Thought we’d turned the corner on staff friction after adding a 15-minute morning huddle, but today proved otherwise. At 7:10 a.m., I catch two staff whisper-arguing behind the storage shed about the 9:30–10:00 slot on the whiteboard and a missing whistle, while a bus idles and three parents hover; as head counselor I’m the tie-breaker and the mop. By the time I split the difference, swap a dead radio battery, and reassign coverage, we’ve burned 18 minutes and the tone for the day. This is General day-to-day stuff, nothing niche. if I don’t codify a 2–3 step conflict script and name a single schedule owner, feelings will keep trumping facts — why does a five-minute fix take 50 when everyone’s sure they’re “helping”?
Had a whole morning derailed once over a missing megaphone and a 30‑minute slot swap. What fixed it was a grab-bin at the gate (spare whistle, charged radio, markers) and a hard rule that any schedule change must be written by 4 p.m. the day before or the last posted plan stands.
I started a 7:00 two-minute swap window - after 7:02, no changes unless both folks tell me together at the board - and hung a whistle and a fresh radio battery on a peg right under it. That combo pulled the drama into the open and killed the scavenger hunts.