PROFESSIONAL BOUNDARIES VS YOUR AUTHORITY
It is often a difficult line between establishing professional boundaries and balancing your position of authority. It is important to establish professional boundaries. You should always discuss appropriate topics and avoid compromising behavior.
For example: you should always be clear about your objectives.
HOW DO YOU SEE YOUR ROLE?
If believe a collaborative effort will result in better childcare, you are better able to participate in positive teamwork. If, instead, you see your role predominately as a person whose job it is to point out deficiencies and failures, you place yourself in a different position.
YOUR GOAL
Your goal should always be to have a positive outcome. If you do not find ways to work collaboratively on a positive outcome and you narrow your evaluations only to areas of noncompliance, you contribute to an imbalance of authority. That imbalance will make your job more difficult.
BALANCE YOUR WORKING RELATIONSHIP
You should be mindful of your position of authority and how it relates to professional boundaries. Your role as a Monitor gives you automatic authority from the moment you walk into a home. Consequently, acknowledging your provider’s empowerment is helpful in establishing a reasonable balance in your working relationship. You can do this by:
Being Polite
Have a positive attitude
Compliment the provider on the environment or program when you can
These actions do not compromise professional boundaries. They allow the provider to see you as an objective observer.
POLITE CONVERSATION
It is perfectly acceptable to share in a few minutes of polite conversation and still establish professional boundaries. A provider should not be so intimidated by your presence that she is unable to share polite conversation with you. Nor should you be so caught up in your position that you are unable to respond in a civil manner.
Conversations should not compromise confidentiality or consist primarily of gossip; neither should they serve as distractions from the focus of your visit. Polite conversation means exactly what it implies: it allows the provider to understand that you are in her home for professional reasons, you are civil and respectful of her role and her environment.