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MassCamps proudly welcomes Stephen Maguire
Steve’s Tip of the
Week:
April 8, 2007: Tip Of the Week: Inventory
This is great time of the year to be finishing up your inventory
ordering for the summer. One little tip that always helped me at the end
of each year was to make sure my program heads had a thorough list of
inventory and the condition of the materials they were working
with. Get your ordering out the way now and get a solid inventory list.
That way you can turn your objectives to the most important issues like
hiring the best staff in the world!
April 1, 2007: Tip of the Week: Important Reference Questions
Having spent the last 2 weekends presenting at both the ACA New England
and Tri-State conferences, some of the best feedback I got from program
participants has been comments about my reference questions. Here are
some important questions you should be asking references, as you prepare
to hire new staff… “What type of long term commitment has this person
shown in their life?”, “How do you think they will perform over the course
of long summer?” “Has the person had any history of creating drama in
their lives that you know of?” I also learned this… if you call a
reference about someone and the reference doesn’t have much to say or they
seem reserved in their praise, they are telling you a lot. Some people
say a lot, with out saying a lot…
March 11, 2007: Tip of the Week: “Communicate or Crumble!”
In work I have done recently with camp professionals, one of the most
important ingredients they believe makes an effective team is proper
communication. I couldn’t agree more. Every organization I have ever
worked with or for, the best people in those organizations were the great
communicators. They got back to me in a timely manner. I always knew
where I stood with them. There was never a lack of understanding or
confusion about where they stood on an issue. A simple question to
ponder… “How well do you communicate?”
March 4, 2007: Tip of the Week: Stop the broken record!!
As I plan out my staff training travel, I always try to make another
contact that is local in the area of the camp I’m presenting; to see if
they are interested in having me present at their camp also. I like to
make my travel as efficient as possible during those weeks. However, I’m
always amazed at the camps that respond to me with things like “We do all
of staff training in house. We’ve never used anyone from “the outside!”
I always laugh at that. “The outside”. As if people that are in the staff
training business are ‘outsiders’. Most of us have been camp directors
and are camp people. When I was a camp director, I always brought in
other camp professionals because sometimes a fresh face and a new
perspective can have your staff look a things a different way. I know
what it was like to be that “broken record” to my staff and I know they
always perked up a bit at a different spin on things.
February
18, 2007:
As we are nearing
the height of the staff hiring process, I think it’s critical to tap your
local area colleges. However, be department specific! Meet with the
chair person of the education department and set up a time where you can
be on campus to meet with education majors. Tell them FACE TO FACE, what
you are all about! A brochure and CD are nice to look at, but actually
meeting the camp director and having some “face time” with a future staff
member can really make a significant difference for both you and your
future employee.
January 30, 2007
Conferences:
Do whatever you can to bring as many staff members as possible to
conferences. The more eyes you have out there, the better the possibility
of picking up a great ideas. Most conferences offer discounts for
bringing multiple staff members. If nothing is in writing, ask the
conference coordinators about the discount.
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