Creating a culture of collaboration

“I always say culture is how people behave when their boss isn’t looking,” said Will Dean, CEO of Tough Mudder racing events. He’s talking about corporate culture, but he could just as easily be talking about schools.

Creating a school and district culture that brings about the best possible outcomes for kids means keeping everyone involved at their highest level so you have access to those top skill sets your teachers, leadership and community bring to the table.

Collaboration is more difficult than it sounds

Chris Williams, director of “Big Hero 6,” which won the 2015 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, considers collaboration the most essential element to his team’s success — and also its biggest challenge. “In some ways, (collaboration) fights human nature,” he told an audience at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. “We all want to be told, all the time, that … every thought we have is gold. But if that’s all you ever get, the story’s not going to get any better” (http://links.ohioschoolboards.org/91970).

Collaboration is even more important in schools, where awards season is the lifetime success stories of the students under your care. Following tips can help you build a culture of collaboration that catapults your students to success.

What exactly are we doing?

Improving student success and making the school a better place to learn are great goals, but they’re not specific enough for a collaborative effort. Create clear, quantifiable goals that can be achieved by your team, such as increasing participation in after-school programs or building a new playground.

“A shared vision and goals can lead to that sense of ownership,” writes Micki M. Caskey and Jan Carpenter for Association for Middle Level Education (http://links.ohioschoolboards.org/35328).

“For example, identify your team’s shared vision of caring for students and student learning, set goals related to that vision, discuss how the team’s work can help attain those goals, and check in often to assess progress. The strong connection between the work and the vision of the team can help individuals see purpose and assume ownership in the process.”

Diversity brings great rewards, but it also can be a stumbling block

Harvard Business Review magazine’s research on collaboration discovered that team members collaborated more easily and naturally if they felt they were alike.

“The differences that inhibit collaboration include not only nationality but also age, educational level and even tenure,” Lynda Gratton and Tamara J. Erickson write in Harvard Business Review (http://links.ohioschoolboards.org/23956).

“We  have found that the higher the proportion of strangers on the team and the greater the diversity of background and experience, the less likely the team members are to share knowledge or exhibit other collaborative behaviors.”

They also found that when more experts were in the room, it was less likely that collaboration would be successful. This is a particular challenge for schools, since there is so much diverse and educated talent to choose from. The more smoothly you break down these barriers, the more likely your chance of successful collaboration.

A few ice breakers that focus on similarities should help. How many people have a pet? How many people have kids? Emphasize the similarities and recognize they are equal members of the group. Give people the opportunity and encouragement to expand relationships before getting to the contentious issues of what ice cream flavors to purchase for the social.

Personal investment can’t be assigned

You will find that people who are fired up about getting the new playground built are the same people who were concerned about the safety and outdatedness of the old playground. It sounds obvious, but it’s easy to forget each of your volunteers has their own area of interest — and it’s best to work with those passions.

“Use a short interest inventory to get a sense  of what projects are meaningful to members of your school community,” Sharon D. Kruse writes for The School Superintendents Association (http://links.ohioschoolboards.org/63945). “List areas for which you have immediate need, such as data collection and analysis, short- or long-term planning, communication or after-school programming and ask respondents to indicate their interest in those areas.

“Provide several blank spaces for school community members to answer questions such as, ‘What talents or skills could you share with the school?’ and ‘How would you like to become involved with making our school a success?’ Then organize committees around areas of shared interest and provide a charge, or let them develop their own charge that can focus their collective effort.”

Organizing people around projects in which they feel personally invested will help to create a culture of collaboration by showing people that their talents and personal investment are a key part of the school’s culture.

Define the culture in your district

When you think of your schools’ culture, what comes to mind? Harvard Business Review found that company culture was a huge aspect of collaboration, and it starts at the top with assigning team leaders who are equally focused on the task and on building relationships.

“The debate has traditionally focused on whether a task or a relationship orientation creates better leadership, but in fact, both are key to successfully leading a team,” Gratton and Erickson write. “Typically, leaning more heavily on a task orientation at the outset of a project and shifting toward a relationship orientation once the work is in full swing works best.”

Can you think of potential leaders in your faculty you may have passed over because they were more relationship-focused than task-focused? Could they become great leaders with some coaching? Can one description of your culture be “we encourage and mentor new talent?”

Celebrate successes

A key part of creating a collaborative culture is recognizing and rewarding collaborative behavior. If your district has a communications department, it can be a great ally. Find ways to publicize success steps in your ongoing collaborative work, giving credit to those who have taken on new roles.

As the long-planned new school playground  finally goes up, when the levy gets passed and when the district’s librarians report that students this semester checked out twice as many books as last semester, focus on how collaborative work has enhanced the school and neighborhood.

Use these opportunities for congratulations and celebrations to recruit new partners and fortify future collaboration. Everyone likes to be a part of a success story, and a celebration is a good opportunity to invite people into your next one.

Recognizing people’s diverse skill sets, honoring the ways in which people’s similarities make them good teammates and rewarding successes, no matter how small, and leading others to want to be involved, is how collaboration becomes rooted in the school’s culture.

Contributed by Megan J. Wilson, a freelance writer and communications consultant who splits her time between Los Angeles and Olympia, Wash.

Harnessing the power of student and teacher voice: Using students and staff as speakers, presenters or guest writers

Effective communications are authentic communications. They resonate with people. They are moving and powerful. They feel real. But in many cases, our communications aren’t fully spontaneous. They have to be carefully crafted, vetted and polished to make sure we are saying precisely what is intended.

Precise language can be critically important in many official communications, but there is a way to capture more of that authentic feel. Including student and teacher voice in your communications can balance out the more scripted pieces of your message. In addition, hearing directly from students and teachers can remind your audience what your work is all about.

Effective messaging is not just about what is said;  it also is about who is talking. We hear things differently based on how we perceive the speaker. Sometimes the best way to get your point across is to get out of the way and let others do the talking, especially if they are trusted sources like teachers or students.

Teacher power

Teachers can be incredible spokespeople. Many educators are articulate, passionate and good with groups — natural traits for any public speaker. Others may not like public speaking but are skilled writers. When possible, identify educators who are passionate about a topic you need to communicate and ask for their help. While good teachers are always busy, many will be willing to help share a message they believe in.

Ways you can improve communications by adding a teacher’s voice include:

• having a teacher present at a school board or other district meeting;
• putting together a panel of teachers on a specific topic for a community forum or information session;
• having a teacher write a short quote for a press release, flier or other written piece;
• inviting a teacher to speak at a rally or community gathering;
• asking a teacher to write a letter to the editor or opinion piece for your local paper on a specific topic;
• asking a teacher to guest write an article, blog or newsletter piece for either internal, external or online distribution;
• having a teacher speak directly to a TV, radio or print reporter about a specific topic;
• inviting teachers to serve as key communicators, widely sharing information on topics of critical importance to the school or district.

Showcasing students

When it comes to authenticity and honesty, nothing beats student voice. The simplicity, straightforwardness and clarity with which children often speak can be incredibly powerful and can cut straight to the root of an issue. While many students will not be as polished in their writing or public speaking, with a little support, they can be an incredible asset to your communications efforts.

Ways to include student voice in your communications (with parental permission, of course) include:

• featuring student quotes and stories in press releases, fliers, your website or printed materials;
• having students or student panels at community meetings or internal district meetings;
• starting a student blog for your website featuring short pieces written by your students;
• making students available to the media in a supportive and structured environment;
• featuring student speakers at school or community events;
• encouraging students to write letters to the editor on education-related topics they are concerned about, such as the need for a new school, new program they like or why they love their teacher;
• holding student focus groups to capture student feedback and summarizing the feedback for the general public;
• holding a video, essay or speech competition on a topic of public interest and then publicizing the winning entries.

Supporting without scripting

Whenever you give the mic — literally or figuratively — to someone else, you give up a degree of power and control. While you cannot and should not fully control your alternate spokespeople, you can remain involved and supportive and set parameters to ensure an effective message.

Set clear expectations early. Make sure the teacher or student is clear about what you are asking him or her to do and everyone’s role. If you are asking for a written piece, do you expect to see it first? Do you have specific topics you want covered? Do you want to have editing privileges?

If you are asking them to speak, do you expect to see a written draft in advance? Do they understand the time limits? Will you be offering public speaking coaching or tips? If you will be working with the media, are they familiar and comfortable with it? Have you gone over what to expect and what to do if asked a question they are not comfortable answering?

Making sure everyone is on the same page from the beginning will result in a more successful experience overall. When possible, create a collaborative environment where you can provide tips and suggestions to strengthen their piece, but let their voice and personality shine through. Be clear that you are there to support them in getting their message out most effectively.

For educators, offering talking points or even a draft, if desired, is appropriate. However, make sure to encourage teachers to make each piece their own. Stress that you want to hear their thoughts and experiences.

Students are less likely to understand how to take generic language and make it their own, so sharing general topics or ideas for places to start may be the  most helpful. It can be tricky to find the right balance between supporting strong messaging and over-scripting. If something ends up sounding more like you than the student or teacher, it might be time to pull back the support a bit.

Following are tips for supporting strong student and teacher presentations or written pieces:

• Offer public speaking or writing tips.
• Provide media coaching and preparation and sit in on the interview when possible to provide on-site support.
• Remind people to keep their stories personal and specific.
• Discuss the elements of good storytelling.
• Offer to review or edit written pieces with an eye to the specific venue or need. Stress your experience and your goal in helping them be most effective.
• Ask what types of support they need.
• Share your gratitude for their involvement and time and explain why getting their story or message out is important.

Resource links

• 10 Tips for Improving Your Public Speaking Skills — http://links.ohioschoolboards.org/66908
• Three Things to Do to Prepare for a Media Interview —  http://links.ohioschoolboards.org/46350
• 10 Rules for Writing Opinion Pieces — http://links.ohioschoolboards.org/24585

Contributed by Crystal Greene, communications consultant

Keeping calm: What we can learn from firefighters and police

When arriving at an emergency scene, firefighters and paramedics usually walk, not run. They are trained that way. Walking briskly and purposefully is safer than running, especially when in full gear or carrying equipment. Furthermore, it helps firefighters and paramedics stay under control in the heat of the moment.

Police officers are taught similarly: Move only as fast as your field of vision allows. Make sure you’re seeing the whole picture and not overlooking where someone might be hiding.

First responders train regularly, so their reactions become almost automatic. Professional communicators don’t face the constant challenges of emergency responders. Rarely do we confront crises of this magnitude. Still, we can borrow useful tools from first responders’ mental training: Stay calm. Stay focused. Stay in control, regardless of the situation.

Think about how often we are confronted by upset, contentious patrons or even colleagues. They push our buttons, sometimes deliberately. They are mad, frustrated and want us to feel their pain. No one benefits if we give in to the button-pushing or if we let our personal ego override our common sense. That is why we should train ourselves to remain calm, focused and respectful, even when we are not being treated that way.

That holds true regardless of whether we are dealing with people in person, on the phone or online. Stay in control. Assess the situation. Don’t rush into argument.

Your mother probably told you to count to 10 if you got angry. That adage has endured through the ages for good reason. We need to buy time instead of surrendering to our anger or frustration. Experts in anger management say it’s critical to expand the microseconds between when we feel a surge of anger, frustration or resentment and when we respond.

Tip: It’s OK, even preferable, to not respond instantly. Silence gives us time to think. Don’t err  by blurting a response, either by email or voice. For communicators, self-control starts with listening. We dare not assume we know what a person is thinking when he or she starts complaining about a school policy, incident or something else.

Often the best response in such a situation is a neutral one, such as, “Tell me more.” Statements of genuine interest — assuming no eye-rolling is involved — can disarm a person who expects an argument. Again, such statements also give us time to think.

In contrast, we inadvertently put ourselves on the defensive if we think, “She doesn’t know what she’s talking about,” or say, “You’re wrong.” Likewise, if we counter with, “Why do you say that?,” using “why” puts her on the defensive by implying we don’t trust her.

People want to be heard, which is why listening remains the most important — and often overlooked — skill in the communication business. From listening, comes understanding.

Consider this quotation from Grammarist.com: “The admonition to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes means before judging someone, you must understand his experiences, challenges, thought processes, etc. The full idiom is: Before you judge a man, walk a mile in his shoes. In effect, it is a reminder to practice empathy.” (Italics were in the original quotation.)

We have everything to gain by listening — by trying to put ourselves in the other person’s shoes, even when we’re sure we know his or her perspective. We might learn something new, and we should if we’re paying attention instead of thinking about our response. Our patience, politeness and listening will create goodwill.

I saw this in action recently when I overheard someone complaining at length to state police officers on duty in the state capitol. Instead of responding with the typical, “That’s not our job. Talk to so and so,” the two officers listened patiently, even though the person’s complaint had nothing to do with their duties. I suspect their grace neutralized the complainant’s ill feelings, at least temporarily.

Training pays off. As professional communicators, we need to continually practice and retrain ourselves on rule No. 1: listen. Stay calm, be respectful and actually listen.

Contributed by communications consultant Dick Hughes. Contact him at thehughesisms@gmail.com, Facebook.com/ Hughesisms or @DickHughes on Twitter.

Help your legislators help you

What should a school district do before the legislature convenes to ensure success once the bills start flying? A few simple steps can pave the way for success. It is called governmental relations for a reason. Like most of our work, it has to do with relationships.

To  relate to your legislators, you need to know who they are, their interests and how and when to reach them. You also need to find out how you can help them. Any good relationship is a two-way relationship. You are going to help them as much as they help you.

Know your public officials

First, identify your state representatives and senators. It can be a little tricky because school district boundaries and legislative districts usually are not the same. Often, a legislator will have constituents in more than one school district. Compare district maps to make sure you identify who represents all of your district. Even a small portion of your district can include hundreds of voters.

Next, make a contact list, including staff names. This is important because you will not have time to find all of this information when you really need to get a message out. You also will want to be able to hand letters to your support staff with the instructions “send to all of our state legislators” and not have to go through them one by one. Your memory is not that good, and you don’t have time.

Contact them

Whether the superintendent or legislator is new to their job, make that first contact. The sooner you open the lines of communication, the sooner you can start a very important relationship.

The first contact can be a letter, including an invitation to meet. At the very least, the letter should include contact information for your superintendent and other high-level staff in your district. Do not give a legislator contact information for someone who cannot help them. Make sure your legislators can reach people who are “high up” in the school district from the start. Nobody likes to get the runaround or make multiple calls to find the right person.

Tell them about your district

The letter should indicate that you appreciate their advocacy on behalf of students and include demographic and achievement data and a few top priorities for the coming year. Budget information is important, but it should not be the first thing you mention. Indicate that you will be calling to set up a meeting at the legislator’s convenience. Make sure you follow through.

A legislator’s time is precious during the campaign season and during the session. The sweet spot is during the interim, nowhere close to Election Day. Time your contact accordingly.

If the legislator has time to meet, have a succinct message ready to go. A fact sheet or single page with your demographics and budget should suffice. It always is best to leave behind information for legislative staff to file away. Bring business cards and offer a sincere commitment to help staff with information requests and constituent issues.

During the meeting, be concise and to the point. Legislators are generally very busy. If you can schedule the meeting when they are not in campaign or session mode, fantastic. But even then, they do not have time to waste on too much small talk or off-topic conversation. Better to finish early than to bore them and keep them from their next meeting.

Share your priority issues

In a perfect world, you would just be meeting and greeting. But in the real world, you probably have issues and concerns. Those need to be handled differently, depending on your relationship with the legislator and his or her staff. If you know the legislator well, you may be more direct. But if you are beginning a new relationship, do your homework to avoid stepping on any toes. Make sure you are not assuming anything until you have established a good working relationship. And even then, it is a good idea to check for understanding.

If you have a legislative agenda, share it professionally. Passion for your school district is great, but remember the legislator is hearing from a lot of interests, some of them in competition with each other for state funds. As tempting as it is to be a breathless advocate, your superintendent should also remember that he or she is a community leader and understand some of the pressures the legislature faces. Superintendents face similar pressures in the school board room.

Invite them to visit

When time and schedules allow, meetings and tours in your schools are great. Some legislators will jump at the chance to see students and staff. Others may be more reluctant, and that’s fine. But the legislator who actually talks to students and staff is likely to take away a story or two that will come up in deliberations at the Statehouse.

Tour sites should be matched with legislator’s geographical boundaries or special areas of interest. Legislators like to see tax dollars being used effectively, so think of programs that will illustrate a new way of getting good return on investment.

Legislative relations programs are like exercise routines. The best program is the one you actually do, not the one that sounds the best. So, do the basics. Reach out. Provide information. Offer assistance in gathering information or addressing constituent concerns. Like any relationship, government relations really boils down to regular communication.

OSBA had numerous resources to help you work with your legislators, including the “Board-Legislative Partnership,” which is available through the OSBA online store. Visit www.ohioschoolboards.org/store to order your copy or www.ohioschoolboards.org/advocacy to see other resources.

Contributed by Jay Remy, communications consultant

Tips for better school board engagement with the community

Ask most parents what school board members do, and they might answer, “Attend school board meetings.” The monthly or bimonthly board meetings are certainly a key part of board members’ responsibilities. But, perhaps, the board’s most important role is to engage the community in championing its schools.

That can happen in a lot of ways. Board members might advocate for more funding at the state legislature. They might write opinion pieces about schools for the local newspaper. They could host community forums about important issues facing schools. The list goes on.

But some of the most critical engagement happens right in the boardroom. The board’s attitude toward community members in attendance, providing opportunities for public input and respectful interaction, shapes the community’s attitude about not only the board but also the district.

Board members offer the community a window into the district’s operations and overall student performance. Through the board, the community gets to see what’s in the budget and the policies that shape district practices. When the board acts in a united, thoughtful way, it instills public confidence and, in turn, builds public support.

The more open and involved board members are in the community, the more opportunities there are for the community to engage with the district. Research clearly shows that schools with engaged parents and communities tend to be more successful.

An important byproduct of engaged board members is that they tend to better understand local needs. That, in turn, allows them to push for programs and policies that reflect those needs and community values. For instance, budget reasons have forced many districts to reduce or eliminate electives over the years. But some school boards have resisted such cuts because they are acutely aware of how much parents and the community value them.

Some people think community engagement is an event, something that happens once or twice a year. In reality, it is an ongoing process in which the board and district work collaboratively to provide opportunities for parents and community members to be involved in their schools. This takes the shape of volunteerism, attendance at board meetings, participation on district committees and more. The goal is to build a culture where all  citizens — with or without children in school — take pride in their schools and want to support helping all children get a quality education.

Community engagement strategies

There are a variety of strategies for engaging parents and others in schools. Some examples include:

• Community forums: Some districts sponsor an annual education forum where leaders give an update on the schools and outline critical issues. Afterward, community members may break into small groups where they can offer feedback.
  It’s an effective way for board members to hear from patrons and better understand the community’s underlying values, concerns and priorities. It also gives patrons an opportunity to become more informed about the district, meet face to face with school leaders and board members and share ideas and concerns
• Coffee chats: Host a coffee chat at a school or a local coffee shop or restaurant. Invite community members to stop by during a designated time to chat about the schools and district. Some will stay the entire time; others will drop in and out. Patrons appreciate being able to have an informal dialogue with their elected officials.
• Lobbying: Many school boards believe one of their most important roles is to lobby legislators, whether it’s a plea for stable funding or fewer mandates. Some districts invite local legislators to a dinner prior to the start of the legislative session so they can hear about pending legislation and make a pitch for schools.
  In some counties, the school boards sponsor a joint legislative dinner, knowing there can be strength in numbers. Boards sometimes mount letter-writing campaigns to send messages to their legislators and recruit community members to join in the effort.
• Study circles: Sometimes boards will invite parents and community members to participate in a study circle to address an important issue or,  perhaps, collectively read a book that raises interesting questions or ideas about education. Usually, a study circle is composed of 10 to 12 people who meet regularly for a few weeks. At the end, they offer feedback and recommendations to the board.
• Focus groups: Focus groups can be a useful tool for gaining a better understanding of how the community feels about different issues. Focus groups are facilitated meetings of small groups, typically eight to 12 people. They can be a first step toward conducting a larger community conversation.
  For instance, districts considering a construction bond might want to conduct focus groups at different schools and with targeted groups, such as business leaders and senior citizens, to gauge support for different components of a potential levy.
• Polling: Surveys are an important tool in assessing community views on specific issues, such as perceptions about the district, budget concerns or support for a bond or levy. These can be as simple as mailing or emailing a survey to all parents or a broader telephone survey conducted by a professional polling firm.

There’s no one best method of community engagement. As with communication, there are multiple tools for reaching out to the community and inviting dialogue and involvement. Most important is that boards show through their actions that they value community engagement and recognize schools are better when parents and the community are involved.

Contributed by Connie Potter, communications consultant