Designing a site supervisor orientation and training plan
Abstract
Investing the time and energy to prepare and support site supervisors will pay off in greater project productivity and member satisfaction. The Community and Economic Development Office in Burlington, Vermont, follows a detailed orientation and training plan to keep its site supervisors informed throughout the year. Excerpted from the Spring 2001 edition of The Resource Connection, Vol. 5, No. 2. Although these guidelines were written for AmeriCorps*VISTA site supervisors, they may be applicable to other streams of service.Issue
Preparing AmeriCorps*VISTA site supervisors for a year of hosting a national service member.Action
The old saying, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," is certainly true when it comes to preparing AmeriCorps*VISTA site supervisors for a year of hosting a national service member. The Community and Economic Development Office (CEDO) in Burlington, Vermont, has learned this lesson, and it has developed a detailed orientation and training plan for setting up both site supervisors and members for success.
The underlying premise in building a strong program is to establish and maintain close relationships with the site supervisors who are guiding your AmeriCorps*VISTA members on a daily basis. The key is for supervisors to see themselves as much a part of the national service family as the members.
Following are some tips that will help you design a supervisor orientation and training plan that will provide a solid foundation in the national service culture with an emphasis on prevention as a tool for success.
- Remember that most site supervisors will supervise an AmeriCorps*VISTA member as a small part of their duties. Although it is important to set high standards and expectations for the quality of time and energy that they give to members, you can make their job easier and help them stay organized by keeping them as informed as possible. The advance planning and preparation required will be hard work, but it is well worth the effort. We have learned to err on the side of providing the sites with too much information. Here are some examples of information to provide:
- Before the member begins, provide site supervisors with a written list of the distinct responsibilities of the sponsor agency staff or program director, the AmeriCorps*VISTA leaders (if you have them), site supervisors, and members.
- Distribute team rosters, a list of site descriptions, and program overview materials so that site supervisors can familiarize themselves with the work of the program and know how to contact their counterparts and those doing similar work.
- Develop a public relations flier that includes your program mission, a description of the sponsor agency, the program goals and objectives, and past successes. This quick reference, which can be used for both sites and the media, will help supervisors easily explain their relationship to national service.
- Ensure that supervisors as well as members are aware of reporting requirements well in advance. Help them decide what to count and let them know what you will do with that information. Provide a mid-year and end-of-year summary of accomplishments to help them recognize their place in the larger effort.
- As early as possible, send sites a schedule of team meetings, training, check-ins, service projects, and reporting deadlines. The Community and Economic Development Office provides supervisors with a tentative schedule for the first six months at the beginning of the program and then sends members and supervisors monthly updates with a simple bulletin and calendar.
- Don't let geographic distance prevent you from communicating regularly with supervisors. If you are unable to meet face to face, set up an e-mail discussion list, use interactive TV, and hold regional meetings, or conference calls.
- Most importantly, ensure that every piece of group information (every memo, e-mail, bulletin, agenda, and calendar) that you share with the members is also sent to the site supervisors. We have learned that, despite being in the same building, the same department and the same office, information somehow does not always get shared.
- Recognize that many AmeriCorps* VISTA supervisors have tremendous skills and experience in their field of expertise, but they may have had little or no training in supervisory skills. You may need to help them understand the unique position that AmeriCorps*VISTA members play in their agency.
- Sites are most successful when the supervisor not only integrates the AmeriCorps*VISTA member into the agency staff (by including him or her in staff meetings, for example) but also makes a commitment to the professional and personal development of that member. More coaching and training may be necessary for AmeriCorps*VISTA members than for other staff. Supervising national service members, simply put, takes more time. If you can give supervisors an accurate sense of how much time each week they should be spending on check-ins and project guidance, you will help them and their fellow staff be ready to bring a member onto their team.
- Provide supervisors with the same training needs assessment that you use for your members. Ask them to rate the training needs for members in order to help you design member training. Invite them to participate as learners in any of the workshops you offer for members. Include them as trainers for your member workshops and Early Service Training. Ask for their feedback on the impact that the training has had on the members' work. All of this will help them become more invested in the team's identity and ensure that you, as a program manager, have a clear sense of the success of your member development plan.
- Ask supervisors if there is any training that they need to be more successful in working with AmeriCorps*VISTA members. Workshops on topics such as giving productive feedback, coaching, and adult learning styles may be well received.
- Give site supervisors all the information they will need to get started before the member arrives at the pre-service orientation. One way to accomplish this is to develop a formal training program.
- Help new supervisors to interact with their peers. If possible, try to develop a formal mentoring relationship between your new supervisors and your veteran supervisors. At the very least, you will want to provide a forum where veteran site supervisors and second-year members are invited to share suggestions, experiences, and effective practices, and answer questions from new supervisors.
With advance thought and personal attention to site supervisors, you will be able to create a national service network throughout your host sites. The sense of team spirit that you work so hard to instill in your members will carry over to supervisors. And ultimately, the goal of placing members in projects that value the member and the national service resource that they are getting will be much more easily achieved. Invested and informed site supervisors make for a good experience for your members and will be your best tool in the fight to get things done.
Orientation Outline for AmeriCorps*VISTA Site Supervisors
I. Program Overview
Present the big picture of national service and your organization and ensure that each site understands its place in your organizational structure.
- National service overview: History of national service, AmeriCorps*VISTA, Corporation for National and Community Service.
- Streams of service: Cover the Corporation for National and Community Service's organizational chart and explain the different streams of service (SOS) and programs under the Corporation's umbrella, with an emphasis on the organizational structure in your state. Explain where SOS paths might cross and the role of the state commission versus the Corporation state office.
- History and mission of the sponsor organization and its connection to national service.
II. AmeriCorps*VISTA Terms and Conditions
Review the basic terms and conditions of AmeriCorps*VISTA service. It never hurts to repeat these for those supervisors who have already attended a pre-service orientation (PSO). Enlist them as your allies in keeping the member accountable to the team and their work focused on the goal of capacity building.
III. Administrative Review
Review the program and fiscal information needed to run a successful program.
- Corporation project application: Give a reminder that the workplan is a working document and should be used to orient and guide new members.
- Financial agreements: Provide clarity on travel and training reimbursement processes and cost-share agreements, if applicable; review the terms, conditions and process for the stipend and education award; provide a schedule for pay periods; and explain who to call with questions on the living allowance.
- Reporting expectations and paperwork.
- Timeline/annual calendar: Explain which training, service projects, and team meetings are required and which are optional.
IV. Roles/Responsibilities
Review the different roles and responsibilities carried out by Corporation staff, program staff, site supervisors, and members.
V. Recruitment
If you will be coordinating member recruitment and placement, make sure that site supervisors are clear on the process and timeline, including a review of relevant deadlines and enrollment paperwork.
Context
The city of Burlington has been sponsoring AmeriCorps*VISTA members since 1993. In that time CEDO has grown from coordinating five members in 1993 to the current program (2001), which includes 54 members working in two distinct teams. The 27-member community development team focuses its efforts in Vermont's most densely populated low-income area, Burlington's Old North End Enterprise Community. CEDO also manages a statewide America Reads literacy initiative that includes 27 members working to ensure that all children read well and independently by grade three. With only one program director, two AmeriCorps*VISTA leaders, and AmeriCorps*VISTA members placed in city and state government agencies, schools, universities and nonprofit agencies, CEDO needed a generic, yet thorough supervisor orientation.Citation
Guccione, Lisa. "The Key to Supervisory Success," The Resource Connection. National Service Resource Center. Vol.5, No. 2, 2001. pp. 2-3.
The Resource Center published The Resource Connection newsletter in print format quarterly from spring 1995 to fall 2002 to facilitate the exchange of training and technical assistance (T/TA) information, ideas, and resources to those in national and community service.
In March of 2003, The Resource Connection went to a digital format, continuing to highlight information and resources that help programs funded by the Corporation for National and Community Service.
Current and archived e-newsletters can be found online at http://nationalserviceresources.org/resources/newsletters/enewsletters/index.php