Unlocking Deathly Hallows
Or incentivising the kids to keep the house tidy…
If my kids were as exciting about uncovering their lost socks and homework as they are unlocking a new character on the latest Harry Potter Wii Game – live would be so much easier!
And if only I had a simple little display that told me the kids’ stats on putting things in the right places, and doing stuff in the right spaces as they careen in through the house in the afternoon after school. Lives could be lost for procrastination and spells delivered on jobs awesomely done – finally I could unlock the wii potential to generate the kids to do work – instead of it being the final threatened removal if they don’t do it!
More recently I’m finding myself back here again. Shouting at the kids because I have to constantly supervise them all the time. I’ve tried writing a chore board to remind them, a checklist to make sure they know what to do and reward for failure is never an option. I don’t incentivise them maybe enough, although I can explain to them till I’m blue in the face that if I don’t have to spend time shouting and supervising then I complete my jobs quicker and then we get to go out and have fun, but it doesn’t sinkin!
So I am moving rewarding effort. Visually and visibly. A box of odd jobs with star rewards clear instructions and everything ready to go if its chosen (you know none of that last minute panic to purchase those things you’ve been meaning to buy for days, weeks months only to find out they are out of stock, no longer made or now just not right at all….
First step implement the box. A job per card. Nothing too complex otherwise it’ll never get finished. What I want doing clearly described. What I don’t want doing written in big red letters A photo if possible of what good will look like and a check list of the things needed before work can start. Oh and how many reward stickers it is worth, of course (damn slave labour laws 😉
I can already see improvements on the horizon, like more rewards for teamwork (who really wants to work with their brother/sister at the age of 8 after all). Challenges to grow my kids abilities ones that make my lad focus and stay still (he has ants in his pants). And one that make my daughter take calculated risks (levelling the already obvious perfectionist tendencies before OCD arrives).
I suppose I should say encourage, instead of make, but you get the idea.
I know that I’ll need to also check on progress, coz I’m dealing with little people who love life and get “squirrelled”, often. So a routine checking process will be needed to make sure that distractions are kept to a minimum.
I now realise on thinking about it that I’ll need to have a handle on how my kids do their chores – if they take longer or the standard drops then I’m going to need to know. Oh gosh I’m sure I’m back in the office: I’ve just identified my organisations two hardest things to measure – efficiency and effectiveness 🙂 Oh the joy of KPI’S . Oh no. I need to put in measures. Sod’s law it’ll be the hardest thing to measure too. I can feel snapshots and dashboards coming on….hang on -how much am I paying myself here!?
Make it simple I’m thinking. Get the kids heads at the table. Explain the reason for the measures and the link to what getting jobs and chores completed right first time is important to them. Explain the rewards and explain the in changing negative of today (if there is no negative then that is a different story). Get them to suggest how they would implement a simple method of ongoing measurement. Easy!
This reminds me of work….feels a bit like project management processes going on here…..woah steady on girl…..
