nature go into the long-term pile. Whenever there is time during the day, the
principal has easy access to all current projects and may work on them as
the time allows. In a similar manner, she may want to set up the folders on
her computer screen so she can work on tasks whenever she has time.
CEO “power chairs” are inefficient (and send the wrong message to
visitors). A simple swivel office chair makes it easy for the principal to ac-
cess the computer station near her desk, her school and private telephones,
and her file cabinet containing her “ready file.”
During Ms. Nguyen’s first year as a principal, different district and
state offices asked for information, reports, and so on. Most could have
been accessed electronically by the office, but it was easier to ask her.
Ms. Nguyen located any item requested and then made a copy of it to add
to her “ready file” for easy access the next time it was asked for. After
about two years, it was rare that this ready file did not have a copy of any
document that was asked for. Today, she has a “ready folder” saved as
a computer icon, her one folder that contains those items she most often
needs to access.
- Plan for All Meetings
If a school leader were to keep a list of all the different meetings he had to
attend every year, he would wonder how he could find time to do anything
else. Those required by the district or superintendent are nonnegotiable.
However, the school leader can control the school meetings he must at-
tend. Here are some simple suggestions for planning school meetings:
- Always have a time frame. Begin the meeting when it is scheduled to
begin. Those who come late will quickly learn to arrive on time. End the
meeting when it is scheduled to end. Limit the length of any meeting to
ninety minutes, the maximum a meeting can be productive. Whenever
possible schedule a meeting during a school period so the time limit is
preset by the length of the period. - Always have an agenda and stick to it. Save any new items or open
discussion for the end of the meeting—and only if there is time. - Always volunteer to chair the meeting and prepare the meeting summa-
ries. This sounds like more work, but it really saves time. If the school
leader chairs the meeting, she creates the agenda (with the input of the
People Are More Important than Paper 65