Activity 1-3:Everyone Manages at Work Purpose: Participants will recognize the management skills that they use at home and at work. They will also identify the value of planning, organizing, influencing, and evaluating as a team.


Materials:
Handout 2: The Dimensions of Management
Handout 4: Planning
Handout 5: Organizing
Handout 6: Influencing
Handout 7: Evaluating
 Chart paper and markers

    Introduce Activity

  1. Begin by stating that the management process can be compared to going on a road trip:

      Planning: selecting the destination and reviewing the road map

      Organizing: tuning up the car and packing resources needed for the trip

      Influencing: motivating people to share driving and entertain children during the trip

      Evaluating: determining when you need gasoline and monitoring if you are on schedule


    Ask for Management Examples

  2. Explain that everyone uses management skills to some extent at home and at work. Ask the group for examples of management activities that they perform at home and at work. Some examples include:

    • Writing to do lists
    • Scheduling and attending meetings
    • Following up on assignments and projects
    • Balancing a checkbook
    • Asking friends to help with projects

    Explain that if program objectives are to be achieved, all staff and parents must work as a team and practice the dimensions of management (planning, organizing, influencing, and evaluating).

    The use of these four dimensions can improve communication among program service delivery areas to better meet the individual needs of children and families. Their needs are better met through coordinating daily activities, identifying resources, and improving collaboration among staff, parents, and community agencies.

    Define Management Dimensions

  3. Distribute Handout 2: The Dimensions of Management and review the definition of each dimension.

    Give Examples of Dimensions

  4. Give an example of a work task that relates to each dimension. You can use the following example that shows how to determine each child's health status, or you can create an example more appropriate for your group.

    Planning how to determine if each child has a source of accessible medical home care and is up-to-date on an age-appropriate schedule of well child care
    Organizing the process and materials to ensure each child is receiving proper health care services and the procedures for diagnostic testing, examination, and treatment by an appropriate licensed professional

    Influencing the flow of accurate and understandable information to parents, encouraging parents to actively participate in their child's health care process

    Evaluating follow-up plans, health records, and status reports to track the health care services provided

    Explain Group Activity

  5. Have participants identify and select a program objective and list each one on chart paper. Separate the participants into four groups and assign each group a management dimension. Ask the groups to identify the tasks needed to accomplish the objective according to their assigned management functions.

    Distribute Handouts 4 through 7, matching the management dimension handouts to the assigned groups. Ask each group to discuss and list on the handout the tasks needed for each management dimension.

    Debrief and Review

  6. Have each group choose a volunteer to report to the entire group. As each group volunteer makes his or her report, chart the tasks for each management dimension under the objective. After each report, ask other groups if they can add tasks to the list. As the list for each dimension is completed, ask the following questions:

    Planning

    • What obstacles make planning difficult?(Sample responses:
      unexpected situations, not enough time in the workday to plan)

    • What are the benefits of planning? Planning as a team? (Sample responses: avoids confusion, helps prioritize work, improves communication)

    • What management skills are required? (Sample responses: ability to see the future, ability to set long-term measurable goals and objectives, ability to assess current and needed resources)

    Organizing

    • What happens when you do not organize your work? (Sample responses: efforts and tasks can be duplicated at different levels, critical tasks may be late or forgotten)

    • What is the value of organizing? Organizing as a team? (Sample response: improves efficiency)

    • What management skills are required? (Sample responses:
      communication, problem solving, conflict resolution)

    Influencing

    • What are the biggest challenges to influencing? (Sample responses: letting go, knowing when to delegate, knowing how to motivate, recognizing the act of influencing)

    • What are the benefits of influencing? (Sample responses: getting individuals to participate in new activities, improving quality of work)

    • What management skills are required? (Sample responses:
      motivating, delegating, directing, modeling, giving feedback, monitoring)

    Evaluating

    • What methods does your program use to evaluate? (Sample responses: self-assessments, monitoring, accreditation processes and research projects)

    • What would happen if the Head Start Program Performance Standards did not exist? (Sample responses: unable to measure quality of performance, unable to compare level of service delivery to families)

    • What management skills are required? (Sample responses: reviewing and monitoring work, measuring performance, using communication techniques)

  7. Conclude this activity by emphasizing that the management activities individuals face on a daily basis require planning, organizing, influencing, arid evaluating.

    State that these dimensions are critical management activities that everyone performs individually and with his or her work team. To effectively achieve program objectives, staff .and parents should:

    • Plan in advance to determine what tasks need to be completed

    • Organize how they will perform certain job tasks and develop the skills needed to work together

    • Use influencing techniques to motivate others and work effectively with each other

    • Evaluate their work to ensure that it is done efficiently and meets the performance standards

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