27th October 2020 Leadership & Management Nursery Management Software All Posts

5 Top Tips: Getting the Most from your Nursery Management System

Getting the most from your Nursery Management Software

Good Nursery Management Systems can help manage many aspects of childcare settings, such as: improving engagement with busy parents, improving cash flow, managing child development, your team and much more.  

If you do not know how to tap into its potential, your Nursery Management System will at best be a place where child data is stored and at worst, a random tool that a few people use, all differently, causing confusion and a lack of productivity. 

With the right approach, you can unlock the power of a Nursery Management System to inform and build your childcare business. Giving everyone on your team the information, tools, and workflows they need to succeed. 

The tips in this post will help you ensure that your experience with Connect Childcare is like the latter.

5 Top Tips: Getting the Most out of Connect Childcare

1. Get buy-in from the top

When it comes to adopting a tool as central to your business as Connect Childcare, it’s important to get buy-in from everyone – starting at the top. There’s nothing worse than a company or even a single team using different tools to manage the same data and processes. It causes inconsistencies in the data itself, making duplications more likely, and preventing leadership from seeing the data and reports they need to make important decisions.

2. Allocate your champions

At Connect we recommend that you allocate a champion for each area of the software. Your champions can complete the training for their specific area and can help other staff members that might not be as enthusiastic. This is a tried and tested method but you can work this out for yourself. These are the qualities that each Champion should have:

Connect Childcare Champion:

Somebody with good knowledge of bookings, close to the admin side of the business with a sound understanding of finance and grants. 

iConnect Champion:

Somebody with a passion for child development, interested in tracking and reporting and with a keen interest in observations or assessments. 

ParentZone Champion:

Somebody with good relationships with the children and their families. A good communicator with a passion for engaging parents in child development.

Some people love change and can adapt to new technology, but others can fear it or fight it. To ensure a smooth transition to software, make sure you explain to your colleagues what the software does, and why you chose it for your setting. Build new technology into the routines and rhythms of the workday as soon as possible.

Getting to grips with your New Software

Download the handy PDF guide.


3. Ensure your staff are trained

Training is the ideal way to promote collaboration among employees and embed the correct processes into the organisation.

As part of your connect childcare implementation, you will receive full training on the software. But, if you’ve been with us for a while or if you’re a new member of staff, there’s still plenty of help out there for you too.

We have a whole selection of free videos for you to choose from on the helpdesk. These sessions are available whenever you feel ready. Lots of our nurseries prefer to get to grips with the main modules first and come back to these ones at a later date.

We also recommend that you schedule refresher training every 6-12 months. This is the perfect opportunity to brush up on your knowledge of your system. Our 2-hour remote training sessions allow you 1:1 time with our trainers, and the opportunity to learn from the comfort of your own desk! You’ll even receive Connect Certification for every training course completed.

4. Get your parents on board

Ensuring that your parents are enthusiastic about ParentZone is the key to its success. Make sure your parents are fully aware of what the app is, what the app does and how secure it so that they feel confident and excited to download it. 

We can provide lots of resources to help introduce ParentZone to your existing parents. The software is intuitive and easy to use so your parents shouldn’t need formal training.

Information for ParentZone Users

Resources for parents

180,000 parents use ParentZone -
Join the Revolution

5. Stay in the know about the Connect Childcare products and services

We are constantly updating our products and services. To stay in the know, make sure you join the connect community, subscribe to our mailing list and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

 

If you ever have any questions, our Support Consultants are available over the phone and by email from Monday to Friday between 8am-6pm to help you with any of your queries.

Did you know that Connect Childcare offer additional services such as Connect Cashflow and Staff Plan? Find out more below.

Collect contactless payments and improve cashflow

Give your parents the visibility of what they owe and collect contactless payments via the parent app or by direct debit. The payments will even auto reconcile against the bill payer’s account, saving you hours of time.

Find out more

Start using ParentZone Payments today
Click Here

Boost your efficiency with the StaffPlan personnel tool

Navigate your staff returning to work post-lockdown using the StaffPlan personnel management tool. Look at staffing levels on a group or site-specific view, and based on their current circumstances. Set your staffs preferred locations and assess who is most suitable to work, based on ratios. Automate your complicated payroll process by checking your staff in and out using online staff registers and payroll exports.

Find out more

Start using StaffPlan today
Click Here
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About the Author

Marketing Lead at Connect Childcare