Supporting and Retaining Staff: Promoting Consistency in the Lives of Families

1. Supporting and Retaining Staff: Promoting Consistency in the Lives of Families

2. Welcome and Overview • Dan McDougall-Treacy, MSW • Valley Cities Counseling & Consultation • dmcdouga@valleycities.org • Who’s Here? • Where are we going?

3. The Benefits of Teamwork How the service model benefits the family What the team approach can bring Individual worker - effectiveness Leadership Practices Team composition and dynamics Communication in all directions Staff Development and Morale Facing challenges Creating and Sustaining Relationships: Supporting and Retaining Staff

4. Our Clientele • Homeless Family • Multiple problems and barriers • Let down by many systems of care • Little reason to trust or hope

5. Values in service planning and delivery • Client voice and choice • Strengths based • Flexibility, persistence and patience • See www.paperboat.com for info regarding Wraparound methods and practice

6. Family benefits from the program design and team approach • Low caseload and high service intensity • Range of personal and professional skills and expertise • Mutual support • Close communication • Multiple sources of support and availability

7. Individual Staff: Skills Set • On paper: training, knowledge and experience • Additional skills, qualities, interests • Effectiveness: three ways of dancing • Engagement • Cultural competence • Advocacy

8. Simple, patient, respectful beginning Develops only at the clients pace Must balance client/admin. demands Depth and quality measured only by client’s actions, not by worker assessment Effective Engagement Skills: The Dance

9. Effective Cultural Competence:The Dance • Organizational responsibility • At minimum, cultural curiosity. • Celebration of differences • Acceptance of contradiction • Risk taking and sharing • Our jargon, the “boundary” thing, etc.

10. Effective Advocacy: The Dance • Clients own efforts are exhausted or met by systems barriers. • What can worker bring to bear? • Inside knowledge • Professional relationship or reputation • Agency affiliation • Class advantage • Above all, tactfulness toward all. • Worker empowered by supervisor and agency

11. Supporting and Retaining Staff:Management/Leadership • Team composition and dynamics • Communication in all directions • Staff Development and Morale • Facing challenges

12. Team Composition • Good hiring: recruiting, networking, and “the HR thing” • Range of skills and interests – including those not related to work. • Chemistry = Diversity • Achieved at multiple levels

13. Teamwork: Operations • Culture of respect toward clients, teammates and community partners. • Can-do atmosphere • Tolerance for ambiguity • Collaboration and communication – you/we can’t do it alone. • Boundary-spanning skills (don’t stay in your box). • All team members capable of leadership.

14. Teamwork: a culture of wellness • Self-care and mutual reliance / support • Knowing our limits and honoring the autonomy of others • Patience, flexibility, creativity, humor • Make time for ‘team breathing’: • Check-ins, special team events, retreat, impromptu dance parties, down time, personal sharing, etc.

15. Supervision • Be an example: ethics,excellence, self-care, personal and professional growth • Consistent and clear communications: up, down, outward: big picture and tiny picture • Comfort in multiple roles • Reliable support and oversight of staff performance and learning • High expectations: confidence

16. Got credibility? Got support? Team Organization Community Personal Reprise: Team wellness Clear communication Zen, flexibility, humor Always envision the future When the team is facing crisis or challenge