If we were starting from scratch we would focus on three primary areas: leaders, the environment, and creating simple systems. You can read more about leaders and environments in part 1 and part 2.
Today, let’s talk systems! Some of you love them. Some of you hate them. You (we) all need them. Systems allow you to deliver a predictable and high quality service every time. They are necessary!
As time goes on you are going to need more systems, but for now, let’s keep it simple.
The Basics:
Check In. How will you check kids into your space and capture their information?
Morning Schedule. What can your leaders and kids expect the day to look like? How will you ensure that you have enough time to accomplish all that you want to accomplish?
Communication. How will volunteers get their materials? How will parents know if there is an event? How will you get information out to your audience?
Emergency. What happens if you have to evacuate the building? What if a child is lost? What if there’s blood?!
Pick-up and Security. How will you ensure that only the right person picks up the right child? Will parents have to wait in a long line? What if they lose their security tag?
When thinking about systems you need to work hard to keep it simple. Your volunteers are not staying up late each night memorizing all of the steps! So the systems need to be intuitive. They need to make sense!
A great way to create systems is to think through and define the end result. Then, start at the beginning points for the people involved and take the logical next step. Once you have that all written down, then go back over your steps and simplify!
If you are not a systematic person, get someone in the mix who is! Problem-solving people are also great when discussing systems.
What systems did you think were important when starting from scratch?
July 12, 2010
Staff Leadership