How can you ensure your Early Years team is working and being managed effectively and efficiently? In essence what is the best way of how to manage people in your nursery?
Being a Manager of an Early Years team can be an exceptionally challenging and intense role; especially when dealing with diverse personalities, responsibilities and ambitions. However, we maintain that this can be made easier by looking at your employees and how your team work together.
By assessing this and implementing a few routines into your weekly schedule, you could greatly enhance your Management and Leadership skills and improve how to manage people in your nursery.
The Nursery HR People have compiled a list of the top 9 ways that show you how to manage people in your nursery and ensure your employees deliver their best for your setting.
Don’t forget as well as the 9 tips included within this article you must ensure you have fully compliant employment policies and procedures in place. It is also a mandatory requirement that all staff are issued with a fully compliant employment contract. To learn more about our employment contract service please click here.
- Build positive relationships
It is important to create positive professional connections with each member of your Early Years team and ensure that you are an approachable leader. By ensuring you interact, communicate and approach members of staff on a regular basis will really help you establish a good working relationship with them. Try having a think about some team building exercises that could be done to assist you further with this.
- Team Decisions
It can be easy for a manager to make decisions on what they believe to be for the greater good of the team, however this is not always the most efficient way to lead. Staff who feel that their opinion is valued and have had a chance to have input on the decision making process will often feel happier with the outcome and feel a huge amount of passion about what they are doing. This is a vital way in how to manage people in your nursery and will help in making sure they work together as a team and are motivated to reach their potential.
- Communication
Communication, communication, communication! It really is key to being an effective manager of an Early Years team and in how to manage people in your nursery. Leaders must be able to communicate efficiently and regularly. By listening and interacting with your team, you will be able to ensure everyone is working together. Your employees will be working towards the same goal and fulfilling the objectives of your setting. There are many different ways to ensure a high level of communication including; team meetings, appraisals and even more basic things such as asking how someone’s day has been! As a manager, you will be seen as being supportive, approachable, caring and this will create an environment of respect.
- Employee Feedback
Communication seems to link well with this next point of ensuring you provide positive and constructive feedback to your team. When individuals feel that their work is being recognized this will encourage staff members to try harder and be exceptionally motivated to achieve their objectives. Are you able to introduce any incentives to your employees in your nursery to encourage a higher standard of work?
- Conflict Resolution
As a manager of an Early Years setting, you will have to be well prepared in dealing with conflict resolution. It is important to remain impartial, to gather all the facts and follow your Employee Handbook and relevant policies to the letter. And of course not forgetting that you have the correct HR and legal advice in place.
- Being a Role Model
In order to promote best practice and to be effective as a manager in how to manage people in your nursery, you need to ensure you are a constant role model to others. The result of this will have a significant impact on your business. Employees are more likely to carry out tasks to a high standard and will be clear of what is expected of them. If you as a manager are motivated, passionate and inspirational then this can only have a positive impact on the rest of the team.
- Input on Meetings
From personal experience, I know that it is very beneficial to ask for staff feedback when setting agendas for meetings. Sometimes items can be discussed that, as a Manager, you would not have thought of. In addition, by listening to your team they will feel appreciated and supported. By giving staff more responsibility you will be able to delegate tasks and ensure your “to do” list is reduced. It will also allow you to see the wider picture of what is happening in your nursery. It will also help solutions to be found to issues before they lead to bigger problems.
- Spending Time
By regularly visiting the different rooms of your setting it will certainly help develop and portray effective leadership as well as giving support. You will be surprised at just how much you find out what is going on, your relationships with staff members will improve and you will become a much respected Manager. This can only have a positive impact on the overall running of the Nursery.
- Regular Training
If you are a regular reader of The Nursery HR People blogs, you will know that we do like to discuss the benefits of training. As determined by the EYFS it is vital for Nursery staff to regularly update their professional development. It will also increase staff motivation and will make them feel supported by management.
We hope that these nine tips are of use and you can start implementing them soon.
Please feel free to get in touch if you require any further assistance with these or any other areas of HR.
Sara Smith
Marketing Director
01509 833121