Ed Blog 10/27/09
Identifying & Reducing Conflict Among School Staff:
Surprises re: the Leader's Role
Hope this finds you well, & enjoying a great school year for students, staff, & you! Here is a short vignette re: leader's role in the reduction of conflict among school staff.
I recently worked for three hours with 40+ teachers and two Principals. The group had been experiencing a lot of conflict brought on by a number of factors. The goals for the session included:
1) Briefly review pre-session staff survey (summary)
2) Briefly review research re: effective schools, and causes of school conflict
3) ID desired professional behaviors & communication
4) ID desired professional behaviors to be used during conflict
5) ID desired leadership style from Principals
6) Review next steps & evaluate this session
Pre-Session Staff Survey (Summary)
Here are the results from the staff survey (32 respondents) that was sent before the session (results are not prioritized):
1) What do you feel causes conflict among the teaching staff?
Conflict of interest between Board and Union
Disrespect
Lack of and poor communication
Administration vs. staff, us vs. them
Negative attitudes & feelings
Lack of trust and honesty
Bullying
Intimidation
Deception
Favoritism of certain departments
Talking behind peoples' backs
2. What do you feel should be done to reduce conflict among staff?
Administration needs to take control
Fewer committee meetings and more staff meetings
Attitude adjustments
Set professional standards
Clear expectations
Speak directly to people involved in conflict
Not us vs. them, it’s about the kids
Cooperation not confrontation
Staff trainings
Disciplinary actions
Session Results
Below are the results from the staff session. You can see that the teachers were very clear about what they wanted from other staff & administration:
Desired Communication
1) Be honest & straightforward
2) Honesty, honesty, honesty
3) (tie) Make communication positive, No hidden agendas, Be open-minded
4) (tie) Compliment others, Be respectful, Honest & open, Constructive not critical
Desired Professional Behaviors
1) Put kids first
2) Establish trust & be able to talk without fear of repercussions
3) Be open & willing to see both sides of an issue: pros & cons
4) (tie) Cooperative attitudes, Stop whining, Do your job-stop worrying about hours &
minutes, Provide staff planning time to make curriculum changes, Make sure our
time is used affectively & appropriately
Desired Professional Conflict Behaviors
1) Accept things you can't change
2) (tie) Allow all people of voice to be listened to before decisions are made
2) (tie) Go to the person you have the conflict with
3) Get over it when it's done
4) When you approach someone, come with solutions not just problems
5) Agree to disagree
The Surprise re: Desired Leadership
The staff also identified the most-desired leadership style for the Principals, using the styles identified in The Leader's Window (Beck & Yeagher, 2001; Davies-Black Publishing). Interestingly enough, the staff overwhelmingly wanted the Principals to use Style 2 ("Problem-Solving"; the leader asks for input on a topic, but makes the decision by him/herself).
The Principals were surprised to learn that staff were more than ready to accept leadership behavior that was not "Coach/Developer" (we all decide what to do together), but instead would listen & then decide.
I think that many educational leaders err by being too cautious and listening too long before acting, especially with issues that producer anxiety & unease (conflict, difficult employee behaviors, staff bullying of other staff & admin, teachers not treating students respectfully, etc.).
The leader's lesson here? Be more proactive - act quicker (not uninformed, just quicker) when you can map out a better route on issues that cause staff conflict.
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