I wouldn't say these ideas are completely 'out of the box' or brand new ideas. I do, however, think they would help keep faculty and staff in the know and with easy access to information.
Currently, we rely on weekly emails that get longer and longer and have less people reading thoroughly through them. So, even though the information is in there, it is not necessarily being utilized efficiently. We also have monthly staff meetings the first Friday of every month. We have a small school with one teacher per every grade level with the exception of our prekindergarten program. Which means when we are having the staff meetings only about half of it will pertain to you or your grade level and since you can’t squeeze a whole month or more of information and to do list items in two hours, some things get pushed or overlooked.
I also feel communication is more than just letting people know information. It helps to build a sense of community, trust and boost morale when needed. It helps coworkers connect with each other. You are more likely to give grace to a friend than you are to a stranger in a stressful situation, so those peer bonds are necessary.
Creating a space with a strong sense of community is key to running a successful school or business. Making sure that everyone feels as though they are in the know and that their feedback back is seen as valuable is important to help strengthen this sense of community. Knowing how to facilitate steady and fluid communication is what helps create this productive and supportive community space.
Currently, we rely on weekly emails that get longer and longer and have less people reading thoroughly through them. So, even though the information is in there, it is not necessarily being utilized efficiently. We also have monthly staff meetings the first Friday of every month. We have a small school with one teacher per every grade level with the exception of our prekindergarten program. Which means when we are having the staff meetings only about half of it will pertain to you or your grade level and since you can’t squeeze a whole month or more of information and to do list items in two hours, some things get pushed or overlooked.
I also feel communication is more than just letting people know information. It helps to build a sense of community, trust and boost morale when needed. It helps coworkers connect with each other. You are more likely to give grace to a friend than you are to a stranger in a stressful situation, so those peer bonds are necessary.
- Digital Platform: You could use a variety of platforms but if you are worried about technological know-how, at this point we’ve all used Google Classroom so you could make one for employees only. Any platform where people can login to access things like the school calendar, the weekly update list, classroom rosters, time off forms, or even notes about upcoming events at the school would make it easier for employees because they’d know exactly where to go to find the information. There could be sections for HR, School Functions, Classroom Information etc.
- Faculty and Staff Brag Board/Just Letting You Know Station/Watercooler Chat Spot: I know we are supposed to be humble but sometimes we just can’t help but feel overwhelmed with joy when our own child or grandchild reaches a milestone or when we just read a great book and we really want to share it with others. Unfortunately, we don’t have a lot of adult social time built into our schedules like a regular office position might so we need to get creative. Yes, this could be done by posting on the digital platform or you could designate a spot in the faculty or copy room where people can pin up pictures, pop a book up for someone else to borrow or hang up some information about an upcoming event they hope to gather a group to go with.
- Focused Staff Meetings: At least in our case, we all meet together once a month. It is fun to see everyone and chat but we don’t necessarily get to utilize our time efficiently. While, yes, you want to keep everyone included and be able to catch up I think there needs to be designated focus time for grade levels. In a two to two and half hour time frame I think it would be most efficient to have everyone convene as a group for all “whole group information” such as upcoming events that affect everyone. Then I think everyone should shift into smaller more focused groups where they could check in and plan more effectively. We do not have any peer planning time besides this and I think it is important to know what your surrounding teachers are working on. It helps to better develop your own lessons and expectations. Then, we could reconvene for the last twenty minutes or so just to update everyone on some things we plan on moving forward with or final thoughts.
Creating a space with a strong sense of community is key to running a successful school or business. Making sure that everyone feels as though they are in the know and that their feedback back is seen as valuable is important to help strengthen this sense of community. Knowing how to facilitate steady and fluid communication is what helps create this productive and supportive community space.