100 Posts in 100 Days
Eleven days ago, in Post 77: Getting Specific, I wrote that one of my mastery goals this year is to:
“Help teams and individuals in my school work together interdependently”
I also wrote that an action I could take to work toward that goal is:
“Be a connector: I have the ability to design certain meeting and professional learning agendas. I can ensure that there is more time with all impacted stakeholders in the same space (in person or virtual) and less time with me as a liaison between groups.”
Today was a step in that direction. Next week our full faculty will be on campus to prepare for the new school year. Which means this week we have various faculty members on campus doing their own preparations.
When the school year ended last June, there were unanswered questions and unmade decisions about some aspects of professional learning for faculty that we are planning for this year. Some of those questions need to be resolved and decisions need to be made before our full faculty returns next week.
I could have worked on the items over the break, but that would have risked enabling codependent behaviors.
I could have just made decisions and recommendations on my own, but that would have risked the kind of independent behaviors I cautioned against in Post 72.
Instead, I played the role of connector. I brought together leaders from different departments in our school who share responsibility for the work we are planning, but who have different roles in the work. My action step says that I have the ability to design these kinds of sessions. So, just getting everyone in the same room would be insufficient. Here are some of the steps I took to design today’s shared experience:
- I scheduled this meeting back in June, knowing the work needed to be done quickly when we returned.
- I focused the meeting on one big idea, with two outcomes.
- I prepared each team individually prior to the meeting by previewing what we would focus on, providing a document for feedback, and informing them what they needed to bring to fully engage in the conversation. I did this via email and in person, for both groups.
- I set the room up in advance. Participants entered with name tents on the table marking where they should sit and the materials they would need to engage in the work.
- At the end of the meeting, I asked specific members to take on the role of synthesizing the discussions and sharing documents that we can all respond to.
The work of these teams is still in progress, so it’s too soon for me to say that we have results or were successful. What I can say, though, is that it felt really good to observe these teams working together. We were in sizable groups and we had only 60 minutes to work. From my vantage point, a lot was accomplished in that hour. Also from my perspective, my role in that hour was to provide the background information and tools for the individuals and teams in that room to be successful. What I did not do in that hour was “manage” them or their behavior. Any “hard work” that I did for today took place before today. It was in the planning, communication, and design before today that made today feel good. And, that helped me to take a step toward my goal.