Supporting your team members 

FOCUS: Provide practical support to team members who are experiencing difficulties

The kinds of difficulties team members could experience:

• Adjusting to longer working hours, with less flexibility
• Managing their health effectively
• Practical tasks such as putting children to sleep
• Following instructions and/or Retaining information
• Getting to work on time
• Running activities – such as painting (without the paint going everywhere)
• Interpersonal relationships at work/with colleagues (getting along with everyone)
• ‘Holding’ and managing groups of children (eg – circle time)
• Working at the speed/pace required to support team members

Possible ways of supporting team members

• Practical, on the spot support- doing something for/with the team member
• Modelling how something could/should be done
• Doing ‘background’ tasks that make it easier (eg – putting a towel next to the sink when they embark on hand-washing!)
• Supporting with behaviour management, to allow the team member to focus on the task/activity
• Clear and simple instructions (never more than 3 steps ahead)
• Targets (including written targets) – set AND review the targets
• Recognise good work, and encouragement when they do well
• Use of Skinner’s Operant Conditioning Theory (rewards and sanctions)
• Checklists and following up/checking work done
• Regular and SPECIFIC feedback (well done, that was a good circle time BECAUSE… you tidied up well BECAUSE…)
• 1:1 meetings and meetings with the manager – outside of Gan
• Clear and consistent messages