Being A Deputy Manager!

[Guest]

Hi everyone,

 

I have been deputy manager at a full daycare private setting for about 18 months. Owned by private individuals who are not teachers. We have 105 children on roll and three rooms. I am supervisor in the older room (2.5 - 5 yrs) with average numbers 24 attending during the day, at least 20 having cooked lunch every day. Finding the balance between being in the classroom and being in the office really difficult at times. I feel a great sense of responsibility towards the staff in my room (7 - 1 full time) and there always seems to be pressure on our room to provide staff to cover ratios in the younger rooms due to staff absences and holidays. I step in for manager in her absence and we work really well together. Things are going really well, with a good staff morale, but the owners keep popping in and making 'suggestions', very often undermining what we are doing.

 

Help!!!!

[Deb]

Hi Lesley

 

Don't have much experience to offer, just wanted to empathise.

 

Do you have regular team meetings that the owners could sit in on? I can liken it a bit to our staff meetings, sometimes attended by an officer of the committee which gives them a really good idea of the reasons we do things, the restrictions we face etc. in our daily work.

 

Do you have management meetings with the owners?

 

As owners I would imagine they will be looking at things slightly differently, possibly more from the financial side and perhaps there needs to be a time and a place to discuss these suggestions. Perhaps if they were made aware of how their suggestions undermined your work, they might not have thought about it from that point of view.

 

Am sure others will come along with words of wisdom shortly.