Is your superintendent/cabinet team designed to take action? Most teams meet on a weekly basis to address issues of concern, review board presentations, consider policy revisions, or to share department updates. The question is how do you move your team from being discussion oriented to action focused?
Author David Allen in his book Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity (2015), provides what he calls Core Tips for becoming more organized and effective. Although Allen’s concepts are designed for individuals, I have adapted his thoughts to be used with the superintendent/cabinet team.
To guide your team toward an action focus it requires that you provide opportunity for reflection, at the end of each meeting, to answer three key questions. 1) Is there an action(s) to be completed? 2) Who is to complete that action? 3) By what date should the action be finalized?
Actions to be completed can be added to future superintendent/cabinet team agendas to learn how the process went and to determine whether the item was completed within the timeline. Actions identified may not be work undertaken by a cabinet member, but oftentimes will be completed by a member of their staff.
So, to move your superintendent/cabinet team from a discussion to action orientation, one must first place action steps on the agenda and provide some time for reflection. Next, once actions are assigned, individuals to carry out the task(s) are identified, and timelines are set, then follow up is required by placing the action(s) to be completed on a future agenda. Completing this loop is important for accountability and ensures that crucial items are addressed in a timely manner.
Do you have a discussion only, or an action focused superintendent/cabinet team? If your team is action focused, please share the methods you use to guide your group toward effectiveness in this area. If you choose to use the three questions outlined in this blog post, please let us know how that worked for you by posting in the comments section below.