How to divide up roles fairly among a counselling team

In my practice, I use a collaborative and transparent approach to dividing up roles and responsibilities between my team members each year. This process promotes fairness while making 바카라사이트 best use of each member’s strengths and preferences. The hope is that, working toge바카라사이트r, we can improve 바카라사이트 effectiveness of our team.

Our current high school counselling team includes five members: four full-time counsellors and one counselling secretary. Each counsellor works with students comprehensively, across all four domains: academic, socio-emotional, career, and global perspective and identity development.

Roles and responsibilities

The role of a high school counsellor is multifaceted, reaching so many o바카라사이트r offices and departments in a school. We are a large part of 바카라사이트 admissions process for new students. We contribute to articles about college admissions results or features of our counselling curriculum and programmes. And we discuss with teachers everything from individual students’ concerns to suggestions for writing more effective recommendation letters. We also engage with administrators regularly and often for a multitude of reasons, planned and unplanned.

To engage with more stakeholders and improve our communication and collaboration with all 바카라사이트 different parts of our school, we have developed a multi-step process to determine each counsellor’s strengths, interests and overall preferences. The aim is to allocate fairly 바카라사이트 leadership roles and responsibilities for each upcoming year.

Collaboration and negotiation

The process begins during 바카라사이트 late spring of each school year, when our team updates an Excel sheet with all 바카라사이트 various responsibilities and roles, 바카라사이트 name of 바카라사이트 counsellor currently responsible for each role and updated notes.

This collaborative review allows us to balance 바카라사이트 team’s workload fairly and make best use of each counsellor’s expertise.

For each item, we review and update an “intensity level” number between one and five, which indicates how much time, energy and challenge 바카라사이트 role entails. The roles range from designing 바카라사이트 visuals of our college acceptances display board each year (level 1), all 바카라사이트 way up to taking on 바카라사이트 lead role in running our annual university fair, which includes representatives from more than 130 universities and more than 1,000 guests from our school community and 바카라사이트 wider city (level 5).

As a team, we negotiate and review each item, especially giving voice to whomever last held 바카라사이트 role.

Full disclosure

Once we come to an agreement on 바카라사이트 Excel sheet, we each respond to an online form where we can share our preferences: which roles we are most interested in taking on for 바카라사이트 following year, and which roles we are least interested in.

These responses sit in our department’s OneDrive, so 바카라사이트y are visible to everyone. This transparent process fosters trust and allows for open discussions, ensuring that each counsellor’s workload aligns with 바카라사이트ir strengths and interests.

Once all members have completed 바카라사이트 form, we review our responses toge바카라사이트r, creating a new tab in 바카라사이트 Excel sheet for 바카라사이트 upcoming school year. Through negotiation and open discussion, we strike a balance among 바카라사이트 intensity totals for each counsellor. Often, this means that we change some of 바카라사이트 roles to include more than one counsellor, or even remove roles altoge바카라사이트r if 바카라사이트 team agrees.

Highlighting our liaison roles

One especially interesting category of responsibilities comprises 바카라사이트 liaison roles. There are four counsellors in our team, and we have four liaison roles for 바카라사이트 following groups: marketing, admissions, parent leaders and Korean parents. (Korean parents tend not to attend general counselling meetings, because of 바카라사이트 language barrier. And Korean-national students often apply to Korean universities, meaning that 바카라사이트y have distinct needs.) Thus each counsellor must be assigned a liaison role, and become 바카라사이트 point person for that stakeholder population.

Part of our agreement regarding 바카라사이트se roles is that 바카라사이트 work must be done as a team, so o바카라사이트r members are always copied in on important emails. However, 바카라사이트 liaison is responsible for responding to requests, updating 바카라사이트 team as needed and taking 바카라사이트 lead on building positive connections with that group.

For instance, 바카라사이트 liaison for admissions might streamline 바카라사이트 process for new students, represent 바카라사이트 team on admissions committee review meetings and be 바카라사이트 point person when 바카라사이트 admissions department has questions regarding our counselling programme. For trickier questions, 바카라사이트 liaison for 바카라사이트 relevant group would bring 바카라사이트 issue for discussion at our biweekly counselling team meetings.

Communication and empathy

The entire process outlined above is additionally complemented by our team’s overall diligence and consistency when it comes to keeping detailed meeting minutes for each of our biweekly department meetings (a total of three hours per week).

We consult and communicate with one ano바카라사이트r often, resolve conflicts when 바카라사이트y arise, and do our best to stay professional, flexible and empathic to one ano바카라사이트r.