EFFECTIVE SUPERVISION Campus Compact Ameri Corps Program UNDERSTANDING

EFFECTIVE SUPERVISION Campus Compact Ameri. Corps Program

UNDERSTANDING THE DIFFERENCE • Ameri. Corps Member versus regular employees • • • More mentoring involved Promote culture of learning and growth Be open to hearing member complaints, obstacles, frustrations Provide actionable, positive feedback when appropriate Meet regularly and often • Preparing your colleagues for Ameri. Corps member

Please join us in welcoming Kaity Lindgren to the CR library team! EXAMPLE EMAIL TO COLLEAGUES Kaity is an Ameri. Corps member and will be placed with the library for one year. Her role with the library will be Literacy Programs Coordinator. She will be a part of the Children’s Services Department and will report to Carol Hoke. Kaity’s first day will be Monday, August 1. Kaity will be replacing the role that Hannah Buettner had at the library. What is Ameri. Corps? The Campus Compact Ameri. Corps program operates as an Ameri. Corps grant that is designed specifically to fight poverty and build capacity for community-based organizations. Ameri. Corps members help organizations build capacity. While Ameri. Corps members can assist with direct service on occasion, it is not their primary assigned role. They are focused on helping organizations grow and sustain programming and service beyond their one-year term. (For example, an Ameri. Corps member wouldn’t be able to deliver meals every day for Meals On Wheels. Instead, they would focus on developing volunteer recruitment strategies or creating training materials for volunteers to increase retention. The Ameri. Corps member could help out with meal delivery on occasion as needed. ) Why an Ameri. Corps member? The addition of this Ameri. Corps position is in support of the library’s Invest in Young Minds initiative. This role will focus on growing the library’s literacy programs including: research effective literacy programs for the general population and for reluctant readers, develop and implement an outreach plan to specifically target students from low-income communities, developing partnerships with other organizations such as Kids on Course, etc. Is this a paid position? Ameri. Corps members receive a modest living allowance (stipend) from Iowa Campus Compact; they do not receive a paycheck from the library/city. They are expected to treat this service opportunity like a job and work 40 hour weeks. During their year of service, they live at the poverty level to better understand the challenges of living in poverty. They can work a secondary job if it fits with their schedule and with the supervisor’s approval. How did we get this role? The library applied to Iowa Campus Compact through a grant process to receive a third year of Ameri. Corps placement. The grant we applied under was the Campus Compact Ameri. Corps program that focuses on helping colleges and universities develop and implement a strategic plan for civic engagement also known as a Civic Action Plan. We are specifically looking to increase the number of youth participants in our reading programs, with an emphasis on low-income youth, and increase the number of volunteers working with programming directly related to reading success.

SUPERVISION • Be an expert in the Ameri. Corps project and what is expected of your member • Act as an ambassador for your member with the rest of your organization/community • Set milestones and progress indicators (i. e. workplans) • Provide resources and guidance • Training manuals, step-by-step processes on how to do something • Provide contact methods • Who to contact when for what • Schedule regular check-ins • Weekly, bi-weekly

WEEKLY CHECK-IN EXAMPLE • Personal Check-In (e. g. housing, pets, hobbies, friends, etc. ) • Member Updates (in relation to project) • Supervisor Update • Next Steps (e. g. next meeting date and time, follow-up items) • More information from this outline can be found in the VISTA Supervisor Workbook.

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION Accomplishments/especially good performance: Performance improvement and development suggestions: Obstacles to performance: What I can do or need from my supervisor to help me meet my job expectations: • The supervisor will come to every meeting with the top two boxes filled out. The Member can choose whether or not to fill out the bottom boxes prior to the meeting. • If the Member is having difficulty meeting a certain job expectation or goal, they should complete the “obstacles to performance” box and brainstorm some possible solutions or actions that could help resolve the obstacle. • The supervisor may not be able to resolve a certain issue, but they will work with the Member to come up with an action plan. • After the meeting, the supervisor will combine all comments onto one page and will give the member a copy of the completed form.

TIPS & TRICKS • Setting the example • Tell, Show, Do • Tell them what to do. • Show them how to do it. • Watch them do it & provide feedback. • Providing feedback • What, Why • What – What I saw you do was… • What – What I need you to do is… • Why – This is why we do it…

PROVIDE EXPECTATIONS UP FRONT • Organization (i. e. code of conduct) • Dress code • Punctuality • Requesting time off • Job tasks • Review their responsibilities • Train them on processes or specific things they need to be successful • Ask if they have any questions or concerns • Supervisor-employee expectations • Communication: phone, text, email, in-person meetings • i. e. If they’re running late, should they text you? Call you? Email you? • Supervision style/philosophy

COMMUNICATION • Having an “open door” policy • Set a timeline for when they can come to you frequently versus when you will expect them to know the answers. • Actively listening • When you meet with them, don’t be distracted! Don’t answer your email or look at your phone. Communicate with them that you are actively engaged in their learning and development. • Ask them questions. • Recognize your member’s contributions. • Make a point to acknowledge something they are doing well. • Ask other staff for observations on what is going well and then share that with them.

OVERCOMING OBSTACLES • If your member comes to you with a challenge they are experiencing… • Determine if you need to: 1. give them the answer/solution, or 2. guide them to the answer/solution. • Guiding them to the answer/solution • Restate the problem: “What I heard you say was…” • Ask them what solution they see: “If you could resolve this tomorrow, what would that look like (or what would need to happen)? • Address concerns/fears: “In the worst case scenario, what would happen if you did X (refer to previous answer)? ” • Create an action plan: “What is the first thing you can do today that will help address your concerns? ” • Ask how you can help as their supervisor: “What is one thing I can do to help you with this? ”

MANAGING CONFLICT • If conflict arises, the first approach is to address issues between you and your Ameri. Corps member at the project level. • Follow your organization’s code of conduct. • Always inform Iowa Campus Compact staff if an issue arises or when official documentation on member performance is issued. • Provide and ask for feedback regularly so that nothing comes up as a surprise later on in their term of service.

DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS • Address the behavior, not the person. • What, Why • What I saw you do was… • What I need you to do is… • Why we do it this way is because Example: You heard from other staff members that Justin was being rude to clients and making inappropriate jokes during an event. In your weekly meeting, you address your concerns with Justin: • “Justin, I heard that you made some inappropriate comments at the event last week. Tell me a little bit more about what happened. ” • “I understand that you …. It is our organization’s policy that we…. In the future, please make sure to…” • “Do you have any questions about this policy and why we need to see this change? ”

SCENARIOS • Do you have any scenarios that you have previously dealt with that you would like to share? • What did you learn from this situation? • What would you do differently? • Is there anything that you are still concerned about in relation to supervising Summer of Service members that we did not address?

QUESTIONS?