Dear Tom,
Thanks for the information about the Orlando bus system (LO14174). I
have come to believe that the secret to happier more creative and
productive staff is for management to get out of the way. Perhaps we could
call this "facilitating unemcumbered employee interaction", so that we
wouldn't have to fire the middle managers, just give them new
"facilitator" titles. The truth is that those closest to the customers
usually know how to do the job best. School bus operations have a lot of
legal encumbrances as well. For example, in Missouri, the bus must be that
delightful yellow, and the law even specifies how tall the letters on the
side can be.
One of the chronic complaints of drivers is that they have no say in
student discipline matters. They fill out a "referral sheet" and send it
to the principal who must make a decision based on a few hastily-scribbled
lines of driver 'testimony'. The way the system works (or fails to) is not
as important as the fact that the drivers feel they have no authority
(because they have no authority, of course). As in your Orlando example,
someone else plans their routes. Someone else adjudicates their on-board
disputes in absentia.
How would you suggest we broach the subject of turning management
over to the drivers, and parceling out authority with responsibility?
Grace & Peace,
Scott Ott, Public Relations Specialist
sott@nkcsd.k12.mo.us
The North Kansas City School District
http://www.nkcsd.k12.mo.us
"Do not be conformed to this world
but be transformed by
the renewing of your mind."
--Scott Ott <SOTT@nkcsd.k12.mo.us>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>