The Timing of Communication

What I Learned In School Today: Timing matters with communication.

So much of my job as an assistant principal comes down to communication. Whether communicating with teachers, students, parents, or other administrators, clear communication makes life easier while unclear communication makes it significantly more difficult. Of course, communication takes different forms. Emails, letters, tweets, Facebook posts, speeches, information sessions, in-service sessions, faculty meetings, and a slew of other modes fall under the communication umbrella, all of which need clarity and frequency. Unfortunately, clear communication isn't always easy.

I often reflect upon and agonize over my communication. Perhaps this is a product of still being relatively new in my position, but when something is not clear or understood, I end up questioning my choice of words and try to find where I went wrong. Sometimes I find that I'm unclear in what I've said. Fortunately, that's usually easy enough to fix with an apology and some follow up (I’d rather get it right the first time, but that doesn't always happen). Other times I find that timing makes a big difference. Did a communicate to early before people were ready to receive and make sense of my message? Did I communicate too late when people didn't have the time to act on my message? Was everyone in a different place? One of my biggest takeaways from this school year so far is to not only look at how information is communicated, but also when it is communicated.