Time and Priority #SAVMP

Google Calendar is a contact- and time-management web application offered by Google. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Again as part of the SAVMP, George wrote:

As time management is a crucial part of leadership, I would love if others shared some advice on “time management.” I have some big beliefs on time management in schools:

1. If it is important (priority), you will make time for it.
2. You should never look at doing more, but doing things better.
3. For every thing you are willing to “add” to your plate, you need to take something off.

What are some of your thoughts/suggestions on effectively managing your time and the time of others in your school/organization?

Time management, who has time for that? Well, I guess that I do. You see, I have been refining my time management skills for years. Here are a few of my practices, in no particular order, that seem to reap the most benefits.

1. Everything goes into google calendar.
2. My administrative assistant does almost all of my scheduling.
3. Every appointment is set to give me an alert five minutes in advance. My phone beeps for each appointment (as long as I remembered to turn on the volume).
4. I am learning to say no.
5. I am learning to stay out of the things that I like, but are not Important. For example, when there is an exciting tech problem, I work hard to stay out of it. The IT/TI guy at school understands, when he starts to go into detail I give him the signal. Since we have talked about this at length, he understsands that this is not an insult - it is the opposite.
6. Trust others to do their jobs. (See #5 above)
7. Frequent reviews of my todo list. I can't follow GTD systems, but many of the precepts are helpful.
8. I schedule things like visiting classrooms so that they happen more. I usually do the things on my calendar.
9. I get tips and ideas about principal productivity from Justin Baeder at the Principal Center
10. I spend a fair amount of energy creating and tweaking systems so that I do not have to do everything myself. Fortunately, the admin assistant at my school is awesome. She gets it.

Well, that is all that I have time for on this topic (joke intended ;).

Promoting Critical Conversations #SVAMP

Conversation (Photo credit: Search Engine People Blog)

Recently, George posed the following questions as part of the SAVMP.

How do you create a culture where  “pushback” is encouraged?

How do you create a team that will give you honest feedback?

These questions shape much of the work that I do as principal. There are so many factors to consider when trying to encourage these critical conversations. What was the culture in the past? How did the previous principals do things? Where are the centers of influence amoung the staff? Who will be honest and forthcoming with the principal?

I believe that things take 2-4 years to become clear to a new principal. During the first few months, there is so much to learn that a principal can only go shallow into the issues. Over time, personalities emerge and things start to become clear. Some staff really do seem to put the needs of the kids above all else - sometimes to their own detriment. The scale slides from there all the way down to those rare staff members who seem to have lost most interest in doing right by kids (I am lucky to have no one like that at my current school).

Much like good teaching, good leadership requires a firm set of principles and a fair amount of differentiation. For example, there are some staff who need little encouragement to come tell me what they think. For others, I may schedule a regular meeting just get them to tell me anything at all. Knowing which strategy to use for which staff member is the key. For some a scheduled meeting is just a setup to miss things; they might need me to come find them on an unscheduled basis if we are going to talk. Again, like a good teacher, I have to solicit and accept feedback in different ways from different people.


A second key factor to promoting critical feedback is being clear about when it is welcome. For years, I have tried to get good at using a decision making matrix like this one that I got from a consultant years ago. There are many variations out there, but the idea is the same. Be explicit about what you want from staff when making decisions. I get better feedback, when I tell people what kind of feedback I am looking for. This even works with editing. I usually tell folks that I am looking for proofreading or content editing or both. Seems to me that most school staff want to know what the principal is looking for.

Decision making styles from the chart are as follows:
Type 1:  Leader announces decision to the team and seeks support but does not ask for any input.
Type 2:  Leader has formulated an opinion about the best alternative for the decision s/he is making, but is testing it with the team to see if s/he is persuaded to rethink it before implementation.
Type 3:   Leader has a decision to make, but does not have an opinion about the best alternative.  S/he is asking the team to provide input and directions to guide decision-making.
Type 4:   This will be the team’s decision.  Leader’s participation and input will be considered along with others, but will not override others’ input.
Type 5:   Leader believes that others are better able to make this decision.  Leader will be a resource and will guide the process, but let the team make the decision without his/her involvement (unless asked) and support their decision.  Leader will ensure that decisions are aligned with policies, strategic direction, legal issues, etc.
Type 6:  Leader acts as if s/he is an outside facilitator. The decision is the team’s.  Leader believes others are better suited to make the decision, but will lead and structure the team’s decision-making process.  Leader will defer to the team’s decision.

It takes time and practice to encourage a school staff to give honest feedback. It is worth it.

Related articles

• Promoting Critical Conversations #SAVMP (dwarchola.wordpress.com)
• Sound Decision Making (principalspov.blogspot.com)

The Innovation Fork - #SAVMP

For week six of the SAVMP program, we are asked to consider "Roads to Innovation."

One of the questions to consider is: How do you go about creating innovative practices in your schools?

I use a two prong approach to fostering innovation at my school.

Prong one is to share ideas and resources with the staff. In each week's Monday Memo, I share links to interesting sounding tech tips. I sometimes demonstrate a new tool or teaching strategy during staff meetings. Last year, I tried my hand at teaching a class using only new ideas (not particularly successful, but that happens with attempts at innovation). At District PD days, I usually introduce some cool thing that I have been learning about. This first prong is all about sharing information or spreading seeds.

The second prong is where the real action is, sort of. The second prong is to get out of the way. Really, just step aside. Let the teachers do their thing. When a teacher comes to me with a new idea, I listen and offer support. I ask questions when the idea is half-baked. I try to be clear with the teachers that I am asking in order to help them. For some teachers, I say little other than, "Why not?" I often ask the teacher what they want me to do to help. Often, the answer is that they want nothing other than permission. I almost always say yes to a new idea, to an experiment. I am not risk averse. This second prong for creating innovative practice requires that I trust my teachers to be professionals - no problem there.

So, this two-prong approach is not fast, but when it works, change happens - teachers innovate.

I wrote about similar ideas for Leadership Day 2012.

Cross-posted to Connected Principals.

 

Related articles

• School as Leadership Darkroom: Developing Leaders #Savmp
• Two Roads to Innovation
• Creating Time for Teachers to Meet and Tinker With Ideas #RSCON4

 

School as Leadership Darkroom: Developing Leaders #Savmp

So, for the SAVMP program, the weekly blogging topic (#5, but only my second), that George has assigned is as follows:

"For this week’s topic, I want you to think about how you develop leadership in your buildings/work. How do you promote others to lead? This is important to focus on whether we try to “control” our people, or “unleash” their talents. What are some of the things that you do that make this happen?"

This year, as I have been focusing a bit on growing teacher leadership, I have (re-)learned two lessons about developing leadership.

Lesson one started about more than one year ago. A teacher, we'll call her Gladys, asked me if she should apply for the newly vacated position of Director of Curriculum for the district. Wow! Sure. Gladys is a great teacher with a fairly wide-ranging teaching experience. She'd proved willing and able to take on some building and district leadership roles. Go for it. But, wait. If Gladys were to go to central office, then she wouldn't be here. Not sure I liked the sound of that. I kept my reservations to myself and encouraged her to apply. More qualified applicants came forward and Gladys did not get the job. We dodged that one - this time.

That brings us to this past June. Upon the sudden departure of another district principal, the superintendent asked what I thought about Gladys becoming principal. Wow! Sure. Gladys is a great teacher with a great attitude and ability to see the big picture. Through the last year, she'd taken on even more of a leadership role in the building. But wait, if Gladys were to go be a principal, then she wouldn't be here. Not sure I liked the sound of that. This time, I shared my reservations. Gladys proved to be the most qualified candidate and got the job. No dodging this time.

A lesson from my old photography days (you know, with film), crept back into my mind. When you develop the negative (the film), it is in service of a positive (the print). Not exactly sure what that means, but the point is clear: when you actively work to develop a teacher into a teacher-leader, sometimes it works really well the teacher-leader wants to become a leader-leader.

The second lesson from the leadership darkroom, you can't always be certain of what will develop once you start processing. Hmm.

With these two lessons, back under my belt, I enter this school year right back at it. I am actively working with a teacher or two to develop their leadership. They may move on or develop into something I don't expect. I can handle that. Both lessons were part of why I loved developing photographs, and both lessons are why I love developing leaders.

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