Creating Value In Schools
Having previously worked as executive business leaders in trusts, both Emma Gray and Helen Burge now support school business leaders through coaching, training and consultancy. They are fans of risk management, internal scrutiny and sustainability. This blog post is an edited extract from our longer conversation, Unbound SBLs: What do we mean by value in schools? A school business leader (SBL) is concerned about a proposed leadership decision that creates significant financial risk to the school. Everyone else around the table appears supportive and the SBL doesn't know whether to go with the consensus or be the lone voice in disagreement. Helen Burge: So straight away I am thinking about the data that this SBL might have. What data have they got? What insights is it telling them, and have they shared those insights with the different members of the senior leadership team (SLT) and those different stakeholders? There’s also something about understanding the viewpoint of those existing SLT members. How much influence do individual SLT members have in decision-making? It might be that there's some quiet conversations to be had, almost like a pre-meeting, with maybe one or two, to explain the data, insight and concerns that the SBL has. Explore that on an individual basis so it doesn’t feel so confrontational. Of course I don’t know their context so don’t know whether that would work or not. School business managers shouldn't shy away from being the lone voice of dissent Then I suppose it's almost dynamically talking about an impact analysis of that decision. They might actually want to document that decision, and then share that documented impact analysis. Or it might just be that they’ll talk it through in the next meeting. So I think there's a couple of tools that they could use. Obviously there's a risk register as well. The SBL could document the control that they've currently got in place and maybe some further mitigations that they need, and why they feel that the impact of this decision is going to create some imbalance, or the likelihood of that. They need to talk through those different elements on the risk register. How is this initiative going to move us forward? If everyone is still happy after they've shared all the data, insights and tools, then perhaps the SBL just has to go along with it. It’s a collective decision. If that happens, I would then be monitoring things closely. Not to say ‘I told you so’, but just to keep an eye on what’s happening. Emma Gray: What I would add is that school business managers shouldn't shy away from being the lone voice of dissent. Part of the job is to explain they can have anything they want, but there is a cost benefit and there are things that will have to drop off because there is a finite amount of money. And Helen's right, there is the impact assessment. If you do this, perfect, but it means we won't be able to do that. Last week I came across a phrase that I hadn’t heard for a while: are we making the main thing the main thing? Really, what is the priority? It goes back to what are the strategies for this year? How is this initiative going to move us forward? Is it innovative enough that it should go on the strategic plan, or should we wait until next year? Helen and I have talked in the past about Edward de Bono's six thinking hats, and it’s important to have a dissenting voice, or that black hat – somebody who's saying this is the worst case scenario of this decision that you are making. And share the hats around, so it’s not just the school business manager wearing that hat every time! The SBL’s diary is completely full. They are spending the most of their week solving immediate operational issues. They know they should be spending more time on strategy, the procurement, benchmarking and value for money reviews. But there just never seems to be enough hours in the day. So how do you prioritise? Emma Gray: There never will be enough hours in the day. Once you accept that there will never be enough hours in the day, you have got to think, right, what is my job? Go back to your job description. What is it that your line manager, CEO or headteacher wants me to do? Having that really clear focus – back to making the main thing, the main thing – enables you to prioritise. What can wait, what is working, what are the big risks? What do I need to focus on right now? There’s never going to be enough time and there’s never going to be enough money Helen Burge: Yes, it is definitely looking at the risk, and not the operational ones, but the strategic ones. Also it might be about communicating with others and literally saying, I can't deal with that right now because I'm dealing with this. Or delegating it to people. We're quite good, aren't we, at taking everything on board, but we need to be able to delegate it to others or maybe even help signpost them to where they can help themselves. I'm a great believer in frequently asked questions in the back of a staff handbook so that you are not getting those interruptions that could actually be answered quite easily and quickly if the member of staff asking the questions had looked somewhere else first. Have you tracked what that volume of work is? It's almost like you need something to say: look in the handbook first. Then speak to my colleague who's also in the office, who is an administrator or the receptionist. If they can't help you then try me. We make ourselves very accessible and I do believe that’s right, but every now and then we need to put the emphasis on them trying to help themselves first, rather than going to the person who is always going to help. Another little tool that they can use is the four Ds. Break up their work based on: are they going to do it now, or defer it? Can they delegate it to somebody? (Though be aware: it does take time and effort to build that relationship with those people, and to make sure that they're doing it to the right standard.) Then there's also delete it. Actually, it doesn't need doing. Maybe it's a duplication of effort. Or can we do this better? In my mentoring with SBLs and CFOs, sometimes we talk about the volume of work coming in. Have you tracked what that volume of work is? What are the themes that are coming through? Why are those themes constantly coming through? What can you do earlier on in the process to either nip it in the bud or direct it somewhere else? The very first thing is you go in and talk to everybody So again, it’s down to data. Get your data. What are people asking me? Are there certain pinch points in a year? How can I use that data to provide some insights and change some practice, either my own or that of my colleagues? Emma Gray: It feels sort of depressing, but SBLs really need to get to the point where they acknowledge that there’s never going to be enough time and there’s never going to be enough money. So make the best use of the time and money that we do have. In the time that we do have, there are some things that can add more value than others. Start with 30 minutes a week of strategic thinking time. Sit yourself down and think strategically. If you walked into a school tomorrow as the new SBL or SBM, where would you focus first to create the greatest value? Emma Gray: For me, it goes back to the people in the organisation that will already know where that grit or friction is. So the very first thing is you go in and talk to everybody. And I mean everybody – you often find that the person who spends two hours a day cleaning the classrooms has got perhaps more insight than somebody who spends 24 hours a day leading the organisation! So it’s really important to speak to them all, and if you've got things that different employees agree on, then that absolutely becomes a priority, because that clearly is something that is affecting the whole organisation. Something that is creating friction. Gather the data about what's going on with procurement Although I do have to say that if I ever ask that in an interview question, that's not what I want to hear! I want them to come up with something dynamic. I want them to say, well, I noticed that your guttering is all blocked up, so one of the first things I'm going to do is talk to the site team about why that has happened. I want them to see something that I may not have seen, or because my eyes are too old and tired in this organisation, I don't see anymore. I want them to say, that shouldn't be the norm. Let's sort it out. Helen Burge: You've basically talked about gathering data, haven't you? You're talking to people, you're gathering data. You are seeing what's going on and making some decisions. And I would gather the data about what's going on with procurement and the contracts that you've got. When are they coming out of date? All those bits of information. I would document it, read it and work out what my priorities are. But also, I would look at the school development plan and I would try to understand where I'm going to be able to add value to it. What do I need to do to add value? Then those are the conversations that you're going to be having with your senior leadership team: the school development plan and your part in that. Listen to the full podcast episode (34 minutes)
The one-minute version
Dilemma one: a risky decision?
Start with the data and quiet conversations
Document the risks
Is it a priority?
Being the black hat
Dilemma two: finding time for the strategic stuff
Never enough!
Reducing interruptions
The 4Ds and data gathering
Dilemma three: new to my role
Talk to everyone!
Where can I add value?
What next?
