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How aware are you of the unconscious messages you are giving to the person or people you are communicating with?  Do you apply as much careful thought to your body language as you do to the words you are speaking to them?  We all use a huge range of physical movements and gestures and they all have the capacity to strengthen, limit or even harm your message.  It’s all about being constantly aware and being open to feedback and improvements.

How about your posture?  Is it positive, neutral or negative?  If your posture is positive you may have a direct gaze (not a stare), a broad smile and a friendly style – enhanced by leaning forward or placing your hands on your hips, for example.  In neutral, your gaze may be the same, but your stance and/or hands will be less direct or confident, instead perhaps down by your side.  This can be an appropriate stance for first contacts and meetings, whereas positive posture is something to use once you are more familiar with someone or you need to be more assertive or confidently persuasive.  Both are better than the negative option: which has an indirect gaze; and there is touching or ears or nose (as if they are more important than your subject), a slight turning away, or looking at the door or out of the window.  All show you’d rather be doing something else, somewhere else, or you have stopped listening altogether.

Keep your distance too.  Personal space is about 1m or 3 feet around a person.  Although this changes with cultural and gender differences.  It has also been transformed recently through COVID-19 social distancing.  So be aware and read the signs.  Often, if people feel you’re getting too close, they will move.  But what if they can’t move, are they looking uncomfortable?  You should move for them.

One major challenge is if we’re feeling nervous or uncomfortable ourselves, our body language can leak it.  It can freeze us to the point where all the good practice we know just doesn’t manifest itself.  One tip is to take a slow breath to relax yourself.  And we are usually at our most nervous when we are trying to make a good first impression.  We all know how important they are, whether we are meeting an important person, having a difficult conversation with a member of staff or parent, or are being interviewed ourselves.  The first five seconds are key.  So have a five second plan.  How are you going to stand, where are you going to stand, how are you going to hold your hands, and how are you going to look and smile at the person or people you are trying to impress? After that it could be a comfortable downhill ride!

The problem is we don’t always have the awareness we need, and we don’t often have the benefit of looking at ourselves in our day-to-day work.  Video is one solution, but not all of us like to watch ourselves on screen.  With the explosion of use of video chats and meetings, we are being constantly confronted with images of ourselves interacting with others.  Our body language behaviours normally hidden in a ‘phone call are now available for people to see.  Feedback is the next best thing.  How about making it the focus of your next peer observation review?  Ask a colleague to look at your body language and feedback.  It can make a tremendous difference.

A huge part of being a leader is managing complaints and disagreements.  It may be one of the aspects of your role that you dread.  Some leaders thrive on it; loving the opportunities to listen, and support others to reach resolutions.  In some organisations, they devote whole teams to managing complaints.  In most small and medium sized businesses we don’t have that luxury; it’s yet another one of those things we must all do.

What is absolutely clear is each and every leader and manager should have strategies up their sleeves to deal with them.  Complaints often come without warning; sometimes you can see them brewing, but more often than not they present themselves when you are busy doing something else.  And they come from all directions, they can come from children, parents, partner organisations, next-door-neighbours, funders, clients, management, staff, and volunteers.  So, knowing how to structure a response to a complaint, without making it worse in the short-term is an essential part of all our tool-boxes.  It is part of team leadership, customer care, and time management as well.

What’s worked for me is something I picked up when training customer care staff in the tour operator world.  And a useful way to remember it is APAC, which represents: acknowledge, probe, answer, and close.

I think that acknowledging a person’s complaint in the single most effective strategy of all.  Demonstrating you have heard them, and you believe they have a point will show you are not going to argue.  This will support them to move their energies away from trying to convince you, and instead move to working with you to tell you more.  Fail to acknowledge and they may get angrier, louder, more aggressive, or frustrated.  And both of you will be going nowhere fast.

And it is the second stage, probe, where both sides, but especially you, can ask for some of the facts that will support you to understand in detail about the problem or the events leading to it.  Through this stage your well-practised body language and empathy can show how you are likely to respond with something serious and considered thoughts.  Including the word ‘yes’ frequently during the acknowledgement and probing will also help.

Then give your answer.  But make sure you give yourself sufficient time to think, so you don’t rush into saying things you don’t mean or will regret.  This may be a few moments, a few minutes or even hours or days if this is appropriate.  But in the heat of the moment, phrases like ‘let me think about that for a second’ explains to the complainant that your silence isn’t empty or unhelpful, but about you carefully considering what they have said, and what you are going to do.  There is an opportunity for them to think about what they could or should do.  To take ownership of their own resolution.

Close is all about gaining agreement your answer is okay or acceptable.  If not, remember APAC and probe some more, then return to reiterate or replace answer, before reaching the close again.

Procrastination can be best described as the avoidance of starting or completing a task that should be done.   Often we replace unwanted tasks with more enjoyable ones instead, or we carry out less urgent tasks rather than the more urgent and important ones, which leads us to putting off impending tasks to a later time, or even never getting round to them at all.

Does this sound familiar to you?  Do you avoid having that difficult conversation with a member of staff, instead spending time with happier colleagues?  Do you leave your finances or spreadsheets unmanaged, instead occupying yourself working with children or parents?

We all have preferred learning and working styles, and I like to match my tasks with my mood – if at all possible (life does not always allow for it).  And sometimes this includes scheduling tasks to the time of the day, or day of the week, that best suits my style or motivations.  I like to get the uninteresting things done in the morning, which gives me a sense of achievement and relief, and allows me to be open to more conversations, distractions and creative work after the inevitable celebratory and rewarding lunch.  If I have a column to write, last thing on a Friday is ideal (which happens to be when I am writing this one!).  It leaves me feeling happy, productive, and imaginative.  And I can cross it off my ‘to do’ list as well.

The ways in which we each procrastinate are really useful signpost questions.  And we need to take notice of them.  Think about the following common examples, do they connect with some of your behaviours?

• Before a difficult job do you clean and tidy up everything first?
• Do you fantasise about crises and interruptions taking you away from unwanted tasks?
• Do you doubt you can complete specific tasks at all, thinking you don’t have the skills?
• Do you over estimate the time a task will take?
• Do you think you can never find enough time in your diary to start a job in the first place?
• Is there always time to chat and catch up with people, even when you have a pressing deadline?
• Is your ‘to do’ list including the same uncompleted task every day, week or month?
• Do you leave difficult jobs to the end of the day, and go home instead of finishing them?
• Do you say ‘well, another day won’t hurt will it?’
• Do you eventually have to work late, at the weekends, or on holiday, to get those avoided jobs done?
• Do you often miss deadlines, or complete at the very last minute?

If any of these questions resonate, ask yourself: what are they are telling you about how you could change your routines and approach to work?  What should you be doing, how, and when to meet your preferred working style?  And make the necessary changes to increase your enjoyment at work.

The past few weeks in early years have occupied us with getting to grips with the immediate practical challenges arising from the pandemic and lockdown.  We have invested time in making sense of the various policy and guidance updates from DfE and HMRC.  Providers have been navigating the Government’s financial support for businesses, and adapting services for vulnerable children, and providing childcare for the children of keyworkers.  It is a understatement to say it has not been easy.

The primary challenge is the not-knowing.  The uncertainty of how long these conditions will last, and to what extent COVID-19 financial support, and early years funding will be available.   Much of the public and press debate is inevitably switching to consider the notion of what a reduced lockdown might look like and when, phased returns to normal service delivery, and the reopening of all schools and childcare settings.

The local authorities I have been talking with report that around a quarter of their private, voluntary and independent early years providers are open at the moment.  With many childminders making up that figure.  All have done a really good job of sharing and circulating information to the childcare providers in their areas.  What’s really important is we now make sense of this plethora of information and summarise it, with suggested actions and considerations – essentially to ensure we have common understanding and no one is disadvantaged through lack or information or misunderstanding.  The support and opportunities available now must be grasped with both hands.

I think the raft of Government support that has been made available to business and employers has been amazing.  Without it, we would all be in a grave position.  Many early years businesses, mine included, have benefitted from the Job Retention Scheme (JRS), Small Business Grant Fund, Business Rates Holiday, VAT payment delay etc.  In addition, the confirmation of payment of full early years funding (whether settings are open, partially open, or closed) provides some peace of mind.  However, we are concerned providers are at risk of not making best use of all this financial support.  One barrier is the management challenge and the change each setting and school is required to handle, as well as adaptations to respond to the needs of keyworkers.  This is further compromised by mixed messages around what financial support is available to whom.

Present conditions remain significantly challenging and should not be underestimated.  I was very pleased to see the JRS extended to the end of June 2020.  Timing is everything and as we hurtle towards the end of the traditional school year, and approach the summer holidays, thoughts inevitably focus on September and beyond.

Everyone running a business, including early years providers, are rightly concerned about the route out of the present difficulties.  The return to any sense of familiar territory or service delivery will be a slow and uncertain one.  We do not yet know how parental employment patterns will effect eligibility, need and demand for funded entitlements (universal, two-year-olds and 30 hours) and paid-for childcare.  Recovery will not be like switching on a lightbulb.  Instead, we will all have to carefully and continuously monitor our markets and parents’ and children’s needs, preferences and behaviours.  Our market monitoring must inform nimble and constant change to the services we are used to delivering.  This will have huge impacts on our biggest resource, the workforce. The management test will be huge.

Local authorities remain responsible for the childcare sufficiency duties (Childcare Act 2016) for all children.  Additionally, DfE expects LAs “support childcare settings to ensure that there are sufficient places for the children of critical workers and vulnerable children.  Local authorities are also responsible for monitoring demand and capacity.  This requirement may ebb-and-flow as we move out and into lockdown or social distancing requirements.  This may involve working with childcare settings to provide places in alternative settings if necessary.” Councils must ensure they are taking appropriate actions now, and are prepared and ready to support the sector to recover as the effects of the pandemic unfold.

We recommend a four-strand strategy for local authorities:

1. Information.  Provide a reliable and up-to-date source of information to inform providers’ business choices, decisions and actions.  Take time to digest, analyse and summarise information.  Offer guidance as well as signposting and referring to other sources of information.
2. Tools.  Make available a set of useful tools and resources to help providers take action.  Include a range of bespoke tools and signpost to others available.
3. Support.  Be available for responsive support on demand through email, telephone or video conferencing.  Support can be to problem solve, clarify information, and/or support the use of tools.  Offer bespoke online business support training.
4. Intervention.  Make available targeted intervention to support action planning through crises and emergencies.  Support where settings are identifying serious sustainability issues, in areas where there is a sufficiency need.  Signpost to or offer financial grant and/or loan funding where this is thought to resolve the identified risk.  Set out clearly the deliverables and commitments of intervention support.

Once the current situation changes, the manner in which schools and settings respond to a highly dynamic childcare marketplace and a transformed employment picture, will be of critical importance.  The sector was already reported to be under financial and sustainability pressure prior to the pandemic.  The medium- and long-terms may present further critical challenge and need for change, as well as new opportunities, that must be managed.

This blog was first published by http://www.cypnow.co.uk

Traditionally people write or revise their CVs when they are unhappy in a role or when they are planning a move.  I recommend everyone has an up-to-date CV at all times – even if you aren’t thinking of moving on.  I think they are best done at other times as well.  The time could be right now if you have unexpected free time in lockdown, and this is why.

Keeping a live CV helps us to reflect upon and celebrate our skills and career progress.  A CV also supports us to identify our learning achievements and to identify new ones.  And a CV can give us confidence to take a promotion and can highlight new directions for our future careers.  Finally, opportunity and challenge has a funny habit of knocking on our doors when we least expect it.  You need to be ready for if and when that happens.  The world after lockdown, and throughout the ebb-and-flow of the COVID-19 pandemic will change everything.

So, that’s the why, but what about the how?  Here are my tips for setting out your CV.

It is true what they say about first impressions.  I do love receiving CVs, and I see a lot of them.  They are so revealing about so many things.  Your CV really does have around 30 seconds to motivate the reader to stick with it.  It needs to connect with everyone and impress them, without falling into the trap of being too overly confident and self-promoting.

When it comes to size and structure.  It should be 1-2 pages maximum, with clear headings, and formatted using a consistent font and size.  There should be a short introduction.  Followed by your work experience in reverse chronological order (latest first), then your qualifications and training in the same way.  And be focused with your qualifications and training, you don’t have to include everything, you can summarise – especially your school qualifications as you get older and more experienced, they become less relevant.

Highlight your specific core skills using bullets or short sentences with proof and examples. A mistake is to be too wordy, and risks hiding your message with unnecessary wordage.  Focus on the facts and figures instead.  Please avoid those clichés you learned from watching The Apprentice.  Support it with detail about your values, people skills, relationships with colleagues, managers and service users or customers.

I like to know about work interests – the things that really excite a candidate – what do you love doing at work?  That is much more useful than a list of bland personal interests, such as ‘meeting up with friends’, the cinema or reading, that doesn’t really tell me anything that stands out from anyone else.

My view is that photographs, and too many personal details including your date of birth risk creating bias when a CV is read.  Anyway, informed and diversity literate employers should delete this sort of information before they consider a CV.  Do include simple contact details though.  Please make sure you have a professional email address – I do see a lot of very strange choices when it comes to email addresses.  I won’t embarrass you with example, I will leave that to your imagination.  This is an important tip!

Finally and hugely importantly, you must get it proof checked by at least 2-3 people in your work arena and ask them to comment on the format, spelling, accuracy and grammar.  And make changes that are required.  Then check it again.  Nothing puts me off more than simple or avoidable errors.  And if and when you need to share it, send a nicely printed version on good quality paper.  Or in PDF version by email so the formatting does not change on different software or computers.  If you’re not moving job, file it and review it again in a few months’ time or when the mood takes you.