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Use Summer Communication to Generate Credibility

As we get deeper into summer, it is important not to step back from efforts to communicate. Throughout the spring, keeping staff, parents, and students informed was crucial to ensuring that everyone remained calm, focused, and moving forward. Hopefully, you also kept other stakeholders and groups informed so they understood that learning did not stop even though brick and mortar schools were closed. Your commitment to keep everyone informed likely went far to answer questions, quell rumors, and maintain support for the efforts of your staff, families, and team. Now, the focus of your communication needs to shift and widen. Stakeholders still need to be reminded of the learning that occurred, lessons that were taught, and other services that were provided during the spring. You need to do all that you can to counter natural tendencies for people to assume the worst if they are not aware of the truth. Added to these key messages, stakeholders need to hear what is happening this summer, even more than during most summers. Predictably, many questions about whether and how schools will open in the fall are generating anxiety across the community. Your efforts to keep stakeholders informed about planning and preparation, even if detailed, specific information is not available, will make a positive difference. Just knowing that you and your team are busy working on the problem and the confidence you project that a plan will be ready when the time comes to convene the school year can provide important reassurance. Even though many variables remain and plans to restart school are still taking shape, you can share the core priorities and principles—ensuring safety, supporting learning, minimizing disruption—that will guide planning and decisions in the coming weeks. Further, you can reassure stakeholders by sharing timelines and venues you will use to communicate decisions and plans as they are finalized. Be sure not to forget that during this time especially, the audiences you need to reach are broader than may be the case during times of calm and relative certainty.

Of course, staff, students, parents, booster clubs, etc. still need current information.
Also remember that city, village, or township leaders need to hear your progress and plans so they can be positioned to provide support.
State and federal elected officials need to be informed so they can advocate for your needs and share your progress.
Local service, civic, social, and religious organizations will be interested so they can coordinate programs they offer and schedules they need to develop.

Further, these groups are made up of people who, if informed, will pass along information and can provide reassurance that serious work is underway to meet the challenges ahead. Each community is unique, so be sure to do an inventory with your leadership team to identify groups and individuals who need to be “kept in the loop” as the summer unfolds. Of course, local news media such as radio, television, or newspaper, can help to “get the word out,” but do not forget the opportunities that reside in blog posts, podcasts, videos and other communication technologies to share your messages and keep them fresh. The credibility and support you experience in the fall will likely be influenced by the strength, dependability, and frequency of communication provided during the summer months. It makes sense to take maximum advantage of this opportunity. Resources: https://masterteacher.net/template-for-communication-with-all-your-stakeholders-2/ https://masterteacher.net/dos-and-donts-for-communicating-with-teachers-now/

Leading Without a Map: Responding to Protests

In Your Corner, Leadership and Change Management

June 22, 2020

Leading Without a Map: Responding to Protests

For months our thinking, planning, actions, and worries were focused on COVID-19 and its impact on so many things we took for granted. We also watched and worried as our economy was paused. Millions of people lost their jobs. The need for food banks and financial assistance grew quickly from support that some people needed, to a lifeline for tens of thousands of families who never imagined relying on the generosity of neighbors and communities. It seemed all-consuming. Then, events of the past few weeks have challenged our consciousness once again to confront yet another crucial issue that for too long has been ignored. Multiple tragic, heart-rendering events reminded us that segments of our society, especially black members, face bias, barriers, and discrimination that, while long discussed, remain present. Protests across our nation have testified to the intensity and severity of the circumstances and challenges we face as a nation and society. As leaders, we have a special responsibility during this time. We must accept that despite what we have said and efforts we have made, the causes and consequences associated with this condition remain. The question is, “What should we do now—right now—to begin to address the challenge and begin to turn the situation around?” Unfortunately, there are no easy or universal answers. Each of us must examine our heart and accept the challenge of making the future better. Still, there are some universal leadership truths that apply in circumstances such as these. First, we need to understand that the voices and protests we are hearing grow out of fear, anxiety, frustration, and disappointment. These feelings are real. We need to validate and accept this reality and offer reassurance and understanding; not respond with rigidity and pressure. We need to listen, acknowledge feelings, and demonstrate respect—and learn. We need to do more than say the right things. The “right things” have been said too often in the past while not followed by actions. Our leadership will be judged by what we do, not what we say. The new opportunities we help to create, unhelpful policies we change, and harmful practices we abandon will be what makes the difference. Only when our actions change people’s experiences will what we say be taken seriously. Further, we need to help people to find their personal power. We absolutely must create conditions where those that have been ignored, underestimated, and held back have a path to success. However, we also must create conditions where they can tap, build, and apply their personal power. It is not enough to create opportunities. We must provide the support, encouragement, and resources to help each person see and pursue the opportunities open to them. Some of us have had the privileges of race and wealth that offered these advantages, often without our even being conscious of their presence. We need to support such advantages for all. The combination of the pandemic, recession, and protests against inequities and racism present a unique—probably once in a lifetime—challenge, but it also represents what is the greatest opportunity for and potential consequence of leadership. Where will you choose to start? Questions:

What policies have been in place for a long time that deserve to be reviewed and adjusted or dropped?
What current practices may be harmful to the goal of all students receiving the encouragement, support, and opportunities they need to succeed?
What are some first steps you can take to demonstrate your commitment to value and support the success of all students regardless of background, race, or history?