In education, we know that teacher collaboration results in improved student achievement.
Shouldn’t the same kind of collaboration across the school system result in improved school finance?
Achieving true collaboration between educators and business office staff can be challenging. Most CFOs and other district business personnel did not rise through the “educator” ranks. Teachers and administrators, such as principals and curriculum and instruction specialists, often speak a different “language” and operate under different norms. So how do educators and business officials overcome these operational differences and work together to meet the goals of the school district?
I have the somewhat unique perspective of being a public school district CFO who worked as a classroom teacher, athletic coach, interventionist, assistant principal, and principal before taking on my role as CFO. And before working in education, I worked at one of the Big Four accounting firms.
Viewing education through these multiple lenses has shaped my view of my role as CFO and provided some insight into how we can bridge the gaps between the business offices and the campuses that serve our students. Collaboration between academic staff and finance staff is necessary to truly advance the school district as a learning organization.
Here are some suggestions for promoting collaboration.
Be a Good Listener
The CFO may never have taught reading or multiplication to a classroom of 22 students, and truly, you cannot imagine how difficult that job is unless you’ve done it. On the path toward genuine collaboration in the district, the CFO must learn to actively listen to the district staff who have “boots on the ground” on the campus and in the classrooms. Because the business offices and the CFO are often disconnected from the classrooms, the CFO must create opportunities for open, honest conversations. These conversations may be informal meetings in group settings, open forums, or one-on-one discussions.
The intent of the forums and meetings should be clear and simply stated as an opportunity for campus staff members to provide the CFO and business staff with their input and perspectives. These are opportunities for the business office to answer questions, listen to concerns, and entertain suggestions.
The benefits are dually advantageous: The education staff feels like a valued component of the district organization, and the business office staff learns what is happening on the campuses and in the classrooms. The campus is at the heart of the district organization, and it only makes sense that this is where the most valuable feedback is generated. These “listening” conversations develop trust and confidence between and among departments.
Be a Good Communicator
On the flip side of being a good listener, the CFO must also be a good communicator. One should not assume that teachers, principals, and other campus staff members do not care about or understand the work of the business office. It is true that we are the “behind the scenes team”; however, we should not work in a silo, staying silent about our work, our successes, and even our problems. We must talk with others in the district about budget constraints, salary negotiations, and compensation packages.
CFOs must begin to think like scientists, searching for reasons why we might be wrong-not for reason why we must be right.
When campus staff members have opportunities to ask questions and understand our work, they are more likely to support central office decisions and partner with the business office on campus-wide decisions. Giving the campus staff knowledge and understanding makes them true partners of the district’s central and business offices.
Be a Lifelong Learner
In his book Think Again, Wharton School professor Adam Grant says, “If knowledge is power, knowing what we don’t know is wisdom.” His book promotes the idea of “rethinking.” Being a good listener and communicator, as discussed earlier, is only valuable if CFOs are willing to “rethink” and learn from the information they gather from others; otherwise, these are “false” exercises.
True learning and rethinking are more likely to occur when the feedback and comments of others are disaggregated into useful data. The CFO should look for trends, themes, commonalities, and the important needs of campus staff. How does this information align with the district’s strategic goals? What are the current levels of student learning? What is the ultimate goal (compare local data with state and national data)?
The business office staff should work with curriculum and instructional staff to analyze the feedback and set instructional priorities, which then become budget priorities focused on current and future needs. If the financial goals of the district do not align with its instructional goals, neither side will ever achieve what they are seeking.
True collaboration between the finance office and the curriculum and instruction staff can have lasting positive impacts on advancing student achievement.
Be Vulnerable
The business office staff are no longer the “wizards” behind the curtain who demand that everyone follow their rules and guidelines. The world has changed significantly in the past three years, and no world has changed more than the world of education. It’s OK for the CFO to admit: “I don’t have all the answers. Let’s problem-solve together so we can make sure that we get this right.”
As I moved from the classroom to the business office, I found it strange that many CFOs and district business officials didn’t always collaborate on their problems. Perhaps the explanation is that CFOs’ academic degrees and professional training were focused almost exclusively on rules, laws, guidelines, and principles. We were taught that everything was black and white, and everything had a yes or no answer.
That could not be more inaccurate. In fact, most complex problems and issues are gray and require gray answers. Most questions should be answered with “It depends; can you give me more information?” Because business officials often lack this vulnerability, many opportunities to do things better and differently are lost. CFOs must begin to think like scientists, searching for reasons why we might be wrong—not for reasons why we must be right—and revising our views on the basis of what we learn, as Adam Grant suggests.
In this new school year, I challenge you to choose one or two of the ideas discussed here and think about how you could put them into action. Although everyone’s situation, problems, challenges, and strengths are different, collaboration has value.
Listening, communicating, learning, and rethinking are all valuable. This is where true growth can take place. When true growth inspires an organization, success in meeting its goals and in advancing the work of the group is the result.