during the session to help operators make their next conversation with district leadership a beneficial one. 1 ASK OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS Time on principals and other dis- trict leaders’ schedules is limited, so K-12 operators will want to make the most of every conversation they have with district leadership. When going into a conversation with district leadership, operators will want to look for ways to keep the conversation going and find op - portunities to learn about the lead- erships’ current responsibilities and goals that they have for the district. “I might have a request or a de- mand, something I'm pushing for, but you're going to want to keep them talking as well so that you can learn more about their perspective,” said Perkins. One of the best ways to keep the conversation going is by asking open-ended questions. Instead of asking, “What do you think about our program?” for example, operators should ask questions like, “Where do you think we share interest in our jobs as leaders in this school district and helping our students reach their fullest potential?” or “Can you share possibly three different things that you would like to see improved in the program here and why?” 2 COME INTO THE CONVERSATION AS AN EQUAL One of the takeaways from Perkins, Guyette and Tauriain - en’s interviews was that the school nutrition department can be seen by school leader-
3 BE PREPARED TO COMPROMISE AND EDUCATE Another main takeaway garnered from the interviews was that many district leaders don’t fully understand the regulations and responsibilities nutrition professional have. “I have often heard frustration from school leaders, kind of like, ‘I just want you to do this.’ And I’m like, ‘I would love to but there are federal regulations that I have to follow and so how are we going to agree on what I can do for you?,’” said Perkins. Perkins recommends that school nutrition operators briefly explain what “guard rails” they must follow to leadership so they have a better understanding of why the nutrition team can’t do certain things. In addition, operators should be prepared to compromise with dis- trict leadership and know ahead of time what concessions they would be willing to make. “When you go into a negotia - tion with somebody else, and you need their time, their resources, or something like this, you’re proba - bly not going to get everything you want,” said Perkins, adding that operators should be clear on what concessions they could make to help [district leadership] with what they need and that still gets them their most important objectives for their students.
ship as second-class compared to other departments. “We do believe that from the an - swers and from sort of the demean- or and from the stories that we're kind of hearing, we feel that while no one's explicitly said this in our in- terview responses, we do conclude that school nutrition as a depart- ment just simply isn't seen as equal,” said Guyette. In order to be seen as equals, K-12 operators should work on their tone, word choice and more when meeting with district leadership. “If you come in just as a peer, not as an underling, you set that tone with your body language and how you're saying words,” said Guyette, She also recommended that op- erators take the time to train the rest of their team on the approach that school nutrition is “a part of a bigger team” and that they should be respectful of everyone, including those in other departments. “We are all one district,” she said.
I might have a request or a demand, something I'm pushing for, but you're going to want to keep them talking as well so that you can learn more about their perspective.” - Josh Perkins “
PHOTOS COURTESY OF BENITA GINGERELLA
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