Time Management

[Guest]

Hi

I'm the FS co-ordinator in a school FS unit with 67 full time and 10 part time children. For this we have 4 full time members of staff and 2 part time. We've all been on a course about improving the quality of the learning environment so we're all aware of what we need to do but are having trouble finding the hours in the day to do it. I feel responsible if things don't 'get done' but feel that I personally can not give any more than I already do (i'd have a nervous breakdown if i did any more!). Although time is short as we all know, there are certain times in the day when I know we could all work more productively to 'get things done' sometimes its only 5 minutes here and there and its not as if staff are sat around twiddling their thumbs-the day to day running of the place takes its toll as it is-but there seems to be a lot of chatting (this is better than not getting on though isn't it?! and is essential if we're chatting about the children) and I feel like we could to with a rocket up backsides at times! We're not really keeping on top of things like sticking labels back on resouces that have come off/ensuring pencilds are sharpened and I want to move on to further improvements. Where do I begin?! Id appreciate any kind of advice, even if you think its obvious.

ps-not that it shouldmake any difference but I'm the youngest member of the team so i'm a bit wet around the ears!!

pps I'm big on 'things to do' lists but not on the 'who's gonna do it?' bit!

[hali]

Hi ive just been on a good lead good team course today, we covered time managemnent....... basically delegation was the key issue, along with believe it or not sitting at your deask (if your lucky enough to have one)BUT standing to clear paperwork or talking on the phone.

 

I know it sounds silly now but as she was explaining it it made a lot of sense... if you are standing you put paperwork where it should go not just push it round your desk and get on with the phone calls instead of chatting aimlessly, the same as if a staff member comes to chat...you are more likely to chat too if sitting comfortably in a chair!!!!!!! second part of the course is next week so will let you know more then..going to to do a big bit on delegation then (something we are all bad at!!!)

 

unfortunatly there are always members of staff that you feel that way about but you can only do your best!!!! and rockets dont always work

[Guest]

Thanks Hali- we have a desk-I think-I once saw some some wood under all the paper work !! Don't spend much time sitiing at it but its a useful tip. Let me know more when you go again next week

Cheers!

[hali]

:wacko:

 

I was moaning that i didnt have one this morning...but quite pleased now..i think

[Guest]

There are no easy answers - I think it helps if you are all singing from the same hymn sheet and the more staff you have the more difficult it is. Firstly everyone needs to agree on what is important, prioritize what you need to do - set deadlines even if you don't quite achieve them you have something to aim for. Deligate - praise them, say I think this area is one of your strengths can you be responsible for this? Allocate times for this to be done or you will find no one is with the children. Even if you only achieve a small % consider it to be a success.

[Guest]

Do you have a regular slot in the day, such as story time, where staff could be attending to these routine maintenance tasks? Or, can you enlist parent helpers?

[Guest]

We make good use of story time, singing/music and outdoor play. We also take advantage of any additional help we have this may be parents and or students.

This only becomes possible when children are settled, we have a small group of 3/4yr olds.

[Magenta]

A management course I went on a while ago suggested prioritising your action plan into 3 columns ABC - A being the highest priority.

Each task has person/s responsible and date achieved.

When a task is completed a B list task moves across and a C task into B etc.

This should be displayed prominently and referred to frequently.

We have action planning meetings fortnightly at lunchtimes so that this can be reviewed. Staff take on tasks that they feel able to do either on their own or with a partner.

I have only just started using this properly but it is working - if staff do have a spare 5 mins they have a task to attend to.

I also find that we don't seem to be working aimlessly and now have more of a 'vision'!

[Guest]

Magenta, out of curiosity how many "tasks" do you have in each list? I know thats a bit open ended, depends on priorities, but on average is your A list smaller or larger than your B & C list?

 

I just seem to always have such a very long "A" list all the time ( in my head), or this gets added to most frequently. Well, I think that would happen if I had a list

 

 

Peggy

[Magenta]

As we have 7 members of staff this dictates no of tasks on the whole. We have really had to prioritise!! Everything could so easily be on the A list!! Things are also constantly being added to the C list!! Definitely the longest!!

[Guest]

Thanks, I shall put on the top of my list in my head, start a task list tomorrow (A), or maybe Friday (, or being realistic, Monday ©

 

Let us know how you get on with it, I find that when we impliment methods for various things, that seem, and work really great, they just dwindle into a long lost memory of how we used to do things that worked well. Part of it is reviewing it regularly, oh for good management skills

 

Peggy

[Guest]

Really like the A,B,C, list idea but would have to be careful everything didn't end up in the A list.

 

I have a quick question for you all.

 

How do you get someone to do things for you when you give them at least a month to do them and then an extension of 2 weeks and they still don't do them.

 

I need a termly risk assesment sheet from her (she is our H&S rep) and even told her some af the things I needed to see in it.

 

Short of doing it myself which I refuse to do, do you have any suggestions?

 

Gizzy

[Beau]

Was it polite suggestions you were looking for Gizzy??

[Guest]

I guess yes, but you can pm me any impolite ones I could try LOL. She is also a supervisor which makes it worse in my eyes . Oh I should also mention I am a supervisor as well .

[catma]

Doyou have appraisal or performance management? You can use that to look at action plans and why things have or haven't been done. I always had an action plan which we all agreed and decided the timescales for. This was monitored by myself and the head too so it was taken seriously. I am a firm believer in involvement being a strong motivator and if people see the need for the change/development they are often more motivated to join in rather than hang back. I also had a lot of trials or pilots, with a review date of about 6 week later so things had a chance to be tweakedand staff knew that something was going to be assessed fairly and changed if it wasn't working. That way noone had to dig their heels in or admit they got itcompletely wrong!!!! The final verfsion was usually a lot more successful then because the trial got a fair go.

 

[Rea]

Oh Gizzy, I've got the same member of staff. Paperwork never arrives on time if at all but the most annoying thing, and a fairly new development is, if a member of staff is involved in a behaviour incident, she dashes in and takes over. She's doing it all the time and really, Beau, put me on the list for impolite suggestions, she's driving us all bonkers!!

[Guest]

Gizzy,

I hope this doesn't sound too obvious...Does she fully understand what is required of her?, is she confident / has the knowledge of how to do it?

Is she allocated "time" to do it?

 

Maybe ask her why it hasn't been achieved, what support she needs to achieve it (herself). and I agree, we do need to delegate tasks, but this can initially be harder work, monitoring etc than doing the job yourself. Initially is the key word though, once others are confident and able then your job load will be reduced.

 

Peggy

[Guest]

Rea, she's on avoidance mode ie: If she's too busy conflict managing then surely, she hasn't got time for (boring) paperwork

 

My staff were required to write their in / out times and total hours worked at the bottom of our register, they didn't do it consistently so it took me ages to calculate their wages. So, now I have given each individual staff a "time sheet" to be handed in ( or posted to me if they are absent) on a specific date each month...the consequence is that if I don't get them in they don't get paid until the next month , in other words they are more likely to be responsible for doing what is asked of them and they are very clear of what the consequences are if they don't do it.

I'll let you know if it works.

 

Peggy

[hali]

we give our staff time sheets to fill in each month too, then i just check them and the treasurer pays them.

[Guest]

Hali, what would you do if they didn't hand them in???

 

Peggy

[Guest]

Catma, we do have appraisals and our new and a bit scary chair is doing the supervisors soon. The staff are appraising us a well so maybe something will come out of it.

 

Yes Peggy she does know what is expected of her I even gave her a rough idea of what I wanted. She does not like confrontations with anyone and will go off in a huff and get her hubby to write a snotty letter to the committee, am waiting for one about me . As to why she hasn't achieved it she say she has no time to do it. I refuse to give it to anyone else as she does b all as it is.

 

What is your in/out time about could you explain it a bit to me please. Is this time at work or at home.

 

Thanks Gizzy

[Guest]

in/out times are at work, ( I'm not always there so it sometimes gets missed, they always register the children in/out, but sometimes forget to register themselves, how, I don't know ) the staff are expected to plan "paperwork" to be done at work, so there isn't any home hours.

 

hope that makes sense.

 

Peggy

[Guest]

Thanks Peggy, I have a memeber who also forgets to register herself in LOL.

 

How do you find time to do the paperwork at work? There are 3 of us per session with up to 18 children, if we all are not "on the floor" it is very difficult to sped time with the children.

 

Thanks again, Gizzy

[Guest]

I set Targets for all of the staff including myself on a monthly basis which come from the feedback our mentors want to see us doing

so for example: a member of staff is responsible for sorting out new pegs for the new children another two staff were responsible for organising comic relief and it works really well and takes the pressure off me. Also helps the staff with learning.

 

I find it to work well and delegation is a really good thing as everyone is then responsible for completing their set targets including myself

 

We then share with eachother what our targets have been at our staff meeting this works well. it also helps me see who is not pulling their weight around the nursery.

[Guest]

Gizzy,

Like others have suggested, during story time, or lunch time. I am also supernumery and can cover whilst staff have "time out" It's the same with planning observations, some parts of the session are busier than others. At present children our children tend to get really involved in role play during the first part of the afternoon session, they've evolved this way themselves, so not all adults are "welcome" in their play - if you know what I mean. This may of course change after a few weeks. It's about reading the childrens needs for adult input and exploiting the opportunities when they play independently ( but productively), to get on with other tasks. The "other" tasks are an important part of the job, as well as interaction with the children.

 

Peggy

 

p.s. Nothing, as I'm sure you know, is as clear as black and white. That's why an important skill of a practitioner is "Initiative".

[Guest]

Starlight,

I define a list of what needs doing, then require my staff to set their own targets, they communicate with each other more, and make choices, not just at staff meetings. As they have set their own targets/action plans, they fully understand what they need to achieve and are more likely to achieve them. My role then is to support ( resources, time, knowledge )and praise.

 

It's not perfect all the time, but does work quite well and the staff feel more ownership overall.

 

Peggy

[hali]

luckily peggy thats never happened - if it did i would just tot up the hours as i tick them in the register too along with the children!!!!

[Guest]

Thanks for your replies, its interesting how although we're all facing similar issues regarding time management they vary across the settings. Its different for example in a school as its the headteacher who is , ultimatly, in charge so at the moment I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT OF OTHER STAFF. (didn't intend capitals then!) Its so true about all needing to sing from the same hymn sheet and having shared goals but I'm not very good at implimenting this-Is it just something that takes time?

ZimX

[Guest]

Zim, I know exactly how you feel. My head is spinning, we are in an era where the focus is on "develop, improve, move forward, etc. Sometimes I think we just have to stand still for a moment, before we get spun off the roundabout altogether (Does that make sense?)

 

You appear to be spinning, seeing all the things that "need doing" and going round in circles trying to achieve them.

 

Well, hey, might I suggest, STOP, take a breath, now LIST ALL THE THINGS, ESPECIALLY THE LITTLE ONES THAT YOU HAVE ACHIEVED. ( in a day, a week, a term, it's up to you) Ask all your staff to add their achievements to the list. Now pat yourselves on the back.

 

End this term feeling positive about all that hard work you have done, have a good rest over Easter. Then when all is quiet and calm you can think about WHO is going to label draws etc, and from your "achievement" list, you will have an idea of who does what best, who likes what best etc and then DELEGATE. Good luck.

 

Have a great Easter.

 

Peggy

[Guest]

Thank you so much Peggy, thats just the sort of advice I need. The roundabout thing makes perfect sense-only tonight as I wiped off our 'to do' whiteboard a couple of the tasks we had achieved-it felt satisfying but just for a second, straight away I thought of new things to add to the list! I wipe it off instead of ticking as its only a small( child sized ) board but maybe a tick would be better as we can then visually see what we have achieved. I've just taken your advice and we have achieved SO MUCH (and thats just what I can think of)we really should give ourselves a pat on the back. Thanks again, I appreciate it

Have a great Easter too

Zim