Communication is key in helping a school run smoothly. As an administrator, it is my job to make sure I communicate effectively with everyone. My faculty and staff, my executive board of pastors and parents, and my school community as a whole. Things I can do to make sure I am communicating effectively include things I have seen my own administrators do (or not do!) as a teacher that I think worked well or have tweaked to communicate better. One administrator I had in the past used Google Classroom for faculty. I really liked this, and so I will do the same. Inside each week, he included a faculty planner with the week's events and important details. This was a place for all the faculty to communicate without getting bogged down with so many emails.
It is also really important when emailing that the subject line of every email is clear, rather than leaving it out, initiating the "no subject" auto message. Oftentimes, those emails can be overlooked and automatically deleted.
Communicating with families effectively through robocalls and schoolwide emails via our school management system has also worked. However, you must ensure all info, such as emails and phone numbers, is current. On the school website, I plan to create a Google form for updating parent info to help with this. All communication must be clear and precise to families. I am all for eliminating paper flyers to families, but to do this, the website (and social media pages must be current and kept up-to-date by both teachers and families. Marketing our school on these platforms is important, too!
When it comes to communicating face-to-face, I believe it is also important to be clear and precise in getting your point across, but more importantly, I must listen first! Parents and my faculty need to know that I have heard and care about their concerns. With faculty, I hope to have an open-door policy! This way, concerns and questions are dealt with in real-time. Regarding parents, I hope to have a more "office hours" policy. One hour before school and 2 hours after for concerns that must be dealt with via face-to-face! A completely open-door policy may work for some, but I know, coupled with all my other responsibilities, it won't work for me! Also, boundaries are important! These are just a few ideas I have for effectively increasing communication in my school as an administrator.
It is also really important when emailing that the subject line of every email is clear, rather than leaving it out, initiating the "no subject" auto message. Oftentimes, those emails can be overlooked and automatically deleted.
Communicating with families effectively through robocalls and schoolwide emails via our school management system has also worked. However, you must ensure all info, such as emails and phone numbers, is current. On the school website, I plan to create a Google form for updating parent info to help with this. All communication must be clear and precise to families. I am all for eliminating paper flyers to families, but to do this, the website (and social media pages must be current and kept up-to-date by both teachers and families. Marketing our school on these platforms is important, too!
When it comes to communicating face-to-face, I believe it is also important to be clear and precise in getting your point across, but more importantly, I must listen first! Parents and my faculty need to know that I have heard and care about their concerns. With faculty, I hope to have an open-door policy! This way, concerns and questions are dealt with in real-time. Regarding parents, I hope to have a more "office hours" policy. One hour before school and 2 hours after for concerns that must be dealt with via face-to-face! A completely open-door policy may work for some, but I know, coupled with all my other responsibilities, it won't work for me! Also, boundaries are important! These are just a few ideas I have for effectively increasing communication in my school as an administrator.