Effective School Management

particular during lunchtime.
(2) Staff should not be burdened with extra duties.
(3) Children should be able to leave their possessions anywhere on the
premises at any time without risk of theft.
(4) Any thieves will be caught and dealt with.
(5) Would-be thieves will be deterred.
Step 3: generation of alternative courses of action
The fact that we have to take a decision implies that at least two alternative
courses of action are available, even if one alternative is to do nothing. In the

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TAKING AND IMPLEMENTING DECISIONS
4 9
simplest cases, there are often several alternatives. The risk is that we do not
think of them. It is very true that there is nothing more dangerous than a
good idea – if it is the only one you have!
When working as an individual the task of seeking alternatives can often
be helped by ‘sleeping on it’ or seeking other inputs in discussion or from
texts. When decisions are being made in a group or team setting, all too often
one, or perhaps two, people will make suggestions and the discussion will
then be limited to whether or not to accept these, instead of calling for other
ideas.
A flip-chart is a wonderful tool for collecting alternatives. People cannot
think of other ideas until they know that their first idea has been recorded.
Once this has happened, they have no grounds for repeating their idea until
others have also had their say. Another good mechanism for collecting ideas
is the ‘silent meeting’ in which participants record their ideas on ‘Post-its’
and stick them on the chart. Discussion on the alternatives should be
forbidden until this step is complete. The best solution may combine two or
more alternatives.