Boo!

Are You Scaring New Team Members? 

So how do new people feel at your school? Are you creating an environment that’s welcoming and encouraging, or are we scaring them away? Let’s take a look at a few ways we scare away new team members and then how to avoid making that happen.

Lack of Timely Communication

When are you communicating? Or are you constantly promising to get in touch with people, but never following through?

Unspoken Expectations

Are you communicating the schools expectations clearly to your team? There’s nothing worse then being held to standards that were never communicated. Or perhaps even worse, does your team have any “elephants in the room”? How about the team member that never prepares but doesn’t get held to the same standard as everyone else? Few things can make a meeting more tense and uncomfortable than when there’s inequity in the team.

Unrealistic Expectations

Are you expecting your new teachers to step right in with no guidance???

How to Avoid Scaring Away New Team Members

If we’re all honest, there’s likely been a time in all of our leadership careers that we’ve done something to scare team members away. But what can we do now to make sure it doesn’t happen again? Here are a few quick thoughts:

Keep it Simple and Slow

The safest bet is always to keep it simple. I’m not sure of any situation in history that’s been improved by over-complicating it. Be careful to not implement a new strategy or tool/technology just because it’s cool or new. When you implement something new, do it slowly. The best and most effective change is slow change. Communicate your changes with current team members or the direction you’d like to head to new team members and then get there slowly.

Live Under Your Own Rules

As often as you can, put yourself into their shoes. Experience the rules and regulations - It’s easy to put a requirement in place that without thinking how someone new would respond. Experiencing the results of our leadership will help you make better-informed decisions. Don’t be the leader that demands things of their team they haven’t experienced themselves.

Be Real

Just be yourself. Don’t try to be the school down the road. Be the school and team that makes you unique!

Ask for and Accept Feedback

Ask someone new on your team what the process was like. Let them know you’d like to see where you and the team could improve the process. Give them freedom to speak their mind, openly, and be willing to accept their suggestions. You don’t have to change, and you don’t have to make excuses. But listen to their feedback. Accepting feedback doesn’t always mean doing what they suggest, but it does mean listening without making an excuse.