Colleagues,
This is a new topic here. It has many aspects: program accountability to funders, to a board of directors, and to participants; staff accountability to a board of directors, to supervisors and to students; volunteer accountability to a volunteer coordinator/supervisor and to students; student accountability to teachers. Perhaps others.
I am interested -- and hope you will be too -- in good models of program accountability, from experienced program managers, supervisors and teachers, and from the research literature. Here's a chance, too, for state and federal program administrators to jump in. From your perspective what are good accountability models?
David J. Rosen
Moderator, Program Management CoP
Comments
I really appreciate that this dialogue has opened. Over the years, I have worked with many programs where funded projects have failed to reach their goals and objectives because leaders were given responsibilities without authority to implement strategies to meet those responsibilities.
What happens when an administrator is funded to meet a project's objectives when those who supervise him tie his hands to the extent that he is unable to function? Following is an example.
A project administrator has an objective of enrolling X number of students in occupational training and supporting them through completion of workplace certificates and eventual employment. His staff is charged with recruiting students from a given pool of applicants, orienting prospects, testing and placing learners in appropriate career tracks, and maintaining records of student progress through employment.
So here's the challenge. Project staff refuses to meet timelines, refuses to keep records, and often even refuses to show up to work. The administrator's governing body resists the administrator's request to replace staff, even when documentation makes it evident that employees are not meeting their agreements under the grant. The administrator is given responsibility without authority, one of the worst scenarios in any business environment. If he bucks the system, he loses his job. I have seen this scenario play itself over an over in very promising projects.
Does anyone here have suggestions that might assist administrators, such as the one described, to engage the support of his employees when he is not allowed to threaten or fire anyone, or even to demote them in any way. Ideas? Leecy
Effective leadership often does not work when it is a top /down approach... threatening staff with reprimands for not following directives is a complicated endeavor. While the overarching goals of the program are determined by administration, and often guided by legislation and funders, the 'how to implement' is often left up to the staff with 'boots on the ground.' Leaving these staff members out of the conversation and planning leads to the scenario you have described.
Prior to my work as a Curriculum Director for i-Pathways, I was a program administrator at a local community college where we had many different initiatives. In order to achieve the goals, I had staff planning meetings where staff could express concerns (often which were related to the staff members feeling overwhelmed with new initiatives.). Staff often don't have an opportunity to see the big picture as they are trying to balance multi-level classes, ever increasing student needs, assessment demands for funding, and teaching the rigor required for the High School Assessment options. And, many of these are part time positions with qualified staff working more than one job.
I didn't see an explanation of the staffing (for example, part-time versus full time) so I am painting this experience with a broad brush and I am aware of that. However, in order to gain the support of staff, they need to see the vision, understand how all these requirements fit together for both program sustainability and student outcomes, and be a part of the planning process.
Rather than spending time fighting people to do what is needed, perhaps the solution lies in the discussion about 'why' the employees are not on board and then working together to build the program. This type of leadership is much harder to implement but it is much more effective in the long run.
Kathy, thanks for sharing very sound ideas on administering programs where staff, for whatever reasons, are resistant to anything the administrator proposes. I believe that regular meetings where people share ideas on "shared visions," is one hopeful way to go, as you suggested. In the example I gave, the staff would be full-time, and prior to the present administrator's taking the position, they were used to doing very little, only performing, if at all, to meet their personal schedules, when they felt like it. After years of developing those habits, they resent someone coming in to make them accountable. Very challenging!
In another similar example, staff are all part-time, working other jobs to make a living, so they watch the clock and invest little in the overall picture. In this example, people leave as soon as higher-paying opportunities come along, and the administrator takes up the slack under constant stress. This person doesn't have the same challenge of bucking "higher ups." She has the authority to dismiss but can't afford to do it most of the time, even when employees fail to meet expectations.
I'm wondering if programs like these two might make better use of volunteers? Of course, those are very rare in their geographical locations, but it's a thought... What think? Leecy
Colleagues,
As a program manager or as a teacher or other program staff member, what tools have been helpful to you?
1. Have you used effective and satisfying staff performance evaluation tools? If so, which one(s) and what did you like about them in particular?
2. Have you used worthwhile program evaluation tools? If so, which one(s) and what did you like about them in particular?
3. Have you used effective tools for scheduling staff meetings, or other kinds of meetings? If so, which one(s) and what did you like about them in particular?
4. Are there online management tools that you have found effective in program management? If so, which one(s) and what did you like about them in particular?
David J. Rosen
Moderator, Program Management CoP
djrosen123@gmail.com