Team building develops more easily when principals and after school program directors work together on tasks of mutual importance.
Team building develops more easily when principals and after school program directors work together on tasks of mutual importance. Common work settings and challenges allow leaders to share their collective technical knowledge and skills, solve problems, complete projects and develop programs. While working together and supporting each other, leaders committed to a team effort often develop and articulate guidelines that lead to increased productivity and cooperation.
Effective partnerships between principals and after school program directors possess common characteristics:
- Contributions from each leader
- A high level of interdependence
- An awareness that each leader can influence the team agenda
- Good people skills and a commitment to a team approach
- A relaxed climate for communication
- Development of mutual trust
- Willingness to share risks
- Clarity about goals and targeted outcomes
- Clearly defined roles and responsibilities
- An ability to examine errors without personal attacks
- A capacity to create ideas
Most of us can identify teams that do not work well together, but developing a strong team may not be something that each of us readily knows how to do. It takes a willing commitment, an attitude of give and take and a realization that two heads are better than one. Until ach participant is capable of accepting the other as an equal partner, a team concept will remain an elusive idea.
From Principal Matters: 101 Tips for Creating Collaborative Relationships Between After School Programs and School Leaders by Paul Young, PhD.
