programs. But, we need to make some changes in how we do our work. We need to do some spring cleaning in order to get ourselves back to our original sense of purpose.

Here are some thoughts for you to consider:

Overhaul your workday. Take a close look at how your time is allocated. How often are you called upon to use your strongest professional skills? How much of your time is spent handling mundane clerical or administrative tasks that could easily be handled by a lesser-trained person? How much of your time is devoted to evaluation, development, or innovation? How much of it is consumed by maintenance activities and putting out fires? How much of your time is deliberately planned by you, as opposed to being controlled by others through phone calls and drop-in visits?

What would your ideal workday look like? How much time would you spend on professional reading and writing? How much time would you allocate to talking with your staff? When would you arrive and leave each day? How would you put your peak performance times to their best use? Sometimes it helps to keep a log for a few days to get the true picture of how your day is spent. Reading the log is usually eye opening. It generally provides some “aha” moments. And, it is a good first step in making thoughtful changes.

Focus on one of the big tasks on your To Do List – the one that has been on your list forever and keeps getting pushed to “next week.” Every time you see it you feel a bit guilty. So, start right now. Close your door; don’t answer the phone; and spend one uninterrupted hour working hard at accomplishing the first steps to completing the task. Once you begin, you’ll find it much easier to continue towards completion in the next day or two. Trading guilt for accomplishment can go a long way. “Just do it” became a mantra for me. It helped me to move through my analysis paralysis!

Give some work away. A true professional accomplishes results through others. If you try to do everything yourself, there is a definite limit to what you can accomplish. If you delegate work to others on your staff who can do a particular task nearly as well as you (if not better), you are then freed up to spend your time on tasks that best use your special skills. And, there is no limit to what you can make happen working in this way.

Work at work. There are unavoidable times when you must devote an evening or weekend to handling a crisis, to prepare, or to attend meetings. But, try very hard to resist falling into the habit of routinely giving up your leisure time to work. Working after hours will eventually have a negative impact on your health, your family, your friends, your energy, and your effectiveness during the real work hours. The other downside is that you feel less pressure to complete your work during the day by telling yourself you can get it done later at home. As a consequence, you begin to waste precious time during the day.

Avoid frustrations. If certain aspects of your job are constantly frustrating you (for example, bookkeeping or fundraising), find ways to delegate these jobs to more appropriately skilled people, or hire someone part-time to accomplish them. Save yourself for the parts of your job that require your leadership and management expertise.

Seek professional outlets. If you find that your skills and interests are not being fully challenged, explore other sources of professional inspiration. Reading in depth the topics that interest you, writing for publication, consulting, offering local workshops, or teaching at the college level, are all options and opportunities open to you

Cultivate new relationships. Look beyond your childcare center director colleagues and establish rapport with licensing workers, college professors, and others in our early childhood field. By getting to know a larger variety of people who work, in some capacity, with young children, you increase your chances of being inspired, challenged, and supported.

Develop a group of advisors. Another way to increase your professional growth is to improve your access to professional advisors by establishing an informal advisory group and inviting people to participate whose technical input and expertise you could benefit from (for example, lawyers, pediatricians, social workers, computer experts, or marketing specialists). Ask that they be available for consultation a few times a year when you need specific advice in their area of expertise.

Mix physical and mental work. Peter Drucker, management guru, often said, “Working is best organized with a considerable degree of diversity. Working requires latitude to change speed, rhythm, and attention span fairly often.” You can accomplish more, and do a better job, if you take a break every now and then to relieve a teacher, take a parent on a tour around the center, or take a short walk to clear your head.

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Become involved in non-job activities. If your entire life is consumed by your job, you will be overwhelmed when that job is going poorly. On the other hand, if you have many gratifying activities in your life, your frustrations on the job are more likely to be balanced by the satisfaction in these other areas.

Indulge yourself. Being an early childhood director should not make you a martyr. Treat yourself to an afternoon at the art museum. Plan an exciting vacation. Go to the conference at Disney World. All work and no play make directors no fun to be around.

Remember that you set the tone for your early childhood program. You are the role model for every teacher, parent, and child at your center. Give thought to what you are projecting and what others are observing, hearing, and absorbing.

Start today; clear out the cobwebs; do some spring cleaning! Take one step at a time, and breathe new life into your work. And, then, share your experience with others!

For a more in-depth conversation about any or all of this particular topic, just contact me. Let’s talk.

Preparation, preparation, preparation was, and continues to be, the quality standard of bringing our best to work each day. Leaders who are prepared for the conversation, the solution to the problem, the outcome of the situation, the resolution to the conflict, or managing the performance issue will more easily guide others to a satisfactory outcome.

When you are going to give feedback – either positive or negative – preparation is usually more important than the delivery. If I have prepared well (and have, in my mind, anticipated and planned for the many pitfalls and turns the conversation might take), the delivery will take care of itself. To a confident and competent leader, preparation, preparation, preparation is the key!

Here are some guidelines:

Content is what you say: In your first sentence, identify the topic or issue that the feedback will be about. Then provide the specifics that occurred. Stating, “I have noticed …,” “I have observed …,” “I have seen …,” helps to focus the issue, and gets right into the specifics. The specifics are those things that you have actually noticed, observed, or seen.

Manner is how you say it: How you say the feedback often carries more weight than what you say. I talked about this in my previous two posts on “Giving Feedback” (December, 2014, and January, 2015) so reread them to get the whole picture. When providing feedback, I also ask people if they understand everything that I expect. I want to gauge if they are capable or not – knowing this will help me shape subsequent conversations. And, I also tell them that, yes, they will be evaluated, but I am here to help them succeed. Not do their work for them, but to help them do their own work well.

Timing: When do you give feedback for a performance effort worth acknowledging? ASAP – as soon as possible! In real time; as close to when the incident occurs, so that the event and details are fresh in both minds. Giving negative feedback can have a different timeline. ASAR – as soon as reasonable/ready! Sometimes emotions need to settle down, and you need to get your thoughts in order so that your manner displays a tone of concern. Tomorrow, rather than right now, is often appropriate.

Frequency: How often should our staff (teachers and supervisors) receive feedback on their performance? This is really important! It makes all of the other guidelines work. I’m going to repeat myself from a prior blog post, “Everyone in your organization needs to know that someone is observing their performance and will offer feedback in a timely way.” Most of the observations are informal – as you walk through a classroom and note something (either positive or not so). This observation-feedback cycle is simply part of staff development. To be effective, it must happen frequently. Use feedback regularly to acknowledge real performance. Try to catch and respond to your team doing the job right, as much as you catch and respond to them doing something not quite right. This is how a professional relationship grows and deepens – and how you motivate your teams to bring their best to work each day.

Don’t acknowledge how things are going only once or twice a year. People want to know how they are doing – along the way. Giving feedback more frequently allows you and your team to get things back on the track before they have de-railed. Remember, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” from Giving Feedback (December 2015)?

Remember, too, to keep notes on the feedback you give. It helps you to track what’s happening with people’s performance rather than relying on your memory.

And, then, beyond feedback, are the next steps to be taken if performance is really off the mark. If no improvement is happening, then it’s time to raise the stakes. Verbal warnings, written warnings, probation and, finally, termination, are part of managing performance. They are difficult steps to take, but sometimes they are the necessary steps to take.

Much of my consulting is with Directors and Supervisors. I help them to walk through the many different kinds of performance issues they encounter. I help them shape the conversations they will have with their teachers; choose the appropriate words, tone, manner, and timing; and then, ultimately, they practice their delivery. They are ready and confident. Preparation, preparation, preparation!

If you are the director or supervisor of a program, undoubtedly you have had to address numerous performance issues. This post continues the previous topic, Giving Feedback. As you navigate one of the most stressful parts of a supervisor’s job, I hope it will be helpful to you. To set the stage for giving feedback, if you haven’t already done so, I recommend you read the post just before this one.

After the expectations for your organization have been set and communicated in several ways to the entire team, the rest becomes a pattern of supervision. And this supervision is critical to your organization’s performance.

Everyone in your organization needs to know that someone (director, supervisor) is observing their performance, and will offer feedback in a timely fashion. Most of the observations are informal – for example, as you walk through a classroom and note something (either positive or otherwise). This observation-feedback cycle is simply a part of staff development. To be effective, it must happen frequently. Use feedback regularly to acknowledge real performance. Try to catch and respond to your team doing the job right, as much as you catch and respond to them doing something not quite right. This is how a professional relationship grows and deepens – and how you motivate your teams to bring their best to work each day.

Along the way, I learned that people have a habit of becoming what you encourage them to become – not what you nag them to become. And, they will rise to the challenge if they know that you care about their professional growth.

Feedback then – constructive feedback – is information-specific; issue-focused; and based on observations – your own observations!

Be direct when delivering your feedback. Look into the person’s eyes. Get to the point – avoid beating around the bush. Both positive and negative feedback should be given in a straightforward manner. You are setting the tone for professionalism – and for a pattern of observation and conversation. So, do it the same way each time. Be sincere. Sincerity says that you mean what you say with care and respect. You can be kind, sincere, caring – and direct – all at the same time.

Avoid the phrase “need to.” It implies that something didn’t go well, but it is not clear or exact. Go for clarity and specifics when giving any kind of feedback.

Avoid giving mixed messages. Mixed messages are yes, but messages. “You’ve worked hard, but …” The word but says “don’t believe a thing I said before the but.” This style of giving feedback creates contradiction and definitely a mixed message. People leave the meeting not knowing where you, or they, stand – and the process fails.

Try these instead. “You’ve worked hard. You’ve written the first preschool newsletter, you’ve had three events for parents – and all three were successful; you’ve completed all of your progress reports, and had conferences with every family in your classroom – well before the deadline date! I appreciate your efforts, and applaud the successful outcomes!”

Or this, “I want to talk with you about the lateness of your progress reports. I’m concerned about your performance in this area and I want to give you an opportunity to discuss ‘why’ with me.”

Clearly, there are no mixed messages here. There are, however, clear, specific introductions to two conversations about performance – one positive, and one not.

Positive feedback is news or input about an effort well done. In positive feedback situations, express appreciation with specifics.

Negative feedback is news about an effort that needs improvement. Negative doesn’t mean terrible, but rather performance that should be better. In negative feedback situations, express concern. A tone of concern communicates a sense of importance and care – it provides the appropriate level of sincerity to the message. The purpose of negative feedback is to create awareness that can lead to correction or improvement in performance. If you can’t give negative feedback in a helpful manner, you defeat its purpose.

Tones of anger, sarcasm, or frustration tend to color the language of the message, and turn attempts at negative feedback into criticism. The content of the message gets lost in the noise and harshness. The flip side of this is also true. Apologizing, uncertainty on your end, an indirect approach, beating around the bush – and worst of all, hugging or touching if the person becomes emotional – also causes the message to be lost.

So, now that you are aware of some of the potential pitfalls and some of the successful techniques, start practicing. If you have a tried-and-true strategy for addressing concerns, continue to use it! But, if you are the person who would rather let things go, and hope for the best – instead of confronting a performance issue – then begin with small steps and try it this way.

Once you begin to address concerns in a timely fashion; once you have a template for shaping your words and conversations; and, once you meet with satisfaction and turn a performance issue around by giving feedback, you will be empowered. It gets easier each time you do it. You still have to prepare, but your delivery becomes more confident, and the results more successful.

Stay tuned for the final Giving Feedback … (Part Three), in February.

What I have learned in managing hundreds of people is that ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.’ In other words, if I can prevent something from happening in the first place, then I won’t have to deal with it later. Time is a precious commodity to the director of a child care center; how to make the most of it is the never ending quest!

Many directors struggle with giving constructive feedback to their teachers. Many try to avoid it and hope that poor performance, or even missing a deadline once, will somehow improve on its own. I’m here to tell you that it does not happen on its own. Directors must intervene in some way to bring the problem to light, and to set the appropriate expectation for future performance.

I am a big believer in setting specific and clear expectations for my team. Knowing what and how we must do our work sets the stage for success. On the first day of employment, teachers must receive clearly written policies, procedures, and job tasks. They must also receive a copy of a self-assessment or evaluation, so they know from day one how they will be evaluated, and on what criteria.

A couple of my earlier blog posts address setting expectations in more detail. Take a look at the January 2011, April 2011, and May 2011 posts to build a solid foundation.

I think it’s important to present performance expectations to the entire team at the start of each school year – for everyone to hear once again. In going through the job tasks and responsibilities, be sure they are written in detail, and specific enough so that there is no question as to what you expect your team to do. From the start of the year, each teacher should know that there will be rewards or consequences – that evaluations will be based on performance expectations – and that some part of compensation (perhaps a bonus) will be linked to performance. This is the cause-and-effect tool missing in most child care programs – a tool that is, by far, one of the most effective for managing a program.

Drawing from our very generally written program job descriptions, we developed a more detailed, specific list of job tasks and responsibilities. These were the expectations for teachers who worked at our program – this is what they did.

We also created teacher competencies – a notch above the job tasks. And, this was how the most effective teachers performed their tasks at our program.

Of course, the most effective teachers were rewarded for their greater efforts by receiving higher bonuses; having two levels of performance proved to be a quality strategy in our organization. Awareness that those who worked more diligently, more effectively, were then recognized for their performance that exceeded expectations, spread through our organization. After a while, those who simply did enough to get by looked like they were not working very hard, because the others were all moving into the higher level of performance – the competency range. At this point, the performance bar in the organization was raised. And, it continued to do so.

Who benefited? Everyone – but especially the children!

So, we’ve set the stage for performance. Clear expectations are in place and have been communicated in several ways to the entire team. The rest becomes a pattern of supervision. And this supervision is critical to your organization’s performance.

What happens, then, when someone doesn’t follow the expectations set? My next two blog posts will give you specific tips, appropriate language to use, and guidelines for giving feedback.

Stay tuned …