Communication, Collaboration, Community relations Flashcards
What are the elements of communication?
- Source: the one who initiates the message.
- Goal: the result the message is designed to pursue.
- Audience: receivers of the message.
- Context: specific environment in which the communication occurs.
- Message: the content to be communicated.
- Media: the medium selected to convey the message to the audience.
- Feedback: response from the audience provoked by the message.
How do people accept change, a new idea, or a new product?
Through the diffusion process:
- Awareness: learn about new idea or practice.
- Interest/Information: get more information about it.
- Evaluation: try it out mentally.
- Trial: use or try it a little.
- Adoption: accept it for full-scale use.
Stages don’t follow linear sequence; nor are they experienced by all people.
Mass media dominant in:
awareness/information stages
Friends & neighbors most influential in:
evaluation, trial, adoption.
1-way communication flow for:
awareness and information.
2-way communication dominates for:
Evaluation, trial, adoption.
Persuasion: personal connections, rapport is key
How would you enhance communication and morale with employees in a school setting?
5 Rs: Recognition, relationships, rituals, rewards, resources
How would you, as a principal, organize a key communicator program in your school community. Also be able to describe the benefits of such a program.
-Key communicator programs consist of community leaders/influencers/people others go to for advice. Ex: bartenders, doctors, etc. l
Look for people to serve as key communicators who are trusted by their audiences and sit atop a hypothetical pyramid of communication in the community.
They have to meet with all aspects of the community. They help a school/district get a pulse on the community.
Purpose: They squelch rumors and act as prevention/foresight to get an idea of how community feels. Meet with key communicators as needed, and all communicators together once a year.
What are the types of critics that can be encountered in a school setting, and what are the fundamental ways of working with them?
- Hostile: overly emotional; personal in their complaints; classify people by status; possess a deep sense of right and wrong; and are suspicious by nature.
- Uniformed: indifferent; repeat criticism, not create it; tend to be negative; and accept explanations and facts.
- Professional: intelligent; profess friendship and support for education; and sponsor organizations and resolutions.
- Enlightened: friendly; educated on school subjects; ask questions more than they give answers; know what they are talking about; and expect specific replies.
When dealing with a critic, the fundamental goal is to:
Tips for dealing with critics:
- Create understanding, not conversion.
- Seldom refuse an opportunity to meet with a critic.
- Avoid being defensive. Listen and ask questions.
- Learn quickly whom the critic is speaking for.
- Measure the cultural and intellectual background of your critic.
- Evaluate the emotional state of the critic. Your first and most important step may be to allow the critic to vent.
- Make use of personal interests and needs.
- Include illustrations, examples, and stories in your answers.
- Avoid side issues and exceptions.
- Don’t go into the history and background of problems unless requested.
- Avoid long answers which may create hostility or destroy interest.
- Avoid professional jargon.
- Public meetings to deal with critics are not typically a good idea or productive.
- Always try to anticipate the criticism that might be generated by decisions that are made.
- Minimize criticism in advance by: never asking for advice unless you intend to use it; always telling the truth; and being consistent in communication efforts.
- You may want multiple meetings with a critic to deal with an issue.
- Critics can become friends and supporters. Criticism should be the beginning of a relationship, rather than the end.
What are some steps for ensuring the success of a school open house or back-to-school night?
- Comfort: stick to schedule/respect time, have student work displayed, coffee/tea for welcoming environment.
- Practice active listening, sort through facts.
- Present issues tactfully, develop a plan of action together to determine next steps, document conference.
- Train staff (especially new staff) on how to conduct back to school nights. Consider a shadowing program where new staff observes how verteran teachers run the evening.
What are 10 ideas for developing and delivering a successful oral presentation to a group?
- Plan, Prepare, Present
- P: Punch. Strong start (personal story, illustration, strong statement, humor).
- O: One theme. One message plus subthemes linked to the main theme.
- W: Windows. Specific examples to back up your main theme.
- E: Ear. Speak conversationally. Avoid education-speak.
- R: Retention. End strongly (summary, story, questions, positive attitude).
- Keep it under 18 minutes
Be able to describe 10 ideas on how to work successfully with the press as a school principal.
- Talk from the viewpoint of the public’s interest.
- Speak in personal terms whenever possible.
- If you do not want some statement quoted, do not make it.
- Do not argue with the reporter or lose your cool.
- If a question contains offensive language or simply words you do not like, do not repeat them.
- State the most important fact at the beginning.
- If the reporter asks a direct question, he is entitled to an equally direct answer.
- If you do not know the answer to a question, simply say, “I don’t know, but I’ll find out for you.”
- Tell the truth, even if it hurts.
- Do not exaggerate the facts.
As a public school principal, describe the steps you would take to market and position your school in your local educational community that also includes private, parochial, and charter schools:
- Discovering, defining, and delivering what people need and want.
- Helping people “see” things that they haven’t seen before.
- Marketing requires schools to ask the community to define the education they need and want. Then within their abilities and resources, marketing requires schools to provide this type of education to students.
- Analyze the environment by categorizing data about the environment and discerning how people choose schools.
- Develop a strategy. Ask what you want to market and why. Learn how people view the school. Use what people notice to your communication advantage. Strategize how a positive position or “brand” can be developed for the school relative to the characteristics of focus.
- Write a marketing plan with professional help.
- Consistently execute the plan. Brand-building takes time!
- Continually evaluate and “tweak” the plan.
- Improve, add, or drop existing public relations activities.
- Determine if the program is achieving its intended results.
- Determine if the results were worth the time and money spent.
- Bring greater visibility to the accomplishments of public relations efforts.
- Also think about:
- Change agents, constant communication of results, regardless of success/failure
Be able to describe the 5 most important steps you would take as a school principal to improve relations with parents.
- Initiate closer contacts: invitations to school, parent representation/grade level
- Hold open houses and conferences
- Facilitate parent visits
- Ensure consistent written communication
- Provide opportunities for participation: class volunteers, extracurricular activities
