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Among the most important and rewarding responsibilities that parks and recreation managers deal with is mentoring the staff. Nurturing a new hire from the first day to leading an agency is both a source of personal fulfillment and an essential to organizational continuity (See “Getting Back To BASICs,” PRB August 2008).
Conversely, managers are equally responsible for meeting and exceeding the expectations of the people they serve, requiring that events and programs be implemented by a competent, well-supervised staff. If you had to personally manage every activity offered by an agency, you would be busy from dawn to dusk. At some point, you delegate supervision to selected members of the team.
The Turning Point
But when do you decide to let go, to allow the staff to manage (and for you to go home for some well-earned quality time)? Figure 1 depicts three of the critical aspects of supervision that can inform this decision, and also act as a model by which you can assess and guide the staff’s skill-training and professional development (See “Not Another Training,” PRB April 2008).