How to Keep Your Staff Meetings Productive

When you count up the amount of hours a meeting lasts and multiply it times the number of people in the meeting, it adds up to a significant amount of your school administration's hours.

By bringing several people together it can gather much needed input and direction yet, unless the good input is utilized, it will have a tendency to create ill will and feeling of non importance among the meeting participants.  The importance and value of future meeting participation will be jeopardized by this type of superintendent or principal practice.

Hidden agendas are another way to sabotage meetings. When the people participating are not up front and honest about their reasons for pursuing a particular agenda item, more non productivity and group politics can be the result. This form of miscommunication can be very unproductive and should be avoided.

Being guilty of using either of the above practices can lead to wasteful meetings and will tie up valuable time of the attendees that can be used else wise more productively. It is up to the school leaders to do his or her best not to let this happen.
For more ideas on how to make your meetings or in-service programs more productive and successful please contact our office at 734-404-5909 or visit our website at www.tomborgconsulting.com

Why are Public Schools Privatizing?

An interesting article by Lori Higgins of the Detroit Free Press and why public schools are privatizing things like food service and other departments.
http://www.freep.com/article/20120814/NEWS06/120814053/Report-Growing-number-schools-privatizing-food-custodial-services

For more information on the services of Tom Borg Consulting, LLC please call our office at 734-404-5909 or visit our website at www.tomborgconsulting.com

How to Praise Your Team Members

In one of my training sessions with a school system, I explained to the participants the importance of sincerely complimenting fellow team members.

No matter what your position is, one of the best ways to build your school district is to find the strengths in your employees and fellow staff members and praise them on a regular basis. Whether they admit it or not, from time to time, everyone loves to receive sincere recognition. It doesn’t cost anything to give this, and yet, it can pay huge dividends in the form of productivity.

An easy way to pay a sincere compliment to others is through the use of the SES formula.  Let’s take a look at what it is and how to use it.

The first S stands for the word “sincere”. Find something about the person that you can sincerely compliment. It could be something they did, something they own or a personal quality they possess.

The E stands for the word “evidence”. Give some solid evidence that would support what you are saying. It is hard for someone to deny a compliment when you are sincere and give some form of proof of what you are communicating.

The final S stands for the word “short”. Keep you compliment short. The reason for this is twofold; one it is easier to give and two, it is easier for the person to receive it. Most people are uncomfortable receiving a compliment and the easier you make for them to hear it, the better. Once you finish the compliment, move on to another topic or walk away.

An example of how to give a compliment might sound like this: “Mary, nice job on the Smith company report. I say that because it was concise and to the point. Keep up the good work, I will see you tomorrow.”

In summary when we properly pay sincere compliments, it can build good will and help us to feel better too.

Tom Borg is president of Tom Borg Consulting, LLC., a company that specializes in working with public school districts. They show their clients how to attract and retain students and build connections with the business community. For information on our services, please contact us at: 734-404-5909 or visit our website at www.tomborgconsulting.com

Don’t Worry About Criticism

I remember when I was recreation director for a small township in Michigan, and my department had been invited by four other recreation departments to participate in a regional winter festival. It was agreed that my small department, which was composed of a few part-time employees and myself, would organize and facilitate a fun run.

Much planning went into organizing this winter festival. Many of the activities were based on having a reasonable amount of snow on the ground. Usually in southeastern Michigan you can depend on having plenty of snow on the ground during the month of February, but this particular year was a different story. The weekend of the winter festival came and there wasn’t even a trace of snow on the ground. No, nada, nyet snow. Oh, it was very cold, but absolutely no snow. Most of the winter festival activities were cancelled due to the necessity of having snow, but not the fun run. As matter of fact, it was perfect for it. The dry roads were ideal for the runners. Our race was a huge success and actually made a profit for the festival.

A few weeks later, all of the regional recreational directors came together for our follow up meeting. The first person who spoke, was the director of the park where the entire event was held. This gentleman lashed out at my program because of some trite mistake we had made in conducting the fun run. Much to my surprise, the rest of the group spoke up and defended my event by saying it was the most successful, well attended event, and that I should be congratulated. My critic was soon silenced and the meeting continued.

What I learned that day, is that when you are doing anything that garners some success, you will have critics who will find something to criticize about it. It just comes with the territory. As Dale Carnegie once said, “”Remember that unjust criticism is often a disguised compliment.” Here is my point. Do your best at whatever you do, and don’t be surprised by the critics. Your benefit, you will be able to have fun and more fully appreciate the experience.

Tom Borg Consulting, LLC., is a consulting group that specializes in without the box strategic planning, leadership training, team building, and customer culture transformation, for public school systems in Michigan and the United States. For a free 30 minute consulting session or for more information please call 734-404-5909 or visit our website at www.TomBorgConsulting.com

Three Ways to Effectively Deal with People and Reduce Your Stress

The late author, Og Mandino, said, “In life we always headed towards a crisis, in the middle of a crises or headed out of a crisis”.  In other words, if you are experiencing problems, you are alive and be thankful.

That may not make you feel much better so let’s talk about how you can make the most of the stress you do experience working in your public school district.

The important thing to remember is that everyone experiences stress, and if they can deal with it, so can you!  When you can develop a system for successfully dealing with stress, you will have something that will be a dependable tool that you can use whenever you find yourself facing a stressful situation.

The three most common areas where people experience stress in their lives are coping with:
    Financial concerns
    Family members
    Co- workers, customers, managers and bosses

As you look at the list of the most common areas of stress, it is interesting to note that people make up two thirds of this list. Successfully dealing with people is an art. The human race is composed of individuals who are similar in some ways and unique in many others.  People’s values, expectations, upbringing, and a host of other variables make them different from you. These differences can serve as a stumbling block, or a stepping stone. The choice is yours.

Here are three tools you can use to be more effective when dealing with others in a stressful situation. First is communication. Most successful people are able to communicate with others in a way that creates a connection. Even though they may not agree with the other person, they are able to find some common ground or area of agreement.

The second tool is listening. When you can simply listen to the other person without interrupting them, you can resolve most disagreements. The real challenge is truly listening to the other person and not rehearsing what you are going to say to them when they stop talking.

Finally, the last tool is flexibility. Being flexible with others and not rigidly adhering to your own view point can allow you to come to a compromise and resolve the issue being discussed. One analogy that demonstrates this concept is comparing the oak tree to the willow tree. The oak tree which is very rigid and hard will lose several branches or have its’ trunk severely damaged in an ice storm. The willow tree which is very flexible will simply bend but not break.

So, by using these three tools: communication, listening and flexibility, you can effectively reduce your stress when dealing with other people.

Tom Borg Consulting, LLC., is a consulting group that specializes in outside the box strategic planning, leadership training, team building, and customer culture transformation, for public school systems in Michigan and acrross the United States. For a free 30 minute consulting session or for more information please call 734-404-5909 or visit our website at www.TomBorgConsulting.com

How to Create the Right Brand for Your School District – Brand Insistence – Part 4 of 4

When you can consistently exceed the expectations of your parents and their children, (your clients) you can become the only school district they want to send their children to.  In other words, you create something called brand insistence.

In a business sense, Brand Insistence is where a customer will only buy from one company. For instance, when it comes to men’s dress shoes, I am insistent that I will only buy Johnston-Murphy dress shoes. I purchased my first pair over 25 years ago and have purchased four more pair since. I have come to believe that they are the best shoe company for me. The recommendation I received to buy them from a business colleague 25 years ago, plus the extremely high quality of these shoes, have made me a loyal lifetime client.

The goal for your school district and every school district should be to create brand insistence from your parents and their children. You must form the right kind of image in their minds.

In order for this to happen, you must have and consistently work a plan. To set yourself apart, you have to create a WOW experience for the people you serve. Promising a lot and delivering even more, will be mandatory. You cannot be just like your competitors. You’ve got to be the kind of school district  your parents and their children need and want. Somebody they just can’t do without.

Contact our office for more information on how we can help you develop your customer service culture and market your school district effectively. You can reach us at Tom Borg Consulting, LLC 734-404-5909 or visit our website at:
www.TomBorgConsulting.com

How to Create the Right Brand for Your School District – Brand Preference - Part 3 of 4

Brand Preference is when your parents send their children to your school district on a regular basis. They like your school system and will send their children to it, when they need it. However, yours is not the only school system they will use for all of their children.

For example, they may have a daughter who needs special assistance, and a neighboring school district
receives special funding and has the ability to provide that type of help. Rest assured, their daughter will attend school in the other district. You probably won’t be able to do much about this situation.

In another example, they might feel that another school district has a better high school band program. . They have heard some good things about this other school district from a neighbor who has chosen to send their daughter there. Since their son is musically inclined, they decide to send their son to the same high school that they believe has a superior instructor.

Although your school district would normally be their preference, in certain situations parents will send their child or children elsewhere.

So, in summary, brand preference must be earned.

Contact our office for more information on how we can help you build your customer sevice culture and market your school district effectively. You can reach us at Tom Borg Consulting, LLC 734-404-5909 or visit our website at:
www.TomBorgConsulting.com