Description
White Paper on Skills & Attributes of a Youth & Community Work Manager: Critical Reflection & Action Plan for the Future.:- Critical theory is a school of thought that stresses the reflective assessment and critique of society and culture by applying knowledge from the social sciences and the humanities. As a term, critical theory has two meanings with different origins and histories: the first originated in sociology and the second originated in literary criticism
White Paper on Skills & Attributes of a Youth & Community Work Manager: Critical Reflection & Action Plan for the Future
Introduction Within this paper, the contemporary context in which Youth & Community Work resides in will be investigated while being compounded by the appropriate theories and approaches of management and leadership theories. While we must understand that contemporary issues call for contemporary thinking and solutions, the knowledge of the journey which our profession has taken historically is also important to appreciate. Thus, a brief selection of important comments and theories which could be acknowledged as dated will be employed to understand the complexities of managing a community sector organisation and workforce. Furthermore, personal experience will be reflected upon – particularly in respect to a recent management focused placement - in order to undertake a critical evaluation of my own behaviours and values.
Contemporary Issues of Youth & Community Work Foreman (1987) suggests that some workers have felt that line management has been imposed onto workers however it could be argued that this feeling is now outdated due to how line management has become an intrical part of the community sector. Ferlie et al (1996) suggest that within the public sector as a whole there has been an erosion of the autonomy of professionals which could be a pathway towards the de-professionalization of the sector. Hoggett (1991 cited in Ferlie et al; 1996) argues that rather than the autonomous erosion, a feature of the emerging post-bureaucratic paradigm is ‘regulated autonomy’, which is the devolution of responsibility down the management line within a strategic framework. The question of which of these concepts took place within the 1990’s is now irrelevant, as what has been seen with Youth &
Community Work in recent years is the clear professionalization and process of recognition which has taken place with moves such as creating an all-degree profession. It could be suggested that much of the cynicism surrounding management in all professional walks of life – but particularly the voluntary sector – stems from the association of the word to denote authority and control. Furthermore, Handy (1990) suggests, management to many sounds like manipulation. It could be proposed that rather than manipulation, control or authority, management is a process, in which the use of the above factors could constitute misuse of power and an incorrect approach within Youth & Community Work. Much of the above, are now dated, historical issues related to the management of community organisations, however are they completely irrelevant? Not entirely, however the sector is facing new challenges in the 21st Century which need to be addressed. It could be argued that increasingly prevalent is the need to work with those from other agencies and professional backgrounds. In contemporary community sector management, it is becoming more likely that practitioners will - at the very least – work closely with those from other professions, while as managers, deal with the issues raised from managing those who hold different professional values, ethics and ways of practice. Key skills which need to be employed in order to manage any such relationships and potential conflicts include knowledge of negotiation and conflict resolution. People skills such as positive communication; information sharing and positive training and development for all staff we also ensure that positive relationships are created and maintained in within the workforce. A manager’s individual attitude will also play a part, as a manager who is willing to embrace the positive and varied attributes which different professional backgrounds can bring to an organisation.
A further issue of contemporary management is Finance, with three key subfactors of this being; Commissioning; Resourcefulness and Funding skills. Understanding commissioning is a complex affair and, as stated by Bamford
(2002) requires a number of key skills in order to carry out properly. These skills including; analysis; costing; negotiation and political sensitivity must therefore be nescissary within Youth & Community Work due to the growing prevalence of commissioned work being carried out on behalf of other agencies. Resourcefulness and Funding Skills are in many ways inter-linked factors related to Finance Management. Of course all professions have always relied on resources – both monetary and otherwise – in order to survive, so it is not strictly a contemporary issue. With this said however, ways of obtaining funds and the amounts which can be achieved have no doubt changed vastly, so it vital that managers are fully aware of what is necessary to survive. According to jfb.co.uk (no date), funding streams come from four key areas, these being; Central Government, Departmental Bodies and Local Government; The National Lottery; Charitable Trusts and private companies. Of course financial support is not given away in exchange for nothing, so practitioners must be aware of which sources of funds are available and appropriate for their organisation or individual project. Many funders will expect a bidder to show within their application that they can meet certain outcomes and criteria before funds will be released and often the process of applying for funds can be extremely competitive. A further issue related to resources is the decision making process, which is outlined in an interview with a Centre Based Youth worker within ‘Youth Service Management’ (Bradford & Day; 1991, p. 29): “The problem is getting decisions about things – money, equipment and so on... I have got a team leader I am supposed to go to... but usually he says he will have to speak to the area officer to get a decision.” This can be a common issue if roles and responibilitys within a team are not clearly defined. The interview goes on to state that if you want or need something, it’s best doing it yourself or going directly to the area officer, which effectively renders the management structure at the very least ineffective.
Critical Reflection
When reflecting upon my own style and attitude towards management, it’s understandable how I have been seen to fit into the stereotype of a Youth and Community Worker which is often prevalent today. The core aspect of this is that I employ a laid back approach to work, and my persona is extremely informal. In recent placement experiences, this has presented problems for me, particularly in one incident where a volunteer whom I was supervising cancelled or we mutually postponed sessions on a number of occasions due to having busy agenda’s that day. At the time, this seemed like the correct thing to do, the volunteer was relieved of extra – perhaps unnecessary – pressure, while I could use the freed time to undertake another productive task. In hindsight, this was not the case, as through reflection I understood that the volunteer was not being supported in the manner which we agreed and the importance of supervision was not being respected. Through all the study, experience and critical reflection I have undertaken in the past three years, there have been a great number points of developments which I have taken account of. Primarily, gaining an understanding that a manager does not simply have one style or approach, rather they have many styles which must be employed correctly. This belief has been further compounded recently by the understanding of Edward De Bono’s Six thinking hats. It is relevant in two ways, primarily as these hats are a management tool in their own right, but also due to personal argument that management approaches are like hats and can be applied when needed. De Bono’s Six hats are; white deals with facts and figures, red emphasises feelings and emotions; purple deals with judgement and logic; Yellow is optimistic of suggestions and input; Green focuses on creative and innovative thinking while the blue hat enables the thinker to be able to have observers status (De Bono in Leonard;2002). A further issue which has started to become personally obvious recently has been the influence of legislation and policy on the community sector. This understanding began while undertaking a management focused placement at The Foxton Centre, Preston, where a key responsibility was to revise a number of policies as well as the organisations building risk assessment. While working on these tasks, it was observed just how frequently legislation and policy can be changed and how this must be incorporated into both the policy and
procedure of youth work practitioners, who must be constantly aware of movements in this field. Personal Action Plan In developing a personal action plan, I would like to take on board the thoughts of Botterly (1998) who suggests ‘Five Ethics for Professions of the Third Mellenium’ (p.166). These ethics are; Provisionality; which emphasises that we must recognise the limits of our judgements. Truth searching; which puts belief in the search for truth being the ultimate quest and that if this commitment is broken it is due to professionals allowing petty rivalry and conflict to intervene. Reflective integrity ensures that we understand our limits of personal perception and need to incorporate many facets of thinking and understanding of a situation. Humility encourages us to understand that we are working for the good of others and that this may mean uncertainty for our professional thinking at times. Finally, humanistic education emphasises that our duty is to help a client help themselves and that were we take control of a task it will not benefit the client nor will it benefit our own development. I belief adopting these ethics and being pro-active in reflecting upon them will go some way to develop my managerial skills within the profession. Further to the above, there have been a number of key points for development which can be implemented in more practical terms. Undertaking the tasks referred to was an enjoyable experience, so it should be something which I can incorporate into my day to day professional life hereafter. An aspect of my professional attributes which may be more challenging to develop is my understanding and application of management styles, as referred to in the supervision scenario previously. More often than not, I feel that my informal approach to work, colleagues and clients stimulates positive relationships and outcomes. Through this process, ultimately positive and trusting relationships are formed. It is when this trust may become abused, however, is when I must be more pro-active in understanding which style, attitude, or perhaps ‘thinking hat’ I must apply next in order to positively engage with the situation.
While planning for the future in order to develop a better professional on the whole, it’s also extremely important to celebrate the positive aspects of my work which I have discovered and reflected upon over the past years. There are a number of strengths I feel I hold, including; the positive management of conflict; good relational skills with everyone I come in contact with and being a pro-active reflective practitioner. Also, I have felt that during more recent experiences, my work and relationships with those from a different professional background has been challenging yet positive. I have had many prejudices challenged by observing and being part of practice with professionals and students from backgrounds such as Social Work, Teaching, Counselling and Law. I hope my positive practice in this area continues as well as continuing to be personally and professionally challenged. Conclusion Within this paper it has been outlined how the Youth & Community Work profession faces a number of key issues and discussions which have become prevalent over the past number of years. Compared to the historical issues raised, it could be argued that the profession has came a long way from the issues of workers feeling line management is forced upon them and so on. Now, management is an accepted and - in many organisations – an embraced necessity of ensuring a healthy workforce are placed to carry out positive work. Add more.... at 2000 words now
Bibliography De Bono, E (1990). Lateral Thinking cited in Leonard, D.C (2002), Learning Theories. Greenwood Publishing; Westport. Ferlie, E, Ashburner, L, Fitzgerald,L & Pettigew, A (1996). The New Public Management In Action. Oxford University Press; New York.
Creationstep Inc. (No Date). Workplace Democracy and Self Managing Teams. Available at:http://creationstep.com/wpcontent/uploads/selfmanagement1.pdf (Accessed: 1/5/10). Hogett, P (1991) cited in Ferlie, E, Ashburner, L, Fitzgerald,L & Pettigew, A (1996). The New Public Management In Action. Oxford University Press; New York. Botterly,M (1998). Professional and Policy: Management Strategy in a Competitive World. Cassell; London. Bamford, T (2002). Commissioning and Purchasing. Routledge; London. J4bcommunity.co.uk (no date). EN Funding Overview. Available at:http://www.j4bcommunity.co.uk/page.aspx?SP=5036 (Accessed: 1/5/10) Bradford, S & Day, M (1991).Youth Service Management: Aspects of Structure, Organisation and development. Youth Work Press; Leicester. Further Reading James, A (1994). Managing to Care: Public Services & The Market. Longman; New York Reid, H.L, & Fielding, A.J (2007). Providing Support to Young People: A Guide to Interviewing in Helping Relationships. Routledge; Abington. Isaac-Henry, K, Painter, C & Barnes, C (ed) (1997). Management in the Public Sector (2nd ed). International Thompson Business Press; London. Baldwin, M (1995). The Meaning of Care Management: Social Work Monographs. University of East Anglia; Norwich. David, T (ed) (1994). Working Together for Young Children: MultiProfessionalism in Action. Routledge; London. Cattermole, F, Airs, M & Grisbrook, D (1987). Managing Youth Services. Longman; Harlow.
Becket, P.D (1986). The Concept of Participation: Implications for the Management of Youth & Community Work. Sheffield City Polytechnic; Sheffield.
doc_577480608.docx
White Paper on Skills & Attributes of a Youth & Community Work Manager: Critical Reflection & Action Plan for the Future.:- Critical theory is a school of thought that stresses the reflective assessment and critique of society and culture by applying knowledge from the social sciences and the humanities. As a term, critical theory has two meanings with different origins and histories: the first originated in sociology and the second originated in literary criticism
White Paper on Skills & Attributes of a Youth & Community Work Manager: Critical Reflection & Action Plan for the Future
Introduction Within this paper, the contemporary context in which Youth & Community Work resides in will be investigated while being compounded by the appropriate theories and approaches of management and leadership theories. While we must understand that contemporary issues call for contemporary thinking and solutions, the knowledge of the journey which our profession has taken historically is also important to appreciate. Thus, a brief selection of important comments and theories which could be acknowledged as dated will be employed to understand the complexities of managing a community sector organisation and workforce. Furthermore, personal experience will be reflected upon – particularly in respect to a recent management focused placement - in order to undertake a critical evaluation of my own behaviours and values.
Contemporary Issues of Youth & Community Work Foreman (1987) suggests that some workers have felt that line management has been imposed onto workers however it could be argued that this feeling is now outdated due to how line management has become an intrical part of the community sector. Ferlie et al (1996) suggest that within the public sector as a whole there has been an erosion of the autonomy of professionals which could be a pathway towards the de-professionalization of the sector. Hoggett (1991 cited in Ferlie et al; 1996) argues that rather than the autonomous erosion, a feature of the emerging post-bureaucratic paradigm is ‘regulated autonomy’, which is the devolution of responsibility down the management line within a strategic framework. The question of which of these concepts took place within the 1990’s is now irrelevant, as what has been seen with Youth &
Community Work in recent years is the clear professionalization and process of recognition which has taken place with moves such as creating an all-degree profession. It could be suggested that much of the cynicism surrounding management in all professional walks of life – but particularly the voluntary sector – stems from the association of the word to denote authority and control. Furthermore, Handy (1990) suggests, management to many sounds like manipulation. It could be proposed that rather than manipulation, control or authority, management is a process, in which the use of the above factors could constitute misuse of power and an incorrect approach within Youth & Community Work. Much of the above, are now dated, historical issues related to the management of community organisations, however are they completely irrelevant? Not entirely, however the sector is facing new challenges in the 21st Century which need to be addressed. It could be argued that increasingly prevalent is the need to work with those from other agencies and professional backgrounds. In contemporary community sector management, it is becoming more likely that practitioners will - at the very least – work closely with those from other professions, while as managers, deal with the issues raised from managing those who hold different professional values, ethics and ways of practice. Key skills which need to be employed in order to manage any such relationships and potential conflicts include knowledge of negotiation and conflict resolution. People skills such as positive communication; information sharing and positive training and development for all staff we also ensure that positive relationships are created and maintained in within the workforce. A manager’s individual attitude will also play a part, as a manager who is willing to embrace the positive and varied attributes which different professional backgrounds can bring to an organisation.
A further issue of contemporary management is Finance, with three key subfactors of this being; Commissioning; Resourcefulness and Funding skills. Understanding commissioning is a complex affair and, as stated by Bamford
(2002) requires a number of key skills in order to carry out properly. These skills including; analysis; costing; negotiation and political sensitivity must therefore be nescissary within Youth & Community Work due to the growing prevalence of commissioned work being carried out on behalf of other agencies. Resourcefulness and Funding Skills are in many ways inter-linked factors related to Finance Management. Of course all professions have always relied on resources – both monetary and otherwise – in order to survive, so it is not strictly a contemporary issue. With this said however, ways of obtaining funds and the amounts which can be achieved have no doubt changed vastly, so it vital that managers are fully aware of what is necessary to survive. According to jfb.co.uk (no date), funding streams come from four key areas, these being; Central Government, Departmental Bodies and Local Government; The National Lottery; Charitable Trusts and private companies. Of course financial support is not given away in exchange for nothing, so practitioners must be aware of which sources of funds are available and appropriate for their organisation or individual project. Many funders will expect a bidder to show within their application that they can meet certain outcomes and criteria before funds will be released and often the process of applying for funds can be extremely competitive. A further issue related to resources is the decision making process, which is outlined in an interview with a Centre Based Youth worker within ‘Youth Service Management’ (Bradford & Day; 1991, p. 29): “The problem is getting decisions about things – money, equipment and so on... I have got a team leader I am supposed to go to... but usually he says he will have to speak to the area officer to get a decision.” This can be a common issue if roles and responibilitys within a team are not clearly defined. The interview goes on to state that if you want or need something, it’s best doing it yourself or going directly to the area officer, which effectively renders the management structure at the very least ineffective.
Critical Reflection
When reflecting upon my own style and attitude towards management, it’s understandable how I have been seen to fit into the stereotype of a Youth and Community Worker which is often prevalent today. The core aspect of this is that I employ a laid back approach to work, and my persona is extremely informal. In recent placement experiences, this has presented problems for me, particularly in one incident where a volunteer whom I was supervising cancelled or we mutually postponed sessions on a number of occasions due to having busy agenda’s that day. At the time, this seemed like the correct thing to do, the volunteer was relieved of extra – perhaps unnecessary – pressure, while I could use the freed time to undertake another productive task. In hindsight, this was not the case, as through reflection I understood that the volunteer was not being supported in the manner which we agreed and the importance of supervision was not being respected. Through all the study, experience and critical reflection I have undertaken in the past three years, there have been a great number points of developments which I have taken account of. Primarily, gaining an understanding that a manager does not simply have one style or approach, rather they have many styles which must be employed correctly. This belief has been further compounded recently by the understanding of Edward De Bono’s Six thinking hats. It is relevant in two ways, primarily as these hats are a management tool in their own right, but also due to personal argument that management approaches are like hats and can be applied when needed. De Bono’s Six hats are; white deals with facts and figures, red emphasises feelings and emotions; purple deals with judgement and logic; Yellow is optimistic of suggestions and input; Green focuses on creative and innovative thinking while the blue hat enables the thinker to be able to have observers status (De Bono in Leonard;2002). A further issue which has started to become personally obvious recently has been the influence of legislation and policy on the community sector. This understanding began while undertaking a management focused placement at The Foxton Centre, Preston, where a key responsibility was to revise a number of policies as well as the organisations building risk assessment. While working on these tasks, it was observed just how frequently legislation and policy can be changed and how this must be incorporated into both the policy and
procedure of youth work practitioners, who must be constantly aware of movements in this field. Personal Action Plan In developing a personal action plan, I would like to take on board the thoughts of Botterly (1998) who suggests ‘Five Ethics for Professions of the Third Mellenium’ (p.166). These ethics are; Provisionality; which emphasises that we must recognise the limits of our judgements. Truth searching; which puts belief in the search for truth being the ultimate quest and that if this commitment is broken it is due to professionals allowing petty rivalry and conflict to intervene. Reflective integrity ensures that we understand our limits of personal perception and need to incorporate many facets of thinking and understanding of a situation. Humility encourages us to understand that we are working for the good of others and that this may mean uncertainty for our professional thinking at times. Finally, humanistic education emphasises that our duty is to help a client help themselves and that were we take control of a task it will not benefit the client nor will it benefit our own development. I belief adopting these ethics and being pro-active in reflecting upon them will go some way to develop my managerial skills within the profession. Further to the above, there have been a number of key points for development which can be implemented in more practical terms. Undertaking the tasks referred to was an enjoyable experience, so it should be something which I can incorporate into my day to day professional life hereafter. An aspect of my professional attributes which may be more challenging to develop is my understanding and application of management styles, as referred to in the supervision scenario previously. More often than not, I feel that my informal approach to work, colleagues and clients stimulates positive relationships and outcomes. Through this process, ultimately positive and trusting relationships are formed. It is when this trust may become abused, however, is when I must be more pro-active in understanding which style, attitude, or perhaps ‘thinking hat’ I must apply next in order to positively engage with the situation.
While planning for the future in order to develop a better professional on the whole, it’s also extremely important to celebrate the positive aspects of my work which I have discovered and reflected upon over the past years. There are a number of strengths I feel I hold, including; the positive management of conflict; good relational skills with everyone I come in contact with and being a pro-active reflective practitioner. Also, I have felt that during more recent experiences, my work and relationships with those from a different professional background has been challenging yet positive. I have had many prejudices challenged by observing and being part of practice with professionals and students from backgrounds such as Social Work, Teaching, Counselling and Law. I hope my positive practice in this area continues as well as continuing to be personally and professionally challenged. Conclusion Within this paper it has been outlined how the Youth & Community Work profession faces a number of key issues and discussions which have become prevalent over the past number of years. Compared to the historical issues raised, it could be argued that the profession has came a long way from the issues of workers feeling line management is forced upon them and so on. Now, management is an accepted and - in many organisations – an embraced necessity of ensuring a healthy workforce are placed to carry out positive work. Add more.... at 2000 words now
Bibliography De Bono, E (1990). Lateral Thinking cited in Leonard, D.C (2002), Learning Theories. Greenwood Publishing; Westport. Ferlie, E, Ashburner, L, Fitzgerald,L & Pettigew, A (1996). The New Public Management In Action. Oxford University Press; New York.
Creationstep Inc. (No Date). Workplace Democracy and Self Managing Teams. Available at:http://creationstep.com/wpcontent/uploads/selfmanagement1.pdf (Accessed: 1/5/10). Hogett, P (1991) cited in Ferlie, E, Ashburner, L, Fitzgerald,L & Pettigew, A (1996). The New Public Management In Action. Oxford University Press; New York. Botterly,M (1998). Professional and Policy: Management Strategy in a Competitive World. Cassell; London. Bamford, T (2002). Commissioning and Purchasing. Routledge; London. J4bcommunity.co.uk (no date). EN Funding Overview. Available at:http://www.j4bcommunity.co.uk/page.aspx?SP=5036 (Accessed: 1/5/10) Bradford, S & Day, M (1991).Youth Service Management: Aspects of Structure, Organisation and development. Youth Work Press; Leicester. Further Reading James, A (1994). Managing to Care: Public Services & The Market. Longman; New York Reid, H.L, & Fielding, A.J (2007). Providing Support to Young People: A Guide to Interviewing in Helping Relationships. Routledge; Abington. Isaac-Henry, K, Painter, C & Barnes, C (ed) (1997). Management in the Public Sector (2nd ed). International Thompson Business Press; London. Baldwin, M (1995). The Meaning of Care Management: Social Work Monographs. University of East Anglia; Norwich. David, T (ed) (1994). Working Together for Young Children: MultiProfessionalism in Action. Routledge; London. Cattermole, F, Airs, M & Grisbrook, D (1987). Managing Youth Services. Longman; Harlow.
Becket, P.D (1986). The Concept of Participation: Implications for the Management of Youth & Community Work. Sheffield City Polytechnic; Sheffield.
doc_577480608.docx