a rant
Things have been really busy in the office for the past few weeks...not that they weren't busy before; but for me personally, things have gotten kinda hectic. The specific program that I work for has lost almost all its funding...which means the 2 full time staff that were present (including my supervisor) when I first started in Sept. are now part time...which is highly upfortunate, considering that they have much more experience than I do and so many clients were pretty dependent on my West African co-worker who now comes in somwhat sporatically on a volunteer basis and doesn't usually communicate a whole lot with myself, the other Americorps member working in the department now and the volunteers we have (as well as the student-intern counselors who are there 2 or 3 times per week.) C'est la vie... Life goes on and we continue to move forward.
What this has meant for me is that I suddenly find myself as a sort of "point person" for everyone. I am one of only 2 people consistently there everyday to case manage, meet with clients, do intake screenings and follow up. Since I have been working at IINJ for 3.5 months longer than my new Moraccan co-worker and fellow case manager/Americorps member, I have become the one to train a few volunteers that we have added to our team, sort of delegate tasks, try to figure out how communication is going to happen between all these people coming in and out during the week as well as try to prioritize meeting the needs of the clients I am "in charge of". While my supervisor is really good at counseling, honestly, she's pretty bad at delegating and giving everyone a "plan of action". In our weekly meetings, problems are brought up or things that need to be done are recognized, but then often, things are left just kinda hanging with little indication of who, when and how it should be taken care of. And, in many cases, there is no exact road map to follow for addressing those needs anyway.
In short, with the abscence of procedures in place and communication as to exactly who's doing what, with the addition of the factor that we are a social work/counseling office, we are pretty inefficient most of the time. Hense, all the while I've been recognizing these things and have brought it up, I have unofficially been put in charge of organizing or finding solutions to our fragmented ways of doing things.
With all the details to try to keep straight with my clients, trying to delegate tasks to others and brainstorming ways to make things streamlined or flow more efficiently in the program as well as following up to make sure that the ball isn't being dropped anywhere (unfortunately, the ball does get dropped sometimes w/ some clients because we have so many), I haven't been able to concentrate as much on building rapport with the clients that I am there to help. Everything has become much more of a task list. Helping to meet their needs and get all their paperwork done has become much more of a thing to check off than to see myself really working with them. I now feel like I am more often working FOR them, and I am beginning to feel like I am perpetually behind. There is ALWAYS more that I could be doing to help. But at the end of the work day, you just have to brush it off and say, "tomorrow", so that you don't get burned out, bring excess stress home to family and friends, ect.
Oh man...
At least maybe I can say, "I am getting things done for America!!!" (the Americorps mantra)
What this has meant for me is that I suddenly find myself as a sort of "point person" for everyone. I am one of only 2 people consistently there everyday to case manage, meet with clients, do intake screenings and follow up. Since I have been working at IINJ for 3.5 months longer than my new Moraccan co-worker and fellow case manager/Americorps member, I have become the one to train a few volunteers that we have added to our team, sort of delegate tasks, try to figure out how communication is going to happen between all these people coming in and out during the week as well as try to prioritize meeting the needs of the clients I am "in charge of". While my supervisor is really good at counseling, honestly, she's pretty bad at delegating and giving everyone a "plan of action". In our weekly meetings, problems are brought up or things that need to be done are recognized, but then often, things are left just kinda hanging with little indication of who, when and how it should be taken care of. And, in many cases, there is no exact road map to follow for addressing those needs anyway.
In short, with the abscence of procedures in place and communication as to exactly who's doing what, with the addition of the factor that we are a social work/counseling office, we are pretty inefficient most of the time. Hense, all the while I've been recognizing these things and have brought it up, I have unofficially been put in charge of organizing or finding solutions to our fragmented ways of doing things.
With all the details to try to keep straight with my clients, trying to delegate tasks to others and brainstorming ways to make things streamlined or flow more efficiently in the program as well as following up to make sure that the ball isn't being dropped anywhere (unfortunately, the ball does get dropped sometimes w/ some clients because we have so many), I haven't been able to concentrate as much on building rapport with the clients that I am there to help. Everything has become much more of a task list. Helping to meet their needs and get all their paperwork done has become much more of a thing to check off than to see myself really working with them. I now feel like I am more often working FOR them, and I am beginning to feel like I am perpetually behind. There is ALWAYS more that I could be doing to help. But at the end of the work day, you just have to brush it off and say, "tomorrow", so that you don't get burned out, bring excess stress home to family and friends, ect.
Oh man...
At least maybe I can say, "I am getting things done for America!!!" (the Americorps mantra)
posted by jdances | 27.1.07
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