A Reminder not to Send General Reminders

Don’t. Just don’t. There are unintended consequences and better ways to communicate to your school.

Your high performers will internalize it and second guess whether or not they’re doing it right.

Your low performers will ignore it, because it’s generalized – they can hide in the masses.

I know it’s not your intent, but it sends the message you’re interested in CYA, which undermines the healthy culture you’re trying to build.

[pullquote align=”right”]General reminders water down the messages that you really want to communicate. [/pullquote]

Another unintended consequence is that it waters down the messages you really want to communicate. If teachers hear/read general reminders often, and those reminders don’t apply to them, communication from you is a trigger for “it’s not for me.”

That’s certainly not the message you want to send.

What should you do instead?

1. Automate reminders using technology (Remind, Outlook Tasks, Google Calendar Reminders, etc.).
2. Double-down on effective communication techniques.
3. Add variety to your communication such as written periodicals, 2-minute team meetings, fact-focused faculty meetings (more on that later), and more conversational management by walking around.

Just a general reminder. 😉

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Here are a few other ideas for communication:

• Podcast: 5 Effective Communication Tactics
• The invisibility of Good Communication
• Dominate the Email Machine!