Changing Manager

[Melba]

Can I ask have any of you ever stepped down from manager to being a deputy?

I am considering this as a move as I no longer feel able to give enough to every aspect of the job and now have the chance to take on the SENCO role which I have always been interested in. I can't add it to a long list of the things I don't have time to do, so would rather concentrate on that in the future.

[Guest]

No I haven't , I would find the task hard stepping down but it sounds right for you and I fully understand the need to concentrate on area and being able to give it your all. So good luck

[Inge]

yes , I did it... parents took a long time to stop coming to me for everything..I had to get used to saying that they should see xxx now as I could not make that decision.. or they would need to deal with it etc...

Luckily in my case deputy and I swapped roles.. and very little actually changed in the running of the setting, so no sweeping changes for change sake.. as all was in place and running well...

I did act as a sounding board and there for advice if needed...

I did it for health reasons.. as I needed time off so was not there all the time... we had 2 deputy roles so this worked for us..

Have you thought about delegating more.. not sure if everyone can do this but before I decided to step down the deputy was doing all the planning , I checked it etc, but all staff had input and she put it together... I had a look at things I did that could be shared out.. and reduced the workload.. I felt this gave them all a chance to expand experience, and often we found someone who had strengths in an area wanted to do it..

when we did swap roles she kept the planning and I did H&S and Senco and kept the Child protection as I had done more training .

It is a case of stopping yourself and referring to the new manager.. you have to be able to do this and not have the need to be in control.

[sunnyday]

Self-confessed control freak here - so no I wouldn't/couldn't step down :blink:

But sounds right for you Melba..........think I might start with a 'list' of what needs doing and when.......

Sound advice there from Inge - would it be your deputy taking over?

[Melba]

Thanks Inge, I'm glad it can be done.

Basically I have tried delegation and it just hasn't really worked.

The real problem is that we have got bigger and bigger (6 staff under me when I started and now 15) and everything has got more and more complicated. But that just means my existing staff are less and less willing to do any more than they are now.

It needs someone to really take on the business side and run it but the admin person I have now will only do little bits of it.

Obviously we have many more children now than before as well and every year there are more SEN issues, more CP, higher expectations from inspections and generally just more of everything.

Unless I force the issue I feel that I will just be run into the ground by it all and eventually leave anyway.

Yesterday evening I had a member of staff sending a narky email about not being paid enough even though she refuses to train or take any sort of responsibility at all and I have always bent over backwards to help her. None of us are paid that well after all.

It is just all getting to be a chore not the pleasure it used to be.

[Fredbear]

Oh Melba I was sorry to read your post, but truly understand where your coming from. I could have written it myself sometimes.

Only you know whether you could change roles in the same provision, it is about letting go I suppose, but good luck with your decision making.

[mundia]

Ther are a few things you might need to think about, unless you are lucky enough to be to do a swap with the deputy, as Inge suggested.

Things like:

Is there someone who would want to take on the manager role, and could do it well, or would you need to recruit. If there are several staff who might want to take on manager role, you might need to advertise internally to give them all the same chance. If you need to recruit from outside, then do you actually need another member of staff? How would your deputy feel if you became deputy and someone else became manager, what happens to her role?

If you can sort through all the logistics which might be easy for you, or might be tricky if you are quite a large group now, then do what you need to, in order to be satisfied with the work you do. (check out my signature, its my work mantra..)

 

Good luck with the decision making.