Skilling up for Management
Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is no stranger to industry and commerce, indeed it is the norm for ensuring that institutional goals are met through staff training. This model is now being utilised more and more in the field of education, including ELT.
At its best CPD is a true marriage of negotiated and agreed goals which equally serve the insitution's and individual's best professional interests. At its worst, the interests of one of the partnership are not, or are only partially, served. For this reason we are urged to take control of our own CPD. To continue to strive for the 'ideal marriage' as this should enhance and better facilitate our own development. Failing that, we should keep our own goals very much on track towards their ultimate and timely achievement. However, it is one thing to know where you want to go. It is another to know the most efficient way to get there.
This week we look at what sort of skills and knowledge you need to acquire if ELT Management is one of your individual goals. Some of these will be fairly obvious, others less so, but opportunities to acquire them should be snatched and, indeed, planned for.
As successful teachers, one of the areas of management we are most likely to excel in is 'people management'. We already have experience in ascertaining individual and group needs, and planning and managing provision to satisfy both. We also know how to motivate (in class, at least); to assess our students' performance and; to give constructive and helpful feedback. These skills will stand us in good stead in our new management role. However, there will be differences. In the language class the criteria (relative proficiency in the target language..) are already laid down and understood by all. In the staff management situation, this cannot be taken for granted. Goals and criteria have to be established and communicated regularly and effectively to all concerned. You will be required to manage your staff fairly and efficiently, as individuals and as a team, from recruitment to resignation. In a nutshell you will need to be able to successfully:
• recruit appropriate personnel
• allocate work to teams and individuals
• agree objectives and work plans with teams and individuals
• assess the performance of teams and individuals
• provide feedback on the performance of teams and individuals
• respond to poor performance of teams and individuals
YOU AND THE CLIENT
Again, your experience to discover and meet needs in class is useful. But now you have to address those clients you don't yet have but want to attract. You also have to keep those you do have and they will not be confined to 'your students' with whom you have already struck up a rapport and know well. They will cover the entire client base consisting perhaps of young learners, adults and 'vocational purposes' students and who have different teachers who may or may not be well aware of their needs and may or may not have communicated them to management. Here you need to successfully:
• identify and agree client requirements
• plan activity to meet client requirements
• ensure your services meet (and exceed) client requirements
• maintain a healthy, safe and productive work environment
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
We have already talked about managing human resources and our likely adeptness in this area of management. There remain the important questions of being able to:-
• manage finance
• manage physical resources
• manage time
While these might appear to be separate disciplines, in fact the overall planning, implementation and evaluation of an institution's activity will, by necessity, integrate them, together with human resource management. While you may be in the enviable position of having accounts staff etc. to handle the day to day management of these areas, it is essential that you have in-depth knowledge of what they do and why and how they do it if you are to have the necessary insight to lead the programme through the planning implementation and evaluation stages, rather than have it lead you, perhaps to your cost.
THE ISSUE OF QUALITY
Good management will also develop and implement systems to monitor and evaluate organisational performance with a view to promoting continuous quality improvement of its services. Obvious, but not always easy to maintain the mechanisms that will deliver it. The professionals, as in every field, make it look easy and, as teachers, we almost certainly possess the qualities necessary to be competent in the field of management but there are clearly new skills and knowledge to be acquired. The following list is not exhaustive but should give you an idea of the necessary know-how for effective ELT management, assuming you already 'know the trade' in the sense of what comprises good teaching/learning programme delivery.
How to:-
• communicate effectively
• recruit appropriate personnel
• set and assess performance objectives
• assess current performance
• respond constructively to current performance
• evaluate and improve organisational performance
• evaluate and improve your own performance
• develop teams and individuals to enhance performance
• redeploy personnel and, if necessary, make redundancies
• delegate work appropriately
• research, write and implement marketing plans
• research, write and implement business plans
• research, write and implement financial plans
• use information to take critical decisions
• secure financial resources for your organisation's plans
• maximise efficient use of all resources
• promote the benefits and importance of quality service provision
• manage continuous quality improvement
• implement quality assurance systems
• monitor compliance with quality systems
A tall order? Well, so is good teaching but being aware of the skills and knowledge required should allow you to plan and implement your own professional development and ensure that you are not promoted/appointed beyond your competence but because of it!
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