A Guide to Building Dream Teams

About This Blog

With over 40 years of experience in childcare leadership, Debra Rinell has seen firsthand how administrative team dynamics can make or break a childcare center's success. As the host of Care and Connect, Rinell brings invaluable insights into one of the most overlooked challenges facing childcare leaders today: the formation of administrative cliques. While many leaders focus on curriculum development and family engagement, the subtle emergence of cliques within leadership teams can silently erode a center's culture and effectiveness.

In this all-inclusive guide, we'll explore how seemingly innocent workplace relationships can evolve into destructive forces that undermine your center's mission. Through real-world examples and practical strategies, we'll help you identify the warning signs of clique formation and build a genuine dream team that drives your program forward.

The Distinction Between Job Sharing and Clique Behavior

Job sharing appears beneficial on the surface - team members supporting each other and ensuring work gets done. However, this practice can mask deeper issues within administrative teams. When job sharing becomes a shield against accountability, it signals the presence of a clique rather than genuine collaboration.

In cliques, members share responsibilities not to support the program but to protect each other from individual accountability. They resist specific job roles, KPIs, and performance reviews, often using phrases like "we all support each other" or "we help wherever needed" to avoid clear responsibilities.

This collective approach eliminates the diverse perspectives essential for a team-managed program's success. Instead of gaining varied insights and feedback, centers end up with a single collective voice that may reflect only the clique leader's views while other members simply follow along.

The Friends and Family Plan: A Double-Edged Sword

Hiring friends and family members isn't inherently problematic. Many successful businesses build strong teams through personal connections and referrals. However, in administrative teams, these relationships can create an intricate web of loyalties that compromises professional judgment.

These connections often extend beyond the immediate administrative team, creating "fringe members" who benefit from their relationships with clique members. This dynamic can lead to inequitable treatment, where some employees receive preferential treatment or avoid consequences for poor performance based on their connections rather than their merit.

The impact ripples throughout the entire organization, affecting staff morale and retention. When non-connected employees observe this favoritism, they quickly lose faith in leadership fairness and may seek opportunities elsewhere.

Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset in Leadership Teams

True dream teams align with the center's core values and actively participate in program improvement. They brainstorm new ideas, seek ways to differentiate the program and focus on better serving families, staff, and children.

Cliques, however, primarily consider how changes will affect their group dynamics and position within the organization. They resist innovation and improvement initiatives that don't directly benefit their members, regardless of the potential value to the program.

This resistance stems from a fixed mindset focused on maintaining the status quo rather than embracing growth opportunities. Clique members often view change as a threat to their established power structure rather than an opportunity for program enhancement.

Breaking Free: Reclaiming Your Program's Vision

Even as an owner or director, you might find yourself on the outside looking in when dealing with an established clique. Recognizing this dynamic is crucial for maintaining control of your program's direction and culture.

Key steps for addressing administrative cliques include:

1. Establishing clear, individual job descriptions and responsibilities

2. Implementing specific KPIs for each role

3. Conducting regular individual performance reviews

4. Creating transparent communication channels

5. Addressing favoritism promptly and consistently

6. Developing clear organizational policies around hiring and accountability

The process requires patience and persistence, as dismantling established cliques takes time. However, the long-term benefits of building a true dream team far outweigh the temporary discomfort of addressing these issues.

Taking Action: Building Your Dream Team

The journey toward creating a genuine dream team starts with an honest assessment and decisive action. First, evaluate your current administrative team dynamics using the warning signs discussed. Look for patterns of job sharing without accountability, signs of favoritism, resistance to change, and hidden agendas.

If you identify clique behaviors, develop a clear plan for restructuring your administrative team. Begin with detailed job descriptions, specific performance metrics, and individual accountability measures. Remember that some team members may resist these changes, and you might need to make difficult decisions about personnel.

Most importantly, stay focused on your program's core values and mission. A true dream team aligns with these fundamentals, fostering an environment where every staff member can thrive and contribute to the program's success. Transform your administrative team by implementing these strategies today, and watch your program flourish under genuinely collaborative leadership.

Ready to transform your administrative team into a true dream team? Listen to Care and Connect with Debra Rinell, where decades of childcare leadership experience meets practical, actionable strategies for your center's success.