Roles and Responsibilities in SBM

Video Transcription

Hello there and welcome. My name is Gino Sangiuliano.

Site based management requires a great deal of planning and work. And in this lesson, we will discuss the many roles and responsibilities needed to put it all together and make it work. Let's get started.

I'm definitely a list and checklist kind of guy. I often have more than one to-do list going on at a time, school, personal, weekend, family, and so on. And yes, I am the type of person who will put something down on the list that I already did so that I can cross it off. Sometimes I think I go too far. On the other hand, it is a strategy that works for me. I know that if I write it down, or type it in my phone now, I won't forget to do it. I think that psychologically frees up my mind to think about other things, other things that will end up on my list, perhaps.

It probably sounds like I'm stating the obvious when I say that action planning, or planning for any site based initiative, requires careful planning. Yes, there needs to be a plan for the plan, and here is what it looks like. You'll want to start by defining and assigning specific roles and responsibilities to members of the team. It's important that everyone knows what is expected of them and is held accountable. One way of doing this is by using the acronym RACI, which stands for responsible, accountable, consult, and inform.

Although it has its origins in business, it has been known to be extremely effective in schools and other PLCs as well. This is a protocol designed to increase communication and accountability, as well as to help teams define and assign roles, monitor their progress, and offer support so that they will meet the deadlines and milestones of each initiative and action plan. The protocol requires members to have specific roles. Let's go ahead and take a look at each of them.

R stands for Responsible. This is usually a shared role because of the scope of the work involved. These individuals are responsible for completing the task.

Next is Accountable. This person is ultimately held accountable and is given the authority to basically chart the course and has the final say for the team. This is usually a principal or a teacher leader.

C, Consult. The consultant is considered the expert who offers their opinion and knowledge before any final decisions or actions are taken.

And the last role is Inform. These are the individuals who are notified after the action or decision is made.

There are also some specific protocols teams using RACI should follow. For example, it's important to document who the individual is responsible for communication of goals and implementation of actions. Include the position of those responsible on the chart. The objectives and those assigned should be included as well. Be sure to identify their roles, level of decision making, and participation in communication or actions. And finally, it is the team leader's responsibility to make sure that members understand their individual and collective roles and responsibilities.

Here is an example of what a RACI chart might look like. In this case, the goal was to improve recess behavior on the playground. On this example, I have included four individuals and five action steps. As you can see, the different letters on the chart indicate their roles. Feel free to pause the video here to take a closer look.

Please note that for each action, there is only one person who is identified as accountable. That's because if more than one person is accountable, the likelihood of the action not being met increases. It's a matter of consistency and having minimal barriers present.

The RACI protocol can be implemented using five steps. Start by identifying the scope of the work, beginning with the areas where you can get the most out of your resources. Decide which decisions and which actions need to be charted. This can be done through a brainstorming session. List the most important actions that will contribute to ensuring effective implementation. If the list gets too long, narrow it down by consensus.

Third, list the individuals and roles with regard to the initiative. Build the chart, filling in responsible, accountable, consult, and inform. The general rule of thumb is to involve somewhere between four and ten people. And finally, carve out time to meet with the group to collect feedback about the chart, and revise as needed. You don't want to burn anyone out, or give someone a task that they are unable to complete.

It's important to be open to making adjustments in order to increase the impact of your initiatives. With any initiative comes challenges during the implementation phase. It's no different when you're using RACI. However, here are some important tips to keep in mind so that you can avoid any setbacks.

So I started this lesson talking about checklists and to do lists, and I'm going to end that way as well. Did you include all necessary actions on the chart? Is everyone aware of their roles and responsibilities? Do you refer to the chart at collaborative meetings for check-ins and updates? Do you meet to review and monitor progress when benchmarks and milestones are expected to be reached? Remember that benchmarks and milestones are notable achievements that are predefined in reaching a goal, such as the halfway point.

So it's time to go ahead and summarize this lesson. We covered the topic of RACI, which stands for responsible, accountable, consult, and inform. I shared the roles, protocols, steps, an example, and even some challenges.

And now it's time for a little food for thought. Use the RACI chart guideline and choose an initiative that you were recently a part of, and duplicate it with your actions and the personnel that you had available.

For more information on how to apply what you learned in this video, please check out the additional resources. The additional resources section includes links useful for applications of the course material, including brief descriptions of each resource.

That's all for this lesson. Thanks so much for joining me. I'll see you next time.