NEWSLETTER January 2010
“Self Managing Learners? Self Managing Teachers?”
Teachers are often striving to develop independent learning skills in their pupils. We readily see the value in this for learners to self-manage aspects of their own educational development. But what about teachers themselves? What are our CPD programmes doing to develop teacher-self management? Imagine a school where every member of staff knows exactly where the organisation is heading and what his or her individual role is in helping achieve those goals. Imagine that people are clear about what they need to succeed, and that each individual takes responsibility for his or her own success. What might your school achieve if this were your situation? How would your own stress levels decrease as a result?
Creating this kind of organisation is possible, but it requires not just good leadership but also good “followership” as well. This means that all the staff of a school, not just those called managers, must learn how to identify their own development needs and to ask for what they need to succeed. Too many people are still waiting for someone else to do it for them. People often complain: “My head teacher hasn’t done this; my manager hasn’t done that!” The truth is that most senior managers can no longer play that role in schools with today’s limited time and people resources.
In today’s busy work environment, school managers find themselves with less and less time to devote to those who directly report to them, let alone to those many others in the organisation who from time to time need to communicate with “the boss”. So how can individual teachers, as the “direct report”, help their managers to manage them most effectively? Here are three areas to focus on:
- Working together to set clear goals
- Working together to identify competence and commitment on each of these goals
- Learning how to ask for direction and support
All good performance starts with clear goals. This is common knowledge but hardly common practice in many of today’s organizations. It is amazing how rarely there is agreement between what people say their job involves and what their manager says it involves. In most organizations, be it school or elsewhere, goals only get clarified when someone does something wrong or doesn’t do what is expected. Only then is the goal-setting work completed properly.
The secret of effective goal setting is for each individual member of staff to reach agreement up front with their line manager about what their professional development objectives should be. When this is the case, each individual can more clearly understand what good performance should look like. Managers and their ‘direct reports’ can then come together and work out any differences. Remember, this is not a win-lose confrontation. The aim is to agree on target goals that both direct report and line manager agree can be achieved. Here are five win-win guidelines:
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Limit the number of goals to between three and five.
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The teacher’s current level of performance on each goal needs to be identified followed by identifying the level of performance that the School Improvement Plan or department plan or CPD plan has specified. The discrepancy between the current level and the desired goal becomes the area for improvement.
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Set a deadline for reaching that new level.
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Both the direct report and the line manager should make copies of the goals and keep them close at hand.
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Refer back to these goals often and see if behaviour matches the goals.
Development Level 1 (“Enthusiastic Beginner”): When first beginning a new task where they have had little, if any, prior knowledge or experience, most individuals are enthusiastic and ready to learn, but they are necessarily at a low development level for the task. Such a staff member should be led by a Directing style. They need to know what to expect and how to do the task at hand.
Development Level 2 (“Disillusioned Learner”): As the development level of that person increases, his or her competence and commitment fluctuate. When people begin to learn a task, they can find it is either more difficult to learn than they thought it was going to be or is less interesting, and they become less motivated to continue – at worse they become disillusioned. People who are disillusioned need Coaching—high direction to continue to build skills as well as high support to address their low commitment.
Development Level 3 (“Capable, but Cautious, Performer”): As competence continues to improve, most individuals go through a self-doubting state where they question whether they can perform the task on their own. Their line manager may say they’re competent but they’re not so sure themselves. These alternating feelings of competence and self-doubt are indicative of a higher level of development. Here a Supporting style of leadership is most appropriate. These individuals need to be listened to and encouraged but do not need much direction, since they have demonstrated that they have the competence to do the task.
Development Level 4 (“Self-Reliant Achiever”): Finally, in the highest level of development—where someone demonstrates high levels of competence and commitment—the corresponding leadership style to use is Delegating. This means giving that person increased autonomy for doing the job he or she has demonstrated both competence and commitment in doing.
Learning How to Ask for Direction and Support
Rather than wait for the line manager to take action about a person’s performance, the direct report can take the initiative by stating the level of support they need from their manager. The key phrase that will help someone get both increased direction and support from his or her line manager is “I need.” When “I need” is stated in a sincere, straightforward way, people are compelled to help. “I need” is a direct way to ask for what you need without stepping on other people’s toes.
When staff members find themselves in need of more direction from their manager and they are at Development Level 1 on a task, they should say, “I need some direction (or instruction) on this task”
- What does a good job look like?
- What should I accomplish first and when is it needed?
- Who does this really well and could show me how to do it?
When your colleagues are at Development Level 2 and need both direction and support they should say, “I need some direction and support on this task”
- Can you tell me if I am on the right track here?
- Remind me why this is important to do?
- What priority does this task have?
If they are at Development Level 3 and need mostly support, they should say, “I need some support on this task”
- Am I doing this properly? Help me to build my confidence by listening to a few of my ideas on this.
- Do you really think I can do it? Remind me of how I did with this sort of thing in the past
When people are at Development Level 4 and can do the task well most of the time and are looking for new opportunities to grow, they should say: “What new projects are available for me to learn?”
- This is getting to be routine now – How can I increase my skills?
- I have an idea for a new project I would like to run by you.
- Who do you think might benefit from my experience?
Working Together for Success
”Managing up” does not mean going it alone. It means taking initiative for your own individual success and learning how to collaborate with your line manager. Those who know how to ask for what they need to succeed will benefit the organization and also themselves. Individually, they have a greater sense of purpose in their jobs and their lives; collectively, their involvement and commitment translate directly into continuous improvement of workplace systems and processes. These people bring their best ideas and initiatives to the workplace with a sense of excitement, ownership, and pride. The result is a highly motivated and effective school staff—and an organization that is well positioned for success now and into the future.
copyright Behaviour & Learning Management