TM4T Using Your System 3.3 - Knowing How to Work as Part of an Admin Team

When teachers grumble, and they do grumble, their concerns frequently involve their co-workers, as much as their students and parents. Click here for examples of what they say.

Good administration is based on effective working relationships – many people believe that having friendly colleagues is more important than financial reward, job security or a pleasant environment.

Some people do just fine carrying out their administrative tasks, but are unpopular with their colleagues, who might describe them using words like: patronising, abrupt, dismissive or uncooperative. Other people are just the opposite: they are regarded positively, even though they may not be most skilled at their job – they are described using words like loyal, supportive, sensitive, committed and respect.

You need to remember that stress is much more likely to arise where people are cold, abrupt, and unfriendly; much less likely to appear in an environment which is sociable, lively and friendly. In order to minimise the risk of stress you should:

• spend some time understanding and thinking about the mix of personalities in the workplace, and the culture of your school

• taking opportunities to get to know your colleagues better, particularly the support staff – before you need their help.

• developing your own people skills.

Of course, there is a balancing act here. If you spend too much time worrying about other people, then your job may not get done. However, in any team, and in any organisation, there is are certain expectations to be borne in mind:

• you are expected to respect the views, needs and opinions of others, and to know that people doing different jobs will have different perspectives;

• you are expected to work for the good of the school and the good of the students in preference to the good of your department or yourself;

• you are expected to observe cultural conventions without fail: this is likely to mean good morning, please, and thank you to everyone, always

• you should be aware of other people’s roles and other people’s challenges, and accept that they may have pressures – possibly from outside school – that you aren’t aware of.

You need to understand:

• your team - the people in your department: who they are, their roles, seniority and any responsibilities that affect you; ideally some knowledge of their personalities and preferences

• the school leadership: who they are, and which roles and responsibilities are relevant (or could be relevant) to you. Don’t wait until you have an incident on your hands before you know who is responsible for child protection.

• the support staff: who they are, their roles, their boundaries, their effectiveness, and their communications skills and preferences. It is suprising how often a teacher's reputation is based on how Teaching Assistants perceive them. Read more here.

Having understood who is important in your work-life, you should decide how you are going to communicate with them.  To read more, click here.

Sometimes, not often, conflict arises in schools. To read a discussion of how to deal with it, click here and here.

A Teacher's life in school can be quite physically isolated. However, there is usually one room where you come into contact with the other staff. To understand 'getting on in the staff room', click here.