Mastery of the management dimensions will not guarantee us an easier journey. However, it will provide us with some tools to help us carve our own path along the way.
-Sharon Hutchinson-Jones, Family Services Administrator Schenectady Community Action Program, Inc.
Module 1
What is Management?
Outcomes
After completeing this module, participante will be able to:
- Describe the four dimensions of management: planning, organizing, influencing, and evaluating
- Relate the dimensions of management to their roles in Head Start
- Define the management skills and activities involved in performing their jobs
Key Concepts
- All staff members and parents perform management activities within their own scope of work.
- Head Start staff and parents working together apply the four dimensions of management to their daily roles and responsibilities to effectively provide quality services for children and families.
- Program objectives are achieved when everyone works together as a team to practice the four dimensions of management.
Background InformationIn many programs, sound management principles create the foundation for quality services for children and families. Parents and Head Start staff from all levels of the program constantly participate in processes that affect the overall quality of the program. However, as the needs of children, families, and communities shift, programs must help staff and parents recognize their roles in the management process and understand their impact on the quality of services. The first step in this task is for programs to help staff members and parents define management in Head Start.
In this module, participants will first define the four basic dimensions of management: planning, organizing, influencing, and evaluating. Then they will reflect on how these dimensions of management relate to their personal lives and their roles in Head Start.
Management in Head Start is a team process that requires all participants to understand their roles and responsibilities. The management process is based on a vision shared by all Head Start staff and parents—to provide quality comprehensive services that enhance the lives of children and families. This common vision requires every team member to participate personally in management activities.
The four dimensions of management include the skills needed to successfully participate in managing a Head Start program.
- Planning involves defining program objectives and the strategies for attaining them. Having an ongoing process for program planning is an element common to all quality programs. There are two types of planning: long-range and operational.
- Long-range planning is an ongoing process that begins with an assessment of community strengths, needs, and resources as well as emerging trends. Using these findings, Head Start staff can identify overall goals and short-term program and financial objectives that support the program's mission. Long-range planning is an inclusive process that requires shared decision making among board members; policy council groups, agency administrative staff, Head Start program staff, and other community organizations.
- Operational planning involves developing and implementing the strategies, activities, timelines, and responsibilities to carry out the program according to all Head Start requirements. Operational planning, sometimes called short-range planning, is more detailed and focused on the day-to-day program operations. Planning in this manner provides staff members and parents with a map for fulfilling their roles and responsibilities.
Long-range and operational planning are essential for effectively meeting the changing needs of the Head Start community in the twenty-first century.
- Organizing involves using structure, process, and procedures to divide work into specific tasks and responsibilities so the program runs efficiently. Organizing requires both long-range and operational program planning.
Organizing includes establishing organizational structures that help staff achieve program objectives and support a coordinated team approach to service delivery; developing guidelines that describe the major roles and responsibilities of each staff member; and creating schedules to adequately supervise and support staff and parents. It also includes maintaining record-keeping and communication systems that provide information to parents, staff (including Head Start, delegate agency, and grantee agency staff), policy groups, and the community.
Organizing is essential for performing individual tasks more efficiently and helping programs integrate and coordinate services.
- Influencing involves directing, motivating, leading, delegating, and collaborating among staff, parents, and other agencies. It includes recruiting, training, and developing staff members and volunteers who possess the skills and commitment needed to provide children and families in the program with high-quality, comprehensive services; orienting and placing staff in positions that match their skills and experience; and helping staff and volunteers meet the challenges they face in these positions.
Influencing also involves communicating to ensure that tasks are clearly understood and completed and that program objectives are met. To influence others in a positive manner, the governing bodies, Head Start staff, and parents should create and sustain an environment of partnership and collaboration across all elements of the program.
- Evaluating involves monitoring the day-to-day operation of the program to ensure that it meets the Head Start Program Performance Standards. This requires frequent reviews of program plans to check whether the program objectives are being met or whether adjustments are needed. It also requires using reporting systems to check program performance and operations.
At the individual level, evaluating involves personal responsibility and willingness to follow the program's standard of conduct for interacting with children, families, and other staff. It also deals with a personal commitment to provide the best possible service.
Like the other dimensions, evaluating is a continuous process. It requires a self-assessment process that provides quality-control measures and follow-up procedures.
The delivery of quality services to children and families requires the coordinated efforts of every staff member. Staff and parents play a crucial role in supporting the program's comprehensive approach. Staff members and parents can work together to plan, organize, influence, and evaluate. In other words, they can work together to manage their programs.
