A critique of leadership and team management style in the light of Vip model and other current theories - Essay Example

? A CRITIQUE OF LEADERSHIP AND TEAM MANAGEMENT STYLE IN THE LIGHT OF VIP MODEL AND OTHER CURRENT THEORIES number and Professor’s Name University City, Province Date Part 1: Introduction to the Interview Format and the Rationale for Adopting Main Themes ‘It takes a whole village to raise a child.’ This ancient African adage eloquently expresses the immense effort that goes into the nurturing and upbringing of a child. Few decades back, dynamics of a household were rigidly defined as father entrusted with the role of a bread winner, and the mother assigned to be the housekeeper. It was, most assuredly, regarded a woman’s duty to ensure that her husband and children were well taken care of. However, the shifting social, economical, and financial conditions, along with the increasing cost of living, has vastly evolved the thinking process, and has resulted, in many families, both parents working for livelihood. In addition, the deteriorating family structure, increasing poverty, and decreasing sense of security, has also resulted in children, from an early age, suffering from confidence and self-esteem issues. The severity of this situation can be realized from the fact that between years 2004 and 2008, eight hundred new children centers were inaugurated in UK and thirty percent of them were opened in extremely disadvantaged communities (Siraj-Blatchford and Manni 2007, p. 5). This highlights the significant role played by the nurseries and other early year’s centers in the support and growth of their respective communities. If a center succeeds in providing a safe, secure, and a neutral learning environment to its children, it not only provides peace of mind to parents, but most importantly leaves an indelible mark on children’s lives, and molds them to become better individuals. As the beginning proverb hints, taking proper care of a child requires a collective effort, which can only be possible with appropriate leadership and guidance. Therefore, to run a successful early year’s center, a manager is required to have certain specific attributes. My interview was based on three themes, which were Vision, Implementation/Operational, and People Manager/Team Management Skills of the managing practitioner. These themes were based on the “VIP Model,” which was proposed by Mark Hollingworth (2003, p. 34). According to Hollingworth, a true leader is in fact a ‘VIP,’ which stands for ‘Visionary, Implementer, and a People Manager’. These three primary leadership traits, in the light of other theories as well, will be mostly explored in this portfolio. Various other themes, such as handling parent-staff interactions, curriculum setting, goals of the center, etc. were also considered, but after careful consideration, it was deduced that Hollingworth’s three categories encompasses majority of the themes. For example, parent-staff meetings is a part of ‘people manager’ category, curriculum setting falls in the ‘implementation’, and goal setting is definitely an element of the ‘vision.’ As shown in Appendix A, The format adopted for the interview was semi-structured, consisting of mostly open ended questions. The justification of using this format was to get a deep insight into the mind of interviewee, and to judge his leadership style according to VIP model and other contemporary management theories. In addition, the interview was designed and conducted with the intention of “establishment of rapport, identification of follow-up questions, and avoidance of leading questions’ (Partington 2001, p. 4). The conversation was carried out with utmost neutrality, empathy, and without any judgmental and sarcastic connotations. On the whole, the interview was primarily structured to find out if Mr. John Smith, our interviewee, has characteristics of becoming a VIP. It should be noted that, due to confidentiality, the real names of our interviewee and care center are not revealed in this report. The significance of having a ‘shared philosophy, a shared vision and values,’ and a clear ideology, which is also evidently understood by all the staff members, cannot be denied (Whalley 2006, p. 6). To ensure the clarity and adoption of core set of beliefs, a dynamic, as well as an approachable leader is required, who himself has a lucid idea of what future should look like. Therefore, a major part of the interview was tailored to get Mr. Smith’s, from this point on only referred as John, opinions on center’s core values and mission, and his visualization of where this center is heading. No set of principles, not mattering how effective, are useful, until they are backed up by a solid plan of action, which is also implemented with precision. Utilizing available resources, and balancing ‘leadership and management,’ to create a ‘learning environment,’ involves some creative strategic decisions on the part of the leader (Siraj-Blatchford and Manni 2007, pp. 36). Therefore, another set of questions involved qualitatively measuring John’s strategic and implementation capabilities. Lastly, leader has to take on the most significant role of managing the people, which includes children, staff, parents, and other related bodies. A true leader is responsible for creating an environment that ‘facilitate(s) professional development,’ and encourages ‘team culture’ (Rodd 2006, p. 9-63). Consequently, the last few interview questions were formed to analyze John’s people skills. John had been the managing director of the River Pine Children Center1 for the past nine years, and currently has 30 full time employees working under him, in various multifunctional teams. There are 57 children registered; all of them are between ages zero to five. The first contact call was placed early in the month of September, which was met by a little bit of hesitation on John’s part. However, after getting assurance regarding the confidentiality and ethical responsibility, during, and after the meeting, he agreed to extend an invitation. Though, a formal request letter was asked for record keeping purpose, a copy of which is attached in Appendix B. The date of interview was set to be September 29, 2011, and was scheduled to take place at John’s office. As he did not agree to a recorded interview, the detailed notes were taken down for review purposes. Any clarifications regarding the questions were adequately provided, and an atmosphere of transparency, trust, and respect was maintained by both parties, during all times. Few days after the interview, a thank you letter, shown in Appendix C, along with a final copy of the portfolio, was sent to express the gratitude, and to mention any recommendations for future improvements. The following detailed critical analysis will enable us to determine John’s leadership and team-management skills, and whether he fulfills the criteria of VIP model, along with any suggestions that could be implemented for future betterment. Part 2: Detailed Analysis of Interview Responses in References with the Literature For any institution, a clear and a meaningful vision statement, which defines the basic purpose, leads to an outstanding mission statement, and proceeds to a set of core values and beliefs, is required. Therefore, for any person or a team, appointed to the higher management level, the foremost duty is to act as a ‘visionary’ and conceive a substantial and a reasoned vision, which not only possesses all of the above qualities, but also resonates with everyone within the organization. Duffy and Pugh (2006, p. 140), while analyzing the current issues in the early years settings, declared that a ‘shared philosophy, vision and principles of working with children and families at all levels and by all partners’ is mandatory. This creates an environment of mutual confidence between the center’s management, lower staff, children, parents, and other service users, and this level of buoyancy can only be achieved with the presence of a charismatic, realistic, and an inspiring leader. Therefore, the interview primarily focused on John’s vision for the center, policies he had introduced, and the ways he had involved people around him, to implement this vision. . The initial interview questions, posed to John, were designed to obtain a general idea about the center, such as, the services available, number of children registered, basic duties of the staff, and the organizational hierarchy. John was extremely candid in answering all of these basic questions, and ensured that the answers were completely understood. Wherever necessary, the extra questions, such as question 9 in Appendix A, were asked to further elaborate a certain thought. All of the general information questions were forthright, therefore, interviewee understood them well, and did not feel any hesitation in answering these questions. While describing the primary duties of the practitioners, John mentioned adherence to the Childcare Act as an obligation, which showed his level of concern towards related governmental rules and regulations. The importance of this Act cannot be denied, as it and Early Years Foundation Stage brought ‘care and early education closer together in a single statutory framework’ (Callan & Robins 2008, p. 9). Therefore, to run a successful child care center, a manager should be aware of all the emerging rules, and John surely shows that he is conscious enough to observe the mandatory policies. Another observation was John’s interest in expansion, which is one of the issues faced by the children care centers these days. John wants to partner with other social organizations and offer advanced and relevant services to his community, as these initiatives increase the well being of children as well as their families, help to combat poverty, and also advance academic recognitions (Callan & Robins 2008, p. 66). Next set of questions dealt with more specific issues, and were intended to analyze the leadership style of John. When inquired about the vision of the center, it was noted that John repeatedly said ‘our vision,’ instead of ‘my vision,’ which shows that even on the subconscious level, he has integrated his philosophy with that of the center and fellow colleagues. He knows that his organization can only survive if all of the employees are acutely aware of the philosophy behind the center and uphold its policies at all times. According to Specht (2000, p. 45), a win-win situation is only created at a workplace when both employees and management’s values align with each other, and John is certainly aware of this leadership technique, and is striving to achieve this balance. The importance of vision in John’s mind is also obvious from the intense hiring process adopted by the center. The applicants, who belong from different professional, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds, go through a rigorous hiring procedure, which is designed to find if candidate’s intrinsic value system matches with that of company’s culture. John’s opinion about the hiring matches with most of the studies that claim ‘when employee values match the company’s values, retention and engagement are significantly higher’ (Graham-Leviss 2011, p. 191). Although, adequate training can acquaint any employee to the proper working procedures, no amount of training can completely change the built-in thought process of a person. Therefore, in modern times, a meticulous and insightful hiring process should be in place, and John is certainly acting on this management principle. Other than the hiring process, the John’s philosophy stresses on providing the best possible service to its community. John has a clear idea about the center’s targeted community, and emphasizes a lot on adapting the offered services to help the children and parents in an optimal way. It is only after managing the market effectively that an organization gets a clear idea of their customer’s preferences, what services can be of advantage for them, and how their needs can be met (Bangs 2002, p. 18). John’s willingness, in identifying the community’s needs and introducing relevant procedures, shows that he is aware of this management technique. He is also aware of his shortcomings and knows that currently the center is ignoring a major part of their community, which is the single parents, working on low-end jobs. He does plan to soon open a career management center to help these people find better jobs. He does seem honest and dedicated while describing his plans for the future. Therefore, the next set of questions tried to find out about his plan of action, and management philosophies. Ken Blanchard (2009, p. 30) claims that “it takes courage to create a vision, and it takes courage to act on it.’ To implement a desired vision, the manager needs to adopt a strategy, which involves identifying the core competencies of the firm, setting up realistic short-term goals, creating an environment which encourages entrepreneurship in the employees, and setting up networks inside and outside of the organization (Hollingworth 2003, p. 37). John mentioned keeping ‘character cards’ for each employee, which is his method of identifying the exclusive capabilities of each staff member. His technique of assigning specific people to different cases shows that he definitely believes in taking advantage of the individual capacities of employees. He believes in building over the knowledge and expertise of each personality, and using the unique potentials to achieve collaborative mission. John encourages independent thinking among his subordinates; because he knows that in modern times substituting ‘old hierarchy with self-directed individuals and teams’ is the key to success (Blanchard 2009, p. 71). Take the example of ‘whisper land activity,’ mentioned in question 19. This activity was proposed by one of the practitioners, and after discussing and obtaining opinion from other colleagues, it was implemented. This shows that John is interested in listening to what his employees has to say, and does not believe in the traditional work environment with strict organizational hierarchies and no upward communication. Instead, he is in favor of an open and an enabling environment, where each and every member has confidence in the management, and feel secure enough to recommend any changes they might think suitable. However, it must be noted, that whenever any employee suggests a change, it is first presented in the staff meeting, and only if agreed upon by majority of the members, it is put into practice. This can lead to problems, such as employee A disapproving employee B’s proposal, because of some past grievances. It can also lead to increased work politics, but John does not seem to take that into account. Bartlett and Goshal (1994, p. 136) claims that in the current competitive environment, an institution should divide itself into small entrepreneurial departments, where each unit is allowed to run independently, but still tied to overall vision through appropriate performance appraisal systems. In John’s case, he has given employees authority to think creatively and entrepreneurially, but has also bound them for approval from others. This discrepancy in management practices is something that he needs to work on. Another role of implementer is setting up beneficial networks outside and inside of the organization. These networks are meant to increase the value of the services provided by the organization. John is striving to form alliances with other care giving organizations, such as advocacy groups, and adult career centers, to increase the portfolio of services offered by the center. Studies have also shown that children attending ‘integrated’ early years settings had increased learning capacities (Lord et al 2008, p. 20). Therefore, his aim is to exchange professional expertise with other organizations, and become a ‘one stop shop’ for the community members in need. He wants the center to be the first option for any local resident in any kind of trouble, and wants everyone to receive the best counseling possible. In this case, the main concern is whether the approaching organizations have the same philosophy as the center itself, but John did not seem too concerned about that. In fact, when asked about it, he gave a very brief answer saying that this is not an issue for him. Multi-agency collaborations, because of different organizational and professional cultures, and contrasting work practices, often face accountability and other logistics problems (Reed & Canning 2010, p. 129). Therefore, it is surprising that John, who is such a staunch believer in the vision and philosophy of the center, is negating the fact that some of the organizations with whom he is planning to form permanent coalitions might have completely disparate missions. This is another part of his strategy that does not agree with his overall objectives. An implementer also needs to form realistic short term goals to achieve the long term mission. Here, John also shows enough awareness, and does realize the importance of having feasible short-term goals, such as the ‘best program for food transition’ example he mentioned in the interview. He does realize that setting up the small goals, which are based on the core competencies of the center, such as hiring employees with appropriate nutrition degrees and experience, will ultimately propel the center towards the long term goal of providing the best service possible. Lastly, while talking about some of the plans for the community, John mentioned ‘empowerment,’ as one of his aims for the local people. He knows that the ‘best way to work in Children’s centers is to adopt a community development approach’ (Whalley 2006, p. 9). He expressed acute awareness of the issues faced by the neighborhood society, such as unemployment and the domestic abuse. From his tone and expressions, it was apparent that how worried and concerned he is regarding these issues and all of his actions are intended towards the goal of community regeneration. As an organizations’ vision is generally about ‘greatness and what you’d like to achieve and contribute. It comes from the heart and soul rather than from the head,’ John’s passion and mission for community service certainly fulfills the above mentioned criteria (Hollingworth 2003, p. 63). After looking at some of John’s implementation techniques, the next set of questions dealt with his people management, and most importantly team management, capacity. Callan and Robins (2008, p. 104) claim that each practitioner brings a unique set of qualities to the center, and by forming constructive relationships among each other, an optimal learning and development environment can be enabled. Here the vital point is the formation of constructive relationships, in another words team work, which, if carried out successfully, results in valuable exchange of information between experienced and new professionals. Young practitioners can learn from the past experiences of their superiors, and seniors get a chance to discover the fresh ideas of juniors. However, it must be noted that managing the dynamics of a team, requires a lot of expertise in conflict resolution and personality management. This is a responsibility that even seasoned managers are afraid of taking, because if a team is not properly managed, instead of resulting in a collective identity, it can end up in a chaotic situation of propagation of individual agendas. The proceeding analysis is based on John’s team management and conflict resolution techniques. The modern theories declare that team is referred to ‘a group of people co-operating with each other to work towards achieving agreed set of aims, objectives or goals while simultaneously considering the personal needs and interest of individuals’ (Rodd 2006, p. 149). In the light of above definition, John was asked about his opinion regarding general characteristics of a great team. He declared ‘clear and open communication, shared confidence, mutual support, and high level of acceptance’, among members, as some of the vital constituents of a successful team. He did show awareness in recognizing some of the imperative ingredients of a dynamic and a working team. However, when he was further probed regarding the prevailing team culture at the center, some flaws in his management strategy were revealed. John informed that he keeps between two to four rotating teams, as per requirement. There are no fixed teams with permanent team leaders, instead the constitution of a team and its leader is dependent on the current case they are dealing with. John provided the example of introduction of a disabled child into the center, and in this case he would favor a team leader with the most familiarity in dealing with disabled children, backed by the team members of similar expertise. This makes sense, but the striking fact to be noted here is John’s complete unawareness in realizing that this constant replacement, and appointment of new team leaders, might result in enviousness and mistrust among employees. When John was further inquired about the potential dangers of his revolving team management policy, he expressed faith in his staff, and mentioned that most of them are working here for the ‘greater good,’ and would keep aside their personal agendas in favor of collective welfare. John was asked about any past instances of conflict among teams, which he refused to elaborate, and did not provide any real example, citing confidentiality issues and center’s policy. However, He did say, that like any other organization, he has faced ideological divergence among his teams, and dealt with them in strategic and impersonal manner, by keeping in mind outlook of the majority of the staff members. He agrees with the theory of recognizing different approaches, but not letting the negative feelings of one person disrupt the mechanism of the team (Edgington 2004, p. 60). He further stresses on the importance of maintaining a collaborative environment at all times, and would go to any lengths to ensure this possibility. Overall, he did answer all the questions, but from his verbal and non verbal behavior, it was apparent that he was not comfortable justifying his team management skills. Lastly, John was inquired about the appraisal system center has in place to judge and reward the employees, and it was informed that no system is feasible at the moment. Due to the constriction of available budget, John cannot offer bonuses and other benefits. He did mention paying a competitive salary, and mentioned that majority of the employees are content with their remuneration. On the whole, the critical analysis of John’s responses, examined according to VIP model, and other contemporary leadership and team management theories, reveals some interesting and conflicting findings. He proposes a feasible and a worthy vision for the center, and possesses an impressive and imploring personality, which can convince others to join him in implementing his desired strategies. However, some of his approaches, such as blatant disregard for other organization’s philosophies while making professional alliances, and obvious indifference towards hazards of continuous change in teams, should be looked into. The following section will cogitate on the entire process of interview development and conduction, provide suggestions for further improvement, and discuss the resulting personal growth, due to this learning process. Part 3: Discussion of Interview Process and Resulting Personal Development, along with Suggestions for Future Improvements This whole process of choosing an early years center, contacting a practitioner in a leading position, composing and carrying out an entire interview, and analyzing the responses according to current leadership theories, had been a great learning and developing opportunity. It was my primary opportunity to interview a real person, and had been an enthralling, and sometimes unsettling experience. From the moment the project was assigned, I had in my mind that whom I was going to interview. The familiarity with Pine Care Service Center and a distant acquaintance with John made it an easy choice. Although, I had formally met him before, contacting him for a revealing interview was not an easy step, but his forthright and friendly demeanor decreased a lot of my personal reservations. The next hurdles were the uncertainties that plagued me while formulating the questions for the interview. The complete inexperience in devising an interview plan resulted in initial confusion, which was resolved after referring to various sources dealing with interviewing techniques. The next step involved setting out the format of the interview. Therefore, various other leadership and management resources, which were mentioned in the assignment outline, were consulted. After picking out the main theory, The ‘VIP Model’ in this case, the questions were easy to articulate. Later on, the actual process of carrying out the face to face interview also turned out to be a great evolutionary experience. The outspoken and straightforward manner of John encouraged me to ask probing questions. At the same time, his reservation towards discussing certain issues put me on my guard, and resulted in a little awkwardness during the interview. Overall, the whole interview process was successfully accomplished and resulted in my personal advancement. The primary benefit of this assignment was the familiarity I acquired of various interview procedures. Maintaining various stances during the interview to facilitate answering, deeply observing the body language of the interviewee for signs such as, agitation, anger, and confusion, along with the decisions to deeply investigate or not, are some of the techniques learned as a result of this assignment. In addition, this interview also helped in overcoming personal insecurities regarding communication, and honed my critical analysis techniques. Another advantage of this project was the gaining of the knowledge of leading theories and literature on the leadership and team work in the early years settings. I managed to learn what characteristics are required of a manager to lead the children centers in the current turbulent and competitive times. At the same time, I got the chance to polish my critical thinking, by analyzing whether John fulfills the criteria of a successful leader, put forth by the selected management theories. I also found out how to determine constituents of a long-lasting and an influencing vision, identify the core competencies of a firm, figure out steps of a suitable hiring process, and identify the ingredients of a successful team. In addition, I also learned ways to discern various management styles, and to choose a leading strategy according to the organization’s vision and culture. These finding resulted in both professional and personal development, which will definitely assist me in my future career life. On the whole, the interview process was an achievement on my part, both on academic and personal level. However, after the analysis, it was realized, that few modifications would have resulted in a better output of qualitative data, and would have provided a better picture of the John’s characteristics. Firstly, asking few situation based questions would have helped in determining how he acts in different circumstances. If a question involved a crisis situation, and various options were presented to choose from, it would have helped in discerning John’s thinking process. Also, another example could be providing profiles of various candidates, and asking John to select one, which would have further enlightened us with his hiring mechanism. Therefore, for future researches, it will be recommended to not only ask open-ended questions, but also prepare few situation based questions for the interviewee. Another factor, which could have contributed to the improvement of the interview, would have been additional conversations with other staff members and, if possible, children’s parents. These conversations would have helped in determining whether John’s vision and strategy is also adopted by his subordinates, and is shown in the dynamics of the center. Therefore, for future research purposes, it would definitely be beneficial to request for additional interviews. Interview of key staff members will show if their personal values are in synchronization with the center’s overall vision. Interview with the parents will show if they also believe that they are receiving the best possible service, as declared by John. Also, it would be beneficial to observe John’s teams in action. Spending few days at the center, observing the daily routine, and the surveying the interaction of practitioners and children, will result in a far better analysis of the situation. Here of course, all ethical and confidentiality issues should be taking into account, and any interaction with the children should respect their privacy, and should be according to the governmental rules. In the end, it should be again acknowledged that this analysis is carried out only because of John’s complete cooperation. It is further believed that the findings will be of benefit to the center’s continuing success. References Awamleh, R & Gardner, L 1999, ‘Perceptions of leader charisma and effectiveness: The effects of vision content, delivery, and organizational performance’, Leadership Quarterly, vol. 10, p. 345-373. Bangs, D 2002, The marketing planning guide: creating a plan to successfully market your business, product, or service, Dearborn Financial Publishing, Chicago. Bartlett, C & Ghoshal, S July/Aug 1996, ‘Release the entrepreneurial: hostages from your corporate hierarchy,’ Strategy and Leadership, p. 131-137. Blanchard, K 2010, Leading at a higher level: Blanchard on leadership and creating high performing organizations, FT Press, New Jersey. Market your business, product, or service, Dearborn Trade Publishing, Chicago. Callan, S & Robins, A 2009, Managing early years settings: supporting and leading team, SAGE Publications, London. Carnegie, D 1981, How to win Friends & Influence People, Pocket Books, New York. Department of Health and Department for Education 2011, Supporting Families in the Foundation Years, by Sally Cole, NCB Senior Policy Officer. Duffy, B & Pugh, G 2006, Contemporary issues in the early years, SAGE, London. Goouch, D, Powell, K & Abbott, L 2003, Birth to three matters: a review of the literature, DfES Publication, RR444, viewed 3 October 2011, http://www.education.gov.uk/research/data/uploadfiles/RR444.pdf Hollingworth, M 2003, Growing people growing companies, 5i Strategic Affairs, Montreal. Hoskisson, R, Hitt, M & Ireland, D 2009, Strategic management: competitiveness & globalization, concepts, South-Western CENGAGE Learning, Mason. Moss, P & Wigfall, V 2001, ‘A study of a multi-agency childcare network’, Foundation by the National Children’s Bureau, vol. 63, no. 6. Nurse, A D 2007, The new early years professional: dilemmas and debates, Routledge, Oxon. Partington G 2001, ‘Qualitative research interviews: identifying problems in technique’, Issues in Educational Research, vol. 11, no. 2, p. 32-44, viewed 2 October 2011, http://education.curtin.edu.au/iier/iier11/partington.html Porter, M Nov/Dec 1996, ‘What is strategy?,’ Harvard Business Review, p. 61-78. Reed, M & Canning, N 2010, Reflective practice in the early years, SAGE Publications, London. Rodd, J 2006, Leadership in early childhood, Open University Press, Maidenhead. Sharp, C, Lord, P, Springate, I, Atkinson, M, Haines, B, O’Donnell, L, Benefield, P & Harper, ‘A 2008, Improving development outcomes for children through effective practice in integrating early years services’, Center for Excellence and Outcomes in Children and Young People’s Services, London. Siraj-Blatchford, I & Manni, L 2007, ‘Effective leadership in the early years sector: the eleys study’, Institute of Education, University of London. Specht, D 2000, Lessons from the window seat: achieving shared vision in the workplace, Library of Congress, California. Whalley, M 2006, Children’s centers: the new frontier for the welfare state and the education system? engaging with the struggle, paper presented at the Early Interventions for Infants and Small Children in Families at Risk Conference, Norway. Winkler, I 2010, Contemporary leadership theories: enhancing the understanding of the complexity, subjectivity, and dynamics of leadership, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, London. APPENDIX A INTERVIEW SCHEDULE AND RECORDED RESPONSES Opening Establish Rapport: (Shake Hands) Hello Mr. Smith. Thank you for taking out the time to meet me today. Purpose: I am here to conduct an interview with you regarding your experience here as the manager of ABC Early Years Center. There will be some general questions about the services offered here, along with the information about daily activities. However, the focus will be mostly on your views and opinions. Motivation and Ethical Issues: All of the information you provide will greatly help me in carrying out this project, and I am also hopeful that you will also find it interesting to read my findings. Time Line: The interview can take about two hours of your time. Is it okay with you? Transition: Let me begin by asking few general questions about the center. Body 1- Me: First of all, can you briefly describe what services are available here at the center? John: Basically we are a child care center, also referred as a nursery, catering to working parents of children between zero to five. We offer age appropriate activities for our children, with emphasis on enhancement of mental developmental and cognitive skills. We also offer counseling and psychological services to both parents and children. We have an advocacy department guiding the community members regarding any legal or financial matter. We are planning to partner with some other organizations, and start an adult care center and a career management center as well, but so far no adult services are offered. 2- Me: Right now, how many employees and children you have? John: Well currently, we have 30 full time employees working, and there are 57 children registered at the moment. 3- Me: For how long have you been working here? John: I started nine years ago as the Assistant Director, and four years ago, I was promoted to the director position. 4- Me: Right now you have 57 children and 14 practitioners working in the base rooms, which means that each practitioner is taking care of roughly four children. John: Well, the two team leaders also spend majority of their time in the base rooms, and pitch in whenever needed. But yes, the ratio you mentioned is correct. 5- Me: Do you think that is an appropriate ratio? John: Yes I believe so. As compared to other centers, which are operating in nearby communities, we are lucky to have so any employees working to take care of these children. And frankly, currently our funding does not allow us to hire more employees at the moment. 6- Me: Can you describe the organizational structure of the center? John: All I do not believe in having strict hierarchical boundaries in a service oriented organization, but we need to have some defined positions. So, At the top, you have me of course, as the Managing Director of this center. Under me, I have Assistant Director, who is further responsible for three managers, which are Kitchen Manager, Office Manager, and Care Manager. Kitchen Manager is responsible for four people working within the kitchen. Office manager is accountable for six people, including our accountant, media and relations person, marketing advisor, and an administrative assistant. Care Manager is the head of two team leaders, whereas each of these two leaders oversees a team of seven early years practitioners. Other than that we have an independent quality control supervisor who answers directly to me. 7- Me: This seems a pretty organized structure. John: On the outward it does seem a rigid system, where everyone has defined set of duties, but it is not like this. We have an atmosphere of collaboration and team effort. 8- Me: Can you give an example? John: Well, for example, the practitioners are constantly communicating with kitchen staff regarding the children’s attitudes towards different kinds of foods, and this sometimes result in the change in the preplanned menu, which is set by kitchen manager at the beginning of each month. 9- Me: Ok. How do you operate this center? I mean from where do you get your funding? John: Well of course, we have parents paying for the services received by their children. But it does not cover much of our costs, so we are dependent on government funding and donations from the community. 10- Me: How do you describe your community? John: Our center is serving one of the disadvantaged communities of our country. Almost half of the children belong to single parent families, and majority belongs to the lower class. Theme 1: Vision of the Leader 11- What do you think are some of the basic duties of the practitioners? John: Some of the day to day duties would be ensuring that our programme of activities is properly operated. Washing and Cleaning children, serving snacks and other meals, comforting children, cleaning the maintaining the base rooms, ensuring that children are participating in physical, mental and educational activities, providing moral support, and adhering to the guidelines of the Children’s Act, are some of the responsibilities of the practitioners. Me: Can you briefly describe your vision of this center? John: Briefly put, our vision is to be best providers of young children’s services within our community. 12- Me: How do you make sure that all of your employees understand your vision? John: First of all, we have a rigorous hiring process, in which we make sure that the employee has the necessary characteristics to adjust within the center’s culture. The inherent psychological beliefs of the applicant should match with the philosophy of the center, and only than they are advanced to the next steps of the hiring process. After the appointment, we have a great training programme to facilitate phasing in of the new employees. Also, we hold periodic staff meetings, three a week, to discuss any new proposals and assuring that any changes adopted agrees with our vision, and other core values. 13- Me: You mentioned philosophy. What exactly is the philosophy of this center? John: Our philosophy is to provide the best possible standard of attention for children placed under our care. This can be corporal, mental, or societal care. We want to create liaisons with parents, and collaborate with them to work towards a high quality environment for all of the children. 14- Me: What do you mean when you say ‘a high quality environment?’ John: What it means…hmmm….the main thing is the adaptability of the environment. We would like to tailor our services according to the needs of each and every specific child. We strictly believe in providing an equal opportunities environment, and having a programme of activities appropriate for children of different age groups. Theme 2: Implementation and Operational Skills of the Leader 15- Me: Can you give any example from your day to day activities that shows that you maintain a high quality environment. John: Well we utilize all of our resources to their maximum capacity, for example, we have employed best child psychologists to work with children and their parents. To give another example from our daily activities, in our meal making process, we try to buy the best quality groceries, and provide the children with healthy food options. 16- Me: What actions you have taken to implement your vision? John: Well, as I told you before that a lot of our children are from single families, and it is due to the fact that we have one of the best post-traumatic counseling programs available. Our staff has professionals with legal, psychological, pedagogical, and different care giving backgrounds, and they are proficient enough to help children understanding and coping with their parents’ separations. These qualified practitioners are sometimes working alone, or in teams, as per each individual case requirement. Our professionals are constantly in contact with experts from other organizations, such as Legal Service centers, welfare centers, and adoption and foster care authorities. We are interested in creating connections with other organizations to collectively offer a valuable set of services to our community. 17- Me: When you form an alliance with any other contact, do you first check if your philosophy matches theirs? John: Hmm …..we do not exactly do that. It is also because we are collaborating for a short period of time, so it does not matter much. 18- Me: Ok. What are some other steps you have taken? John: One thing I started after being appointed the manager was increased dialogue between higher management, which includes me, and the lower staff. I always wanted to have an open environment, and though, I am officially the head of this center, I do not have the reputation of a traditional unapproachable boss. I believe in creating a kind of environment where each and every employee has the authority to think of ways and options to increase the value provided to the children and their families. I believe in empowering my staff and giving them enough confidence, so that they are not afraid of discussing their creative ideas with higher management. 19- Me: Can you think of an instance, when an employee recommended some new changes, and they were implemented. John: Well one example would be the current activities we have in our curriculum. Majority of them were proposed by the staff members, and after discussing them in the meetings, and getting the agreement of others, we included them in our routine. An example would be ‘whisper land,’ activity, which was proposed by one of the practitioners. Two or three times a week, we put a big signboard in the room which has children of four to five years, and declare that room as a whisper land, and therefore no one can talk loud. We keep the sign for about an hour, and during this time everyone including elders talk in low voices. This activity is very much liked by children, as it gives them a feeling of being in a place different from normal center room. 20- Me: This is indeed a fun activity. Give me some more idea about the strategy you in place to implement your vision. John: If speaking in business terms, I would say that I believe in setting up realistic goals, both short-term and long-term. These goals are meant to achieve our ultimate vision. I keep something called character cards of all the staff members, which outlines the unique characteristic and specialties of each staff member. Whenever, I am faced with a situation, such as dealing with a traumatized or abused child, I refer to these cards to set up a team to deal with that child. 21- Can you tell us one of your short-term goals to give us an idea? John: An example of short-term goal will be adopting the best program for food transition for infants from completely milk to semi solids, and then to solids. We are working with many parents to tweak our current program and find any shortcomings we might have. Another short-term goal is hiring a professional career advisor, who will be working to start a career management department for single parents. This will also lead to our long term goal of having the best career programs for our local community. 22- You do seem really concerned with the community, what exactly do you want to do for local people? John: The main thing I believe in and want for my community is empowerment. I belong from this community, and have spent my whole life here, and want to rid this community of many vices that are prevailing. Examples would be, domestic abuse, and unemployment. I want people to feel self sufficient, that they have enough personal resources and capabilities to spend a happy life. Theme 3: People Manager and Team Management Skills of the Leader 23- Me: In the beginning you mentioned having teams of practitioners, can you kindly elaborate that? John: Ofcourse. We usually have two teams of seven practitioners headed by their team leaders. These teams are not fixed, we rotate people. Also, the team leaders are not fixed. We usually have different leaders for different occasions. Sometimes, as per requirement, we form three or four teams. In these teams, we have practitioners with different expertise, such as speech therapists, midwives, first aid specialists, psychologist, and certified care givers. 24- Me: How do you choose team leaders? John: It depends on the case that we are dealing with. For example, if we are dealing with the integration of a disabled child into the center, I would prefer someone with the most experience in dealing with disable children, to see it through. 25- Me: Did you ever have trouble while choosing team leader? John: Yes I do face conflicts. A lot of practitioners express desire in leading, but not all of them are capable, so I have to be very critical, and choose the best possible person. I have to keep aside by personal feelings, and be very strategic in deciding the leader. 26- Me: Do you think this is right way of managing teams? I mean, instead of having fixed leaders, changing them all the time? John: Well this has been working for us so far. The people who usually work here, have a sense of greatness, looking beyond their personal agendas and working for the greater good, and I usually count on their passion for support in all decisions. 27- Me: How do you resolve conflicts in teams? John: We do not get a lot of conflict situations, but all of these circumstances are resolved with collective opinions, and I won’t be able to able to provide a real example, as most of this information is confidential. But I assure you, that we have an extremely peaceful and collaborative environment. 28- What do you think are characteristics of a great team? John: I think it would be clear and open communication between members, confidence and support for other members, and high level of acceptance for other people. 29- Me: Do you have any kind of appraisal system in place for judging the performance of employees? John: I will be frank here, and will tell you that we are operating on a tight budget, and we do not have the liberty to offer extensive bonuses and other benefits. We do offer a reasonable and competitive salary, which is appreciated by our employees and community members. APPENDIX B LETTER REQUESTING FOR AN INTERVIEW September 16, 2011 Mr. John Smith River Pine Children Center Street # 12, ABC Avenue, XYZ City England Dear Mr. Smith: I am a student at ABC University, beginning my third semester. I am currently enrolled in a course dealing with the leadership and teamwork practices in Early Years settings, and am required to do a project involving one of these institutions; i.e. studying the governing practices, and observing other work dynamics. I would really appreciate if you allow me to use your organization as my subject. I would also be grateful for getting a chance to meet you and conduct an interview, which will take around two hours of your time. Would you be available sometimes during the week of September 26? I will contact your office within few days to set up an exact time, at your convenience. Thank you in advance. Sincerely, Student’s complete name APPENDIX C THANK YOU LETTER October 10, 2011 Mr. John Smith River Pine Children Center Street # 12, ABC Avenue, XYZ City England Dear Mr. Smith: This letter is intended to express my deepest gratitude for taking out the time from your tight schedule, and meeting me. It was an extremely insightful experience for me, as I not only obtained more than enough information for my project, but also gained immense knowledge about the working of an early years setting. I know that it was really hard for you to talk to an outsider about your organizational strategies, and leadership philosophies. But I would again assure you that all the information will be held confidential, and will only be seen by our professor. I have attached a copy of my final report, which includes my critical analysis of the interview, and also few recommendations that might be useful for you. In the end, I would again express my thanks for your cooperation. Sincerely, Student’s complete name Read More