Start with a graphic representation of a dollar bill. Divide it up to show how many cents are spent in which categories. Not a bad way to represent expenditures. Except when it is done this way: Why? Because this cartoon is not just wrong, it is dishonest. The categories of expense are a bit hard
October 17, 2013
Short URLbad teachers, business, cartoon, classrom, classroom dollars, education, education dollar, firing teachers, Management, public education, school district, school district administration, school district business, teachers, unions, wasted dollarsManagement, Public Schools, School District Jobs, Working Together
The director and manager of school construction sat down in my office. They had made it clear that they needed to see me NOW. “What’s up?” “Well, you hired a supervisor. For the construction department.” “An accounting supervisor. Yes.” “We should have been consulted. After all, she works in our department.” “Yes, she’s physically located
October 15, 2013
Short URLaccounting, construction, construction accounting, hiring, hiring practices, human resources, job description, Management, Position control, positions, school district, school district business, school district jobs, supervisor, supervisor positionAccounting, School District Jobs, Working Together
FIRE ACCOUNTING Click on the link for my manual on school arson. I have dealt with three major school fires in my career. And believe me, there was no manual. The first thing I did ten years ago when confronted with my first school fire was to Google “accounting for school fires” and couldn’t find anything terribly useful. I
October 12, 2013
Short URLaccounting, arson, best practice, burning schools, business, computers, fire, fire accounting, Management, peocedures, school, school district, school firesDaily Work, Risk Management
Much has been written about Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’ five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. I am thinking about this, because a family member is currently dealing with cancer. He spent some time in denial (delayed seeing a doctor). He spent months bargaining (if I become a vegan, this will go away). I
October 10, 2013
Short URLacceptance, anger, bargaining, business, consequences, denial, depression, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, five stages of grief, Management, next step, problem solvingWorking Together
CaveGirlMBA’s post about the guy who plays online games at work really struck a chord with me, because here’s a second post about it. For me, the story is explained by one of two possibilities. 1. He is thoroughly disengaged and doesn’t give a s**t 2. He is engaged, but takes breaks inappropriately You’ll know
October 6, 2013
Short URLbusiness, computer games, expectations at work, inappropriate work behavior, Management, mental breaks, problem solving, taking a breakSchool District Jobs, Working Together
My boss told me that the only difference between management and non-management is that managers get to hire and fire (so you’d better get good at it). Truth be told, she said this during a somewhat negative performance review. That’s a blunt way of saying non-managers are responsible for tasks while managers are responsible for people.
October 5, 2013
Short URLbusiness, discipline, employee engagement, firing, health issues at work, hiring, job description, Management, performance review, problem solving, progressive discipline, reprimand, verbal warning, written warningDaily Work, School District Jobs, Working Together
As I was preparing to leave a former position I spent most of my time writing instruction booklets. I knew that the new incumbent might be newly promoted or new to the business of education. This person might need a few guidelines. I have never regarded these instructions as rules. At best they are helpful
September 30, 2013
Short URLaccounting, boxes, business, creativity, customer service, Education Code, GASB, Management, outside the box, problem solving, productivity, rules, school districtAccounting, Working Together
A lot has been written recently about storytelling as a teaching tool. We don’t remember facts well, but we do remember stories. In this blog I relate stories of my experiences working at a school district. I do this because I hope that they are instructive. The danger is that I may inadvertently embarrass a particular
September 29, 2013
Short URLbanking, business, cocktails, employee engagement, institutional knowledge, learning, Management, problem solving, sharing, stories, workDaily Work, Working Together
I recently overheard two employees chatting with their supervisor. “We want to learn Excel” they said. “Can you teach us?” They do not need to know Excel for the work they do currently. Much of the time they are doing data entry. However the next position up the pay scale uses Excel extensively. The supervisor
September 29, 2013
Short URLaccounting, data, employee engagement, Excel, initiative, interview questions, job, job description, learning by osmosis, Management, MBA, problem solving, responsibility, school districtAccounting, Excel, School District Jobs, Working Together
I have posted a Powerpoint presentation on the Year End Close. Yes it is one of those presentations with lots of text and no interesting pictures. However, not all presentations are of the Steve Jobs variety. This presentation is designed for school business professionals new to the year end close process, and it is designed
September 28, 2013
Short URLaccounting, analysis, business, CBO, checklist, daily work, data, death by powerpoint, Management, new year, powerpoint, powerpoint presentation, problem solving, public education, school business professionals, year end, year end closeAccounting, Daily Work, Data, Working Together