5 Tips for New Nursery Managers.

Picture the scene, you’ve just been promoted to Nursery Manager, or you’ve just landed a new Managers role in your dream setting. Congratulations!

These 5 tips will help you to get ready for your new challenge.

Don’t sweat the small stuff!
As a new manager, you might be tempted to micromanage and look at every step of your Practitioners tasks, but it’s important to take a step back and look at the bigger picture.

Take a step back and ask yourself:
How does team fit into the objectives of your setting?
How can you guide them to meet your goals?
What can be improved in your setting?

Be mindful of staff differences.
Not all of your staff are the same. Each Practitioner brings different skills and personalities and it’s important to take the time to get to know them.
Find out about what makes them tick. They might need different levels of support from you and identifying this early will make your job a lot easier!

Prioritise your team over your superiors
It’s your job to act as an advocate for your team and represent them to the Nursery Owners.
You need to turn the owner’s objectives into action plans for your team, but focussing on the owner’s needs too much can be detrimental. You might have heard the phrase ‘Happy staff, happy customers’, and this is one to remember. Happy staff are proud of their work and their workplace and will be more motivated and more engaged with you and your setting.
Keep your staff happy and supported and they will help you to reach your objectives.

Be a leader, not a boss
A good Nursery Manager isn’t above their team, they are part of it. Establish yourself as a supportive part of the team and involve practitioners in decision making.

Make mistakes!
No one is perfect, so don’t be scared to get things wrong. You don’t need to pretend you know everything, becoming a nursery manager is a learning process and it’s ok if you don’t have all the answers today. Learning from your mistakes is the best way to grow!

Do you need more tips on managing staff? Check out our eBook on attracting and keeping quality staff in your setting:

https://www.connectchildcare.com/resources/ebooks/quality-staff/