Kinda Feeling Alone....

[Hunni Bee]

Some of you have seen from my posts that I work in a center. Im the youngest staff member there, but I am also a lead teacher and an assistant director. I have a LOT of responsibility. So much that I often spend evenings and weekends working at my laptop (which is why Im on here so much!) catching up on paperwork, doing lesson plans, scheduling activities, emailing people, etc. When the director is out, I (with the help of another teacher) usually run the building. I am not paid my worth, although Im the highest paid staff member, but I've been there almost since the Center opened and I really do give a crap whether it runs correctly.

I am in my 20's and a naturally energetic person. I love setting up and doing activities for the kids. My group does more activities than any other class, even the SA's, because I know for a fact most of our kids' worlds are kind of limited, and they don't get out much or get to do much. When we got the fish, some of them had never seen HOUSE fish or hamsters before.

My problem is when I take on the responsibility of scheduling, orchestrating and carrying out these projects, I am frequently met with resistance from other staff members and even the director. They really don't want to do anything outside of the basic schedule. Im setting up our summer program now, and I'm getting an earful of what people dont want to do and don't feel like doing. Even when I want to do things with my own kids, I am told "no" because Im needed for something else or the director doesnt want me out of the building. I have an assistant, but she really wont do a whole without me telling her to either

WWYD?

[DBug]

I've never worked with paid staff before, but I have worked with volunteers (some of whom were less voluntary than others!). The thing that I always tried to do before asking them to do something was to appreciate them in some way.

For example, when we were changing our child protection policies (which would require alot more diligence on the volunteers' parts), we had an appreciation dessert night a few weeks beforehand. Other times, I'd send hand-written notes thanking them for their involvement. We've also handed out chocolate bars, washed their car windows while they were at one of our meetings, and of course, just thanking them verbally and specifically praising the way they're doing their job.

The other thing is getting personally interested in their lives. Making sure you ask about their family, their weekend, hobbies, etc, whatever they like to talk about most. People are more likely to do things for you when a) they feel like their efforts are appreciated and b) they feel like they're doing it for a friend, not a boss/supervisor.

Don't know if it'll work for staff, but it's worth a try