Jared Gelb Camp Ramaquois ramaquois/tristate

1. Staff Management During the Summer Jared Gelb Camp Ramaquois www.ramaquois.com/tristate

2. Don’t do everything for your staff. • There’s a difference between role modeling something and actually doing it. • You’re not a general staff member; you’re a leader.

3. Staff Training… After Camp Starts (?) • Everyone runs a “quality” staff orientation, but what happens once camp starts? Do you ever take the time to train your staff again?!? • Just staff meetings? Or training? • What topics could you cover? • How often can you do this? • What are some reasons why you don’t? • What are some reasons that you should?

4. How can we train them once the kids are there? • Run the same training session(s) multiple times per day/week • Get other people to run it. • You don’t need to do everything yourself! • Show a video! (Everyone loves a movie!) • Pick fun/interesting topics. • Make them staff-centered, not YOU-centered!

5. Set and Manage Expectations • Communicate your expectations! • Speak about them, put them in writing, repeat them over and over again. • Expect a lot from your staff. • By setting high expectations, we can help staff rise to new levels of achievement. • Care must be taken to inspire and encourage, while avoiding pressure.

6. The best way to manage expectations is to: • Under-promise and over-deliver • Set short-term goals • Have staff commit in a public setting • Use message repetition to communicate clarity • Have regular meetings with TWO-way communication, listen, and make changes when necessary • ALWAYS communicate what is not possible and WHY • Be positive • Don’t fear inevitable incidents; just respond promptly to them

7. Engage Your Staff What are some employee management tips for creating and sustaining employee engagement? • Give freedom to staff to perform their tasks. • Listen to your staff. Learn from them. • Be honest…you’ll likely get honesty back. • And be honest about your shortcomings or mistakes. • Make them feel supported by…supporting them. • Praise people. Do it immediately and as publicly as you can. Be specific. • Show you care about them as people. • Communicate openly and clearly. Explain your rationale. • Avoid “because I said so.”

8. Why go through all of this? Engaged staff members that know your expectations are far more likely to have success than those that don’t.

9. What about the staff that are struggling? • When you speak with them, don’t talk in generalities. Be specific! • Give multiple, concrete suggestions for changes. Be specific! • Move past casual meetings, make them more formal. Bring in a 3rd person. • Set some short-term goals.

10. Mentoring weaker staff: • Assign strong veterans (or adults) to mentor the struggling staff member(s). • It’s sometimes easier to receive constructively critical feedback from someone who’s NOT the “boss.” • Pull the staff member away from his/her regular responsibilities to observe an exceptional staff member who can role model one “right” way. • Other ideas/suggestions?

11. What are some things that YOU do? Suggestions?

12. Thank you! Jared Gelb Camp Ramaquois Pomona, NY jared@ramaquois.com www.ramaquois.com/tristate