[00:00:05] Hello, hello everyone. Welcome to School: After Hours podcast where we talk about all things related to out-of-school time programming and education. I am your host, J. Lee, and today we're talking about something that can completely reduce future chaos in your youth program, documentation, and specifically creating systems that make next year easier instead of harder for you and your team. So here's the core idea for today. If you do not document it, you will reteach it, redo it, or fix it again.
[00:00:35] Next year. And honestly, a lot of burnout and youth programs come from rebuilding systems over and over again. So in this episode, we're talking about what to document, what not to document, how to create simple SOPs, build a program playbook, and how to set up future you and your team for success. Let's go ahead and get into it.
[00:01:00] Hey y'all. I know we're getting into the good stuff on this episode, but I just wanted to pop in and tell y'all about something new that we're doing this year. So to get ready for the school year, I'm hosting a virtual Brunch and Build Boot Camp this July.
[00:01:14] So before Saturday mornings from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m., we'll be tackling your youth program vision, team building and how you can support them, how to build partnerships not just within your community, but other organizations that are aligned with your goals, and building out your operations systems to better support your program.
[00:01:35] So make sure that you sign up, bring your coffee, your tea, and your favorite brunch food. I know I'll bring mine. Registration is open right now, so make sure that you share this with program providers, youth program managers, youth organizations, so we can all come together and plan as a community.
[00:01:57] Let's start with what to document. One mistake I see program managers make is simply trying to document everything, literally everything. That usually creates giant folders nobody's going to look at. Therefore, your team is not getting the information they need to execute their responsibilities properly.
[00:02:17] So instead of creating the massively thick folder, ask yourself, what are the things we repeatedly do that future staff will need to understand quickly? And with that question, here are some things that's important for you to document. Daily schedules that actually worked, not the ones that you thought about and was a complete flop.
[00:02:39] Make sure that you're going through that form and you're documenting the time adjustments that were made, transition flows that happened that worked well with your systems, activities that took place that went real well that you may want to recycle for the following year, even the time blocks that you had them. So like I said before, you're not reinventing the wheel. Look over your behavior systems to see what did work well, what didn't work well, and then go ahead and revamp them.
[00:03:06] Also, look at your buffer times, the times that you used to transition from space to space or from activity to activity. Did those work for you? And if they did not, do you need to increase them or decrease them, depending on how everything went. Now for your behavior management system, when you are reviewing that, make sure you write down what the expectations were, be clear on what you want your consequences to be, so you have a proper protocol that you are following, not just for yourself, but also for your team.
[00:03:34] They know that if someone does A, then B has to happen, and if B happens, then C has to happen. They're following it in order. And every consequence is different based on the action, so make sure that you're clear about that too. What are the rewards? Like what is your reward system? If there is a reward system, some programs don't do reward systems. They celebrate kids in other ways. It could be affirmation. So find out what your rewards are going to be to support this system.
[00:04:02] De-escalation approaches. Make sure that those are known and accessible to your staff. Also in your behavior management system, document what actually worked with your students. During the year, we may have to pivot if we've noticed that some things, when it comes to our consequences, did not go well. So it's a good time to take inventory of those situations and really, really write down what did work with your population of students that you had and what didn't work.
[00:04:28] And also, this is a good time to reflect to see if there is additional training that you may need to. Now that we're done with behavior management, let's go ahead and look at your lesson structures and activity formats. Definitely want to look at this specifically because you want to see what lesson types actually worked with your students and what did well and what encouraged them to participate more in specific activities that you may have been doing during a season or a time period.
[00:04:57] When you're going through your lessons and you're doing your documentation, go ahead and look at your icebreaker formats, your group discussion structure. What did that look like and did it help? Reflection routines, if you're coming to the end of your lesson, how you had kids think about how they could apply this in real time. Team building activities, what went well and what was a complete flop, something that you do not want to do again. And it may be something that you just have to switch based on grade level.
[00:05:24] Some things work better with younger kids than older kids and vice versa. So it may be something that you might not want to get rid of yet, but try it with a different group and see how well it does. And then if it doesn't work well with the group, then go ahead and discard it. And last but not least for this segment, we're going to go ahead and dig into staff roles and responsibilities. For this one, you want to specifically look for clarity. Who did what? You want to go ahead and look at your leadership structure.
[00:05:51] Was it strong enough to sustain not just you as a leader, but also your team? If you ever had to step away, would this system still help whoever's going to be in that place? That's one thing that you want to look at deeply. Communication responsibilities. Who did communications? Supervision expectations. Go ahead and write those down. What do you want them to be? Did the supervision expectations that you have this year, were they realistic or is it something that you need to go back and revamp? Communication systems.
[00:06:19] Was there a breakdown in communication in any shape or form, whether it was with partners, parents, students, schools that you served? Are all of your systems working well together or do you need to make a little tweak here and there to make it more effective? Now, here's the pushback moment. Do not try to document every single thing. Focus on the systems that repeat. One-off events are less valuable than repeatable processes.
[00:06:45] Now, let's move on to the next thing, which is creating simple SOPs without overcomplicating it. For those of you who don't know, SOPs are basically standard operating procedures. Steps that you do day-to-day when you are completing a specific task. That's all. Your SOP should be short, clear, scannable. So people should be able to look at it, read it real quick, and then go ahead and execute.
[00:07:11] So, for example, if you're doing student pickup SOPs, if a student is picked up early, these are the steps that should happen. Call program lead, sign student out, verify approved pickup adult, notify group leader, and then simply go ahead and have them exit. Simple, right? Not five or ten pages, just a couple of steps. That's it. The goal of an SOP is usability.
[00:07:40] Because if systems are too complicated, staff won't use them, and we all know that. But also, I want you to decide where this documentation is going to live. Do you want it to be in a Google Drive? Do you want it to be in a shared folder somewhere? Do you want to have it in a binder so it is on site? Or do you want to create something like a handbook so it could be part of their onboarding process and it's something that they have and that they're responsible for?
[00:08:07] Whatever you do, just make sure staff can actually access it and that they use it. Now, the next thing we're going to talk about is building your program playbook. This specific item is going to be the thing that holds all the important stuff that we talked about in this episode. Think of your program playbook like this. If I had to onboard someone in one day, what would they need? The answer should be your playbook.
[00:08:35] Your playbook can include course sections, schedules, staff expectations, templates, emergency procedures, contact lists, behavior systems, communication systems, lesson examples, supply lists, calendar timelines, all of those things.
[00:08:56] Having this playbook becomes your foundation for your program to be successful for you to operate when you are not on site and you have to hand things over to somebody else to execute. And one of the good things about having this playbook is that it saves you time and energy. And as the year goes on, you can go ahead and add some of the things that were successful. And it literally becomes your foundation piece for your program to succeed and do well.
[00:09:25] So you get to add some things, but you also get to subtract some things as your program grows, your staff grows, and your community grows that support you. Speaking of adding and subtracting some things, let's go ahead and dive into what to update and what not to update when it comes to your program. So not everything you've done this year needs to follow you into next year.
[00:09:51] And this is what reflection and documentation will do for you when you work it. Ask yourself, what consistently worked? And once you find out what those things were, keep them. Strengthen them. Standardize it. Make it become regular practice like a muscle that you're building. That's when you see your program function on autopilot instead of out of chaos. Another thing you want to ask yourself is what consistently caused stress in your program?
[00:10:20] Revise what that was, then simplify it and add the tweaks where it needs to be. Or if you need to, remove it all together. Don't give it a second thought. One trap program leaders fall into is carrying over systems simply because we've always done it that way. And just because you've always done it that way doesn't mean that it's the right situation for right now or what you want to build for in the future. This may be the thing that's holding back your program and your team and keeping you all from evolving.
[00:10:49] Now, before you fully close out your program, leave notes for your future self. Seriously. Because there are things you know right now that you may need to be reminded of later. Get a pen and paper or if you're a typer, go ahead and open up a document and here's some things that you may want to put down. The lessons that you've learned over time. Important things to remember like your vendor information.
[00:11:16] Then go ahead and set reminders for events that you want to continue to do for the following year. Supply timeline is important, especially going into this following year because there are so many things that are going to be happening and resources may be limited. So you may want to start, if you can, ordering your stuff over the summer. So when you come back for the following year, you'll already have everything that you need. Another thing to document is staff recommendations.
[00:11:45] Who did well? This goes back to observations. Who did well? Who needs to be promoted to leadership positions? Who needs a little bit more training and a little bit more time to perform well at their job and their responsibilities? Things of that nature. Scheduling advice. Once again, what did go well with your system? What didn't go well with your system? Did you have enough buffer time or do you need to expand it or shrink it? What you need to do to transition a little bit more smoothly into your next activity.
[00:12:14] Keep those things in mind. And family communication. That's very important. How are you communicating with your families? Did it work well? Is there something that you may want to adapt for the following year? If you were using an app, maybe you want to go to using a specific software system so everyone could be plugged in. Are there particular online events that you may want to do with your families for those that are not able to physically show up in the space? How do you want that to look next year?
[00:12:42] In communication, do you want to continue to do a newsletter if you're doing a newsletter? Consider different ways to engage your families. But also keep in mind the things that actually did work for you that you want to continue to push for next year. Also, another thing to put down in your documentation is the things you always forget every year. I am horrible when it comes to specific holidays. If it is not on the calendar, it is not grossing my mind at all.
[00:13:08] So I do not get a chance to prepare or create something for the kids to enjoy for that specific day. So that is very important to me to put it down on the calendar because if it is not, I am not thinking about it. But this could be different for you. Maybe you forget to hand out specific forms at a particular part of the year for parent or student feedback. Ordering supply deadlines.
[00:13:32] By a particular time in the year or the month, you know that you got to go ahead and order your supplies for the next activity you want to do. You may want to go ahead and write that down as something to remember for the following year. All of these things that you may potentially forget or doesn't automatically run across your mind. This is your time to write it down because this reduces August and September chaos dramatically. And ultimately, sustainability is about reducing unnecessary rebuilding.
[00:14:01] Your goal is not perfection. Your goal is creating systems that make future implementation smoother. As we close out this series, remember strong programs are not built on memories. They're built on systems. And documentation is what allows your program to grow, improve, train staff faster, reduce stress definitely, and create long-term sustainability.
[00:14:30] So, before you move on to the next season, take time to document what matters. Build your playbook, which is very important. Take time to do that over the summer or before you leave for the summer. Save future use some stress and make next year easier instead of harder. Thank you for listening to the Impact Report debrief series. I hope these episodes help you reflect intentionally, strengthen your systems, and continue creating meaningful experiences for your youth.
[00:14:59] Well, everyone, that brings us to the end of our show. If you like what you heard and you enjoyed our conversation, make sure that you're following us on YouTube, but also hit that like button so we know what you are enjoying. You can also find us on other podcast platforms like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts if you want to listen to our audio version as well. To get more behind-the-scenes stuff, make sure that you're following us on our social media accounts,
[00:15:25] Instagram and Facebook at School After Hours. Well, that's all I have for today. In the words of Mr. Arthur Ashe, start where you are, use what you have, do what you can. Until next time, y'all. Bye-bye.