Funded by the Scottish Government, StaffWise is a practical online resource, designed to improve organisational wellbeing in Scottish schools and early education centres by providing local authorities, managers and individual staff across Scotland with guides and tools that enable them to achieve excellence in wellbeing at work. Each week we will be looking at a different element of the site. This week: think about guides – role.

Over the next few weeks we will be looking about the Think about guides which include information on support, role, relationships, demands, control, change and communications.

Role

The aim of this ‘think about guide’ is to get you to think about ways in which you help staff understand and manage their roles and responsibilities. Below are some suggestions on how you can achieve it:

Providing clarity

• Ensure all staff members have job descriptions that define their responsibilities and clarify the core functions of their jobs.
• Make sure staff members understand each other’s remits and responsibilities. People need to know who does what and how this fits in with the aims of the workplace and the wider organisation.
• Ensure all staff members are advised of changes to any individual remit, and that everyone understands the impact of the revision. Remind staff of the revised arrangement as often as is required!

Providing Information

• Display school/centre targets and refer to these regularly. Remind staff members of the way in which their respective responsibilities help to achieve the identified targets.
• Ensure staff members are familiar with required standards of performance, for specific tasks and for jobs in general eg discuss criteria for successful task completion, display and discuss codes of competencies.
• Provide information about roles and responsibilities in induction training/ information for new staff.

Providing Support

• Encourage staff to discuss concerns or uncertainties relating to their role, remit or responsibilities.
• Be alert to possible conflicts occurring within a role and resolve these with staff quickly and constructively.

Solution Focused Working

A solution focused (SF) approach promotes a collective ‘can-do’ attitude in the workplace. It describes a way of talking, thinking and behaving that focuses attention on success and strengths, and emphasises solutions rather than problems.

Solution Focused Actions

• Focus on success.
• Acknowledge strengths in self and others.
• Use solution focused language.
• Describe an improved future/ goals.
• Do more of what is already working.
• Notice exceptions to problems.
• Minimise problem talk.
• Applications.

For more information on all of the above you can visit the StaffWise website

You may also find the following factsheet useful which you can find on our online InfoCentre:

• Communicating with staff
• Effective meetings
• Teaching interviews