Listserv provides
timely tips
Challenged to empower employees feeling the impact of
slashed budgets, CalSPRA members turned to the listserv
for answers.
By Tom DeLapp, President of Communication Resources for Schools
If you ask most school secretaries they say they spend the first two weeks answering the same questions over and over again. One of the big problems will be well-intended parents who just stop by for one piece of information and then stay to chat. Those time bandits can carve about an hour out of each employee's workday. Let staff know that it's OK to gently remind visitors that they have limited time.
Here are a few time-saving suggestions:
- Encourage staff to publish a Frequently Asked Questions handout sheet for their school. They can simply give it to people who come in rather than spending a lot of time over the counter drawing the questions out of the parents. Secretaries can brainstorm the most asked questions and write up a brief direct answer. As an aside, circulate this to teachers, parent leaders, and most importantly to central office staff so they can answer calls knowledgeably instead of just passing them on to the site staff.
- Set up a Parent Information Center (table) in the lobby so people can do self-serve for answers. Have lots of information, handouts, class lists, etc. It might also help to have a few involved parents act as "greeters" to staff this table at peak times. Some would be happy to help if asked. You might even publicize that the center will be open at certain times and encourage parents to come at those times instead of just dropping in.
- Put the FAQ on the web page and encourage people who call in to browse to their hearts content.
- Put up a bulletin board on the inside of the front window with key information so parents can still get information from you after hours if they stop by.
- If the sites have phone answering systems that can accommodate it, put up a voice message that gives basic information (bell schedules, bus route contacts, when class assignments will be available, etc.). But make sure the person recording the message sounds enthusiastic!
- If you have a voice mail system re-check it to make sure that it gets people quickly to where they need to be. If it is cumbersome, people will automatically hit 0 and get the office secretary/receptionist to be their "personal shopper."
- It would be helpful if principals took a good look
at workload with the staff and together hammer out some
set times so everyone feels they have dedicated time to
"do their job" without interruptions. Maybe
rotate the counter and phone time.
An added bonus: What works at the site can also work in the central office for places like personnel, special ed, etc. - Best of all, encourage everyone to keep smiling and do the best they can! Negativity, sarcasm and frustration can be contagious and will come back to haunt them in attitudes customers bring back into the office later.
Tom DeLapp is the President of Communication Resources for Schools and can be reached at tomdelapp@aol.com.
CalSPRA’s Listserv allows members the chance to pose questions to other school PR professionals, get important updates from California’s Department of Education, and network with other professionals.
Each issue of CalSPRA’s online newsletter will provide members a look at some of the topics recently discussed on the Listserv. To become a Listserv subscriber, contact Rick Peoples at rpeoples@rcoe.k12.ca.us or click here for more information.