For the most part I love the way that the Juvenile Justice Department at the Girl Scouts is run. Everyone including the fellow staff members, supervisors, department heads and senior staff members are very flexible and willing to work through problems with and accommodate their employees. The downside to this flexibility is disorganization and lack of effective communication. I believe that if these two concerns were addressed that the work week would run much smoother and a lot of wasted time could be salvaged and we could get a lot more done. For instance, we have a list of duties that all program specialists are to complete every week in addition to individually assigned tasks. We never know what has or hasn't been done because no-one has come up with an effective way to relate this information to each member of the team. Another problem is lack of direction from our supervisors. When given a task, a lot of the time I am very confused and have to ask several questions or just figure out a way around the problem. Although this has taught me to be resourceful it gets to be quite frustrating.
In order to tackle both these problems, I propose that our office implements a a system of task sheets. This sheet would have a due date for projects and a full description of the task to be completed. The employee fills out the task sheet daily, including notes or special instructions for fellow staff members, until the project is completed and places it in a common Program Specialist file. Every day each staff member can check on the progress of projects and can lend a hand where necessary. I learned this organization method from my student jobs, working for the Department of Student affairs on the Downtown Campus. I received clear instructions from my superiors and was able to provide them with exactly what they wanted in a timely fashion.
This strategy would enhance communication by first of all giving clear and concise directions and keeping all parties in the loop of what is going on. In order to implement this idea, I would introduce it at the next staff meeting, gauge the responses and take into consideration the input of fellow staff members. Then with improvements, I would begin the procedure the week following the meeting.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
Hi Leanne,
My name is Dyanna. I think you are right about organization, if it is lacking some where in a business, it can and will cause frustration. I think your plan of action and change sounds realistic and reasonable. In my blog I added a similar improvement. I suggested that my team work on similar work ethics and work toward a common goal. At times they seem disorganized as well. I also think that organization is key at every job, not just ones having to do with education.
Peace,
Dyanna
Hi Leanne, its Kimisha Gill. I can understand how disorganization within a company can be frustrating. As an intern, I think we have certain expectations of our internship sites because we are new to the scene, only to find that like everything else it has its ups and downs. The suggestions you made are very good and I hope that your colleagues took it well. The system you created seems like it would be an effective method to reduce disorganization at your site. If it is utilized well, it could possibly open the door for the site to look to you for other improvement ideas you may have. I hope that all went well with that suggestion, and I am looking forward to reading more about your site.
Hi Leanne! It's Harley. I agree with you that unclear messages and tasks are a major problem. Unfortunately many organizations suffer from the same issues. The online tracking system is a great way to track things such as individual and program tasks. It sounds like a weekly staff meeting would also be beneficial, especially for program initiatives. The most important aspect of the meeting would be to clarify and clearly communicate management goals. It would allow the employees and managers to discuss and streamline tasks and their deadlines. It is good that you were able to see an problem that is underestimated at times. Having an effective and effecient means of relaying managements goals is important in all organizations. I think that your recommendation combined with weekly meetings would go far in improving your organization.
Hi Leanne,
I can see where disorganization and lack of communication in any setting, particularly in your setting, would be ineffective. I can understand why you may be feeling frustrated. It always amazes me to think what an organization would be like if it was running to full efficiency. For example, how much more services and help could your organization provide if it was running to full efficiency? That is a very good point that you made. It does seem very obvious that the organization needs a plan to help everyone know who has done what and what still needs to be done. I think you came up with an excellent solution. Do you really have plans on suggesting that they implement your strategy? I hope you do. It sounds like the organization must benefit from your skills immensely. Best of luck to you and your girl scouts.
Hi Leanne, I totally understand what you are getting at when information must be relayed and gone over and over before people have it all straight. I think your idea of task sheets seems like a no brainer and they should of thought of that earlier! A simple example where it is similar at my house is when just the other night I made a check sheet/calendar thing for who has fed the dog. That way no one is wondering if the dog got fed or not. Sometimes things can be tackled so simply. You should tell your supervisor about your idea I am sure they would love it! I think with my background in Education organization becomes important.
What I think may need to be implemented for the Juvenile Justice Department at the Girl Scouts is to reorganize the organization by communicating with the fellow staff members. It may be good to solve the problem of disorganization and lack of effective communication by hearing what everyone has to say. What I have learned is sometime our positions or roles in an organization may influence our decisions and by everyone understanding what one another is coming from then there wouldn’t be any miscommunication. I think what also needs to be implemented are cameras around the work station. What I have learned in my sociology courses is that when people know someone is watching them they tend not to disrupt things and be more organized. When it is too flexible at a work place people tend to slack and do the bare minimum to see how far they can go. However, if they have the mentality set that someone is watching them then people will get their job done.
This is Lisa Graves. Communication between employees was a common complaint for several people and a lack of communication can affect an organization in several ways. The situation that you described is frustrating and can impede the work that is being done. Besides a delay in the weeks work getting done, it can lead to more than one person doing the same task because there is no communication between team members. This redundancy is aggravating to team members and is very counter productive. Your suggestion for task sheets would be beneficial to everyone. Another suggestion would be to incorporate a short meeting each week so that everyone can be briefed on what needs to be done, who is working on a particular project and input can be obtained from the entire group. A weekly meeting can sound like a great time commitment for the organization’s employees, but by spending a little bit of time communicating and planning, everyone’s time can be better spent getting things done more efficiently and effectively, saving time in the long run.
Post a Comment