We all like to have a whinge from time to time – about our co-workers, unpopular changes and how nobody ever cleans up the staffroom. A certain amount of complaining is normal. It is best responded to by demonstrating understanding for how people are feeling, acting to address people’s concerns and setting the right example….
How to Handle New Enrolments
We live and work in a transient society. This brings many enriching experiences for us but can also increase stress and anxiety for both staff and students in schools. Whilst this is now more consistency in the curriculum across schools there are other factors that also affect how smoothly these transitions take place. Acknowledging the…
What Resilient Teams Do (Part 2)
Helpful attitudes: Behind every helpful behaviour in teams lies a helpful thought or attitude. If we can get the right attitudes to be practised, the necessary behaviours tend to follow. Some of the great attitudes I see in resilient teams are listed left. When such attitudes are evident in teams, you see behaviours like people…
What Resilient Teams Do (Part 1)
There is no doubt that many workplaces go through periods of significant and ongoing stress. Your school might be in the middle of major stress at present. Yes, there are the day-to-day challenges – high workloads, challenging students, and difficult personalities. But there are also major challenges like restructures, major changes initiated by Central Office…
Teamwork Makes the Dream Work
I’m not awesome at using computers. Is it helpful for me to spend hours trying to be ‘good’ at computers? It could be, but I can probably guess that I would be frustrated at least 80% of the time. I would have some serious self-doubt and self-loathing going on and I would be feeling down…
Top 5 Reasons Why Some People I Work With Are So Difficult
Whenever I speak in workplaces about difficult managers and co-workers, there is always one question that always comes up… ‘How do we get rid of them?‘ But I think a more important question to ask is, ‘Why are they so difficult?’ If you have the belief that the answer to that question is that they…
Attributes of Gr8 Teams
Schools are complex places and teamwork is vital. Staff in schools are members of many teams. These include teaching teams, year level teams, faculty teams, special needs teams, front office teams, curriculum teams, project teams, leadership teams as well as work teams. Teams have the potential to be powerful problem solving groups. However, working in…
Be an “Independent” Team Player
Independence is defined as freedom from dependence; exemption from reliance on, or control by others; being in charge or direction of one’s own affairs without interference. Sounds great doesn’t it? Liberating even? You know the saying belted out by every motivational coach, “There is no I in Team”. Well I don’t agree, in fact I…
Be Connected
“A worthy building cannot be erected on a weak foundation” I recently read this quote and it made me think about the importance of taking the time and effort to connect with people. Whether you want to build a relationship with a child, a parent, a colleague, a partner or a friend, building the foundations…
The Toxic Staffroom by Brendan Zischke
What I am about to discuss here occurs in many staffrooms that I have worked in. You have been at work a few hours and it is time to head to the staffroom for lunch. Let us say that it is Monday morning and everyone wishes it was Friday. I have been here a few…