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06/26/2003

Evaluating Director/Staff Relations

"Management principles:  Tell the truth.  Prove it with actions.  Listen to the consumer.  Manage for tomorrow.  Conduct public relations as if the whole company depends on it." - Arthur H. Page


EVALUATING DIRECTOR/STAFF RELATIONS

Getting an accurate reading on the nature of interpersonal relations among the staff members in a program is not an easy task.  In the September 1981 issue of Child Care Information Exchange, Tedi Simonowsky (who was then the director of the Kinderkeller Child Care Center in Berlin, Germany) offered this approach:

At staff meetings she asks staff members to give her an idea of their cares, concerns, and attitudes by writing out responses to requests such as: "List three bad things that happened with your children last week." "What is the most important thing that you learned in this staff meeting?" "What was the most boring part of this session?" "What do you want covered in in-service sessions?" "What are the worst/best things you see other caregivers doing with children?" "What would you like to be able to do differently?" and "What questions would you like me to ask you next time?"  Ms. Siminowski reports that she benefits from the useful feedback the answers provide on staff attitudes.  In addition, she says the staff "gets a lot of satisfaction when I report back to them what they have collectively reported to me."



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