JOINT HEADS OF DEPARTMENT

Hi Everyone
I'm working on a MA assignment on leadership and management and wondered if the board would help.
Is your department run by joint heads?
If so, do you find that one head appears to be more favoured/respected/efficient (insert your version) than the other?
Does the arrangement work for your department?
What do you consider to be some of the advantages/disadvantages?
Would you prefer one overall head with seconds having responsibility for various key stages?
I'd be very grateful if you could share your anecdotes and opinions on the subject.

Thanks in advance

 

Hi Everyone
I'm working on a MA assignment on leadership and management and wondered if the board would help.
Is your department run by joint heads?
If so, do you find that one head appears to be more favoured/respected/efficient (insert your version) than the other?
Does the arrangement work for your department?
What do you consider to be some of the advantages/disadvantages?
Would you prefer one overall head with seconds having responsibility for various key stages?
I'd be very grateful if you could share your anecdotes and opinions on the subject.

Thanks in advance

 

The idea of joint HoDs terrifies me... there are times when a democracy doesn't necessarily work! But perhaps it does work elsewhere.

My predecessor is now my second and she has responsibility for KS3. I leave her to have the vision, which forms a line of continuity from what she was doing before, but at the same time she accepts it when I want a significant change, as long as I treat her with respect enough to explain my reasoning.

We're also very different in our approach to things, so we complement each other well- but there's no news in that for Head/Deputy combinations at all levels.

 

Not joint head, but just no head.

Yes, one (me) is bossier than the others and does the work, directing the others.

It has to as there isn't an alternative.

It is cheeper. Strategic direction is lost.

It's more complicated than that - if you run, science, humanities technology you might want heads of subject.

 

Thank you both for responding to the post.
W

 

I'm a joint head, I'll try to answer your questions...
If so, do you find that one head appears to be more favoured/respected/efficient (insert your version) than the other? We have a dept of 14, and have different staff coming to us for different things. I try to be efficient and respond to queries as quickly as possible, while my joint looks at further afield issues, but I use him with issues that I can't deal with, or students that respond better to a man. We are both respected/ favoured by different staff; I have one who has tried to subvert my authority, while others who don't see my joint as effective. As a dept of mainly women, I am considered a threat/ bad guy, and he is seen as the more generous/ soft touch.
Does the arrangement work for your department? With origianally having 1 HoD to 2, the dept have had to adjust, and they weren't sure whether they should be 'assigned' to a HoD or not. We had some issues of confidence, but these were in the end irrational responses to staff who were feeling uncomfortable with changes to the courses. My joint and I talk all the time, so it really doesn't matter who goes to who we both know what is going on. As different types of people, we can accommodate the whole dept.
What do you consider to be some of the advantages/disadvantages? We use each other as sounding boards to rant at/ calm down/ bounce ideas etc. Some things are done twice; some staff use us against each other in an attempt to undermind the decision of one.
Would you prefer one overall head with seconds having responsibility for various key stages? We have a second, and we both have KS that we are in charge of. Perhaps, on reflection, our KS should be givien to others to promote development etc One head acts as quite controlling, where we share everything, even work and ideas for the KS.
Hope this helps.