546 PARKS 



subject of a special statement of policy by the governing authority, as in 

 the case of the code of the South Park Commissioners in Chicago (see 

 page 523). Cooperative relations among the several divisions may be greatly 

 facilitated if the superintendent, in defining the duties of the several divi- 

 sions, includes explicit directions as to the services which each division is 

 to render the other under given circumstances. However, it will not be 

 possible to foresee all the contingencies which will arise and old directions 

 may be forgotten. It is desirable, therefore, that the heads of all the divi- 

 sions be formed into a kind of cabinet and that regular weekly, bi-weekly 

 or monthly meetings be held under the direction of the superintendent. At 

 these meetings the instructions of the superintendent can be given and all 

 problems of a common interest can be presented, discussed and decisions 

 made if definite decisions are necessary. In these meetings the utmost 

 frankness should prevail but always in a friendly and impersonal spirit. A 

 similar organization of the staff of each division employing a number of 

 skilled workers would likely be found to be most helpful in the conduct of 

 the affairs of the division. Thus in the division of organized recreation with 

 a staff composed of supervisors, play leaders, leaders of special activities, 

 and others, regular weekly meetings are a practical necessity. These meet- 

 ings not only serve as a time saver to the head of the division, but they 

 accomplish the far greater purpose of promoting mutual acquaintance among 

 the members of the staff, and provide the medium whereby the lowliest 

 members of the staff can gain a vision of the essential unity and the scope 

 of the entire program of activities. 



In addition to regular meetings of the superintendent's cabinet and of 

 the staffs of divisions, any superintendent can improve the quality of his 

 executive organization by organizing and conducting short course training 

 classes for various types of workers. It makes no difference how carefully 

 workers have been selected or how well qualified they may have been at the 

 time of selection, there is no single member of the general staff occupying 

 a position requiring skill, to a greater or less degree, in some particular field 

 of activity who cannot improve himself by systematic study and instruction. 

 This applies particularly to the staffs of those divisions whose functions 

 bring them constantly into intimate contact with the public such as the 

 organized recreation division staff and the police division force; but such 

 courses would be of decided value to horticultural workers and office workers 

 also. (See Chapter XIV, "Park Policing," pages 760-769, for suggestions for 

 a course of training for park guards or police; Chapter XIII, pages 742-743, 

 for suggestions for training courses for organized recreation workers.) 



The custom followed by some business organizations of holding an 

 annual picnic and an annual dinner followed by a social good time, the 



