Boost Morale, Improve Efficiency: Studio Staff Reorganization
As a dance studio owner, you're constantly striving to create a thriving environment where your students can learn, grow, and excel. A crucial component of this success is having a well-organized and efficient team. However, over time, as your studio expands, your team's dynamics may change. That's why it's essential to periodically evaluate and re-organize your staff.
Why Re-organize Every Two Years?
- Avoid Confusion: Over time, roles can become unclear, leading to confusion and inefficiency. Regular re-organization helps clarify responsibilities and ensures everyone knows their part in the studio's success.
- Acknowledge Growth: Your employees are likely growing and developing their skills. Re-organization provides an opportunity to recognize their progress and assign tasks that align with their capabilities.
- Clarify Roles: A periodic review helps ensure that each team member's role is well-defined and contributes effectively to the overall goals of the studio.
- Ensure Even Work Distribution: A re-organization can help identify imbalances in workload and ensure that tasks are distributed fairly among your team members.
The Re-organization Process
- Employee Self-Assessment: Encourage your staff to review their current position descriptions. Ask them to cross out tasks they no longer perform, add new responsibilities, and suggest changes to reporting structures.
- Leadership Review: As the business leader, conduct a comprehensive review of all the work and projects that occur within your studio. Divide these tasks into broad categories and then assign them to specific roles.
- Compare and Contrast: Compare your leadership review with your employees' self-assessments to identify any gaps or inconsistencies. Look for tasks that may be assigned to the wrong team members or that don't align with their strengths.
- Identify Inefficiencies: Pinpoint tasks that are time-consuming, unnecessary, or not contributing to the studio's overall goals. Consider eliminating or delegating these tasks.
- Re-write Organization Accountability Chart and Position Descriptions: Based on your findings, revise your organization's accountability chart and create updated position descriptions that reflect the new roles and responsibilities.
- Meet with Staff: Schedule individual meetings with your team members to discuss their strengths, areas of interest, and the proposed changes. Address any concerns or questions they may have.
Regularly re-organizing your dance studio is a proactive step towards maintaining a healthy, efficient, and successful business. By following the process outlined above, you can ensure that your team is optimally structured to meet the evolving needs of your studio and provide the best possible experience for your students.
Ginger Haithcox is a born leader. She graduated with high honors from Douglass College, Rutgers University with a BA in Religion, and a minor in Cultural Anthropology and completed an array of dance, performance, and production courses at Raritan Valley Community College.
Ginger is a consummate professional, collaborative team player, and creative colleague that consistently delivers programs and products of excellence. In addition to the above, she’s the principal owner of Haithcox Business Solutions, which offers mentoring and support services for aspiring entrepreneurs.