This post is a follow-up to an earlier post I sent out this week. Previously, in my post "You don't have to like it, but you do have to do it" I talked about how the staff I was managing failed to complete a task I had given them. It was a learning experience for both of us.
While I think back fondly on that story, the main thing that made this story worth sharing was because of the other qualities the staff exhibited 95% of the time that summer. Clearly my soapbox speech in that post did not deter many of them from returning the following year. Here are some qualities that make up a stellar staff. They are the reason we survived that summer together.
Willingness to do anything the job requires
As students had moved into their rooms during a session, we received some complaints that the rooms were dirty. I asked the staff to go around to the rooms and ask if they could help clean to try and make it satisfactory for them to live in for the next two weeks. This resulted in a hilarious story of one of the staff members, Rose, knocking on a door like a Merry Maid, toilet brush in hand, and asking, "Hi, I'm Rose, can I clean your toilet?"
One of the best parts of the job was getting on a bus and going to a museum in Los Angeles, or to a local beach, or shopping at The Grove. Cleaning toilets probably didn't make the top 100 tasks that were great about this job. And yet, the staff made the most of it. I can assure you that no one liked this task, but I didn't hear any complaints about it.
Ability to exceed expectations
When a staff can join together and make a client experience the best it can be, you just have to smile. Of course, the students and group leaders we worked with were excited to spend time in Los Angeles and look out the bus windows for movie stars, but it's the connections and friendships that were formed between the staff and the students that really sticks with you.
After just two weeks on campus, the students and staff members shed tears as they said their goodbyes. It was the staff's ability to exceed expectations that impacted both the students and their leaders. Exceeding expectations can put a smile on any client's face in any industry.
Perseverance
During the last session when I began making the work schedule I asked each staff member to tell me what excursion they most wanted to go on and what trip they wanted to avoid as we wrapped up the summer. I tried to honor their requests. I had a staff member Ellie say, "I've sat on a bus for 3 hours to try and get to Zuma Beach in Malibu and sometimes we would never arrive. I am inclined to say, don't put me on that trip, but I feel like I need to show Zuma Beach who is boss!"
I admired the perseverance that Ellie exhibited that day. From what I had gathered, this had been one of the more difficult trips to run simply because the traffic never cooperated and the students that wanted to enjoy the California beaches and sunshine simply never made it. Still, she vowed to trek on for one last "hoo-rah!" It's this kind of passion and drive that can help make a team work so well together. In the face of adversity, she and the rest of the staff persevered.
Teamwork
My barometer for teamwork at this job was often how well the staff problem solved without me. I measured this by how many times they called me during the day. If I didn't hear from them all day then I knew that they worked well together and were able to troubleshoot any issue they encountered that day without my guidance. I trusted that they were making the best decisions possible and allowed them the latitude to make those decisions. They needed to rely on one another more than they needed to rely on me, and this fostered great teamwork between them.
After all, I often wasn't on the excursions with them, but instead locked in the office planning the next trip or reconciling expenses. Not exactly glamorous!
For this job, coordinating times to meet the students after giving them free time was essential and required lots of communication within the staff on the trip. They worked together incredibly well, which made managing them a joy of my job rather than a burden.
Not taking themselves too seriously
I have never laughed so hard with people doing impressions of clients asking "Where's the coach?", telling funny stories about their bus drivers' lives (which became their new favorite soap drama), and making light of the various "Danielle-isms" of the summer like shaving one leg the morning of a beach trip. - Can you say sleep deprived much? - Not to mention affectionately printing this list of "Danielle-isms" on a large piece of paper to present to me at our staff party.
I think stress can sometimes cause tension, but can also result in the best memories. The staff knew how to laugh at themselves when things went wrong (after they addressed the issue of course).
They always worked hard, and they knew how to let off steam through humor. Like frantically asking, "Is the list inside?"... Inside what Michelle? I still don't know what she meant to this day and I don't think she does either, but we are able to laugh about it even today.
Or another staff member, Zac, frantically running into the office trying to find out what he could do. To which I responded, "You can take a walk. We don't do freak outs here, so just take a breath."
Conclusion
I miss managing people some days because I think about how close many of my previously employees became not just with one another, but with me as well. While many of us live far away from each other we exchange messages every once in awhile. We don't always get to pick our staff members, but having people with the right attitudes can make all the difference for a manager.