NSPRA's Communication Audit Report - Harford County Public ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

• Once a vision and expectations for communication are established, the next step is to review and evaluate the current job descriptions and responsibilities of the Public Information Office staff in terms of how they relate to that vision and to the recommendations in this report, as well as to the HCPS Strategic Plan. A thorough review will likely identify functions that have changed or responsibilities that have been added which impact the ability of the staff to deliver strategic, targeted communication that supports HCPS’ mission, vision and goals. It may also indicate areas that can be decreased in emphasis and others that need more support. Not only will this help in focusing the work of the office, it will also help to ensure that the Public Information Office does not become a “catch all” for tasks that might better belong in other departments. A second review should be conducted after a strategic communication plan has been developed and revisions should be made to the job descriptions to ensure that staff time is focused on projects and activities that support the goals and objectives of the plan as well as the HCPS Strategic Plan. For example, at present, the Director of Public Information spends a significant amount of his time on publication preparation and media relations. This leaves him little time to develop more strategic communication programs and activities. As the senior communications administrator, the focus of the director position should be on proactive communication planning and engagement; crisis communication and strategic media relations; marketing and reputation management; public relations counsel to district and school leaders; and overall supervision of the Public Information Office staff. Our research shows that a strong working relationship between the superintendent and the senior communications administrator is critical to a successful communication effort; therefore we believe it is extremely important that the director position report directly to the superintendent and serve as a member of the Senior Staff leadership team. (Go to www.nspra.org/cap.htm for research reports.) It is essential for the director to understand the pros and cons that are discussed during any planning or decision-making process, as well as the final outcome, in order to create an effective framework for communicating issues and to be a knowledgeable, credible spokesperson for the district. Research conducted for NSPRA’s Communication Accountability Project (go to www.nspra.org/cap.htm for more information) supports the importance of communication as a management function and highlights the need for the communications director to have direct access to, and a strong working relationship with, the superintendent and leadership team. As the public relations/communications counselor to the superintendent, Board and Senior Staff, the director should interpret public attitudes, identify potential controversies and response strategies, and recommend communication strategies that build stakeholder understanding of district challenges as well as successes. All positions in the office should be reviewed and evaluated in a similar fashion in order to align tasks and responsibilities so that they directly relate to communication goals and support and complement the efforts of the director. This will help to provide direction, NSPRA Communication Audit 13 Harford County Public Schools
streamline the efficiency of the office, and enhance the effectiveness of communication efforts. • A final component of transitioning the Public Information Office to a more comprehensive and strategic communication function is to rename it to more accurately reflect the role and function it serves. There are a variety of possibilities that exist, including: • Communications and/or Community Relations • Community and Public Relations • Communications and Community Engagement • Community (or Public) Affairs • Communications and Community Services • Communications and Marketing • Communication Services All of these department names indicate that there is a two-way component to the communication effort, demonstrating HCPS’ desire to do more than just provide information, but also to actively engage stakeholders in the education process. Recommendation 3: Become more proactive and systematic with communication efforts. One of the challenges in any school system is staying on top of what is happening in schools across the district in order to be proactive with communication. External audiences want information about schools in their neighborhoods; internal audiences want to know why their school program isn’t in the news as well as what is going on at other school sites. No single channel of communication reaches every member of the community. The challenge is making sure information is relevant, readily available and offered in easily accessible formats. According to the focus groups, district publications, the web site and word-of-mouth via personal contacts are the best sources of information about HCPS. The key is ensuring that these communication vehicles are being used effectively to tell the district’s story and deliver key messages. The following strategies have proven effective in helping to systematize communication efforts: • Conduct regular research on communication and marketing efforts. In today’s media-oriented society, information overload is a problem not just in the workplace, but at home as well. Information must be of interest and value to target audiences in order to catch their attention. Communication research helps to identify what stakeholders know or don’t know; what information they want to receive; key audiences for specific messages; and how those audiences prefer to receive their information. Before expending resources on redesigning or creating new publications or marketing programs, research should be conducted to determine what is currently working or not working, user preferences and messages that resonate. NSPRA Communication Audit 14 Harford County Public Schools
Page 1 and 2: NSPRA’s Communication Audit Repor
Page 3 and 4: NSPRA Communication Audit 2 Harford
Page 5 and 6: is to determine whether it is helpi
Page 7 and 8: Educational public relations progra
Page 9 and 10: the communication loop, citing a br
Page 11 and 12: Recommendation 1: Develop a strateg
Page 13: However, with changing community ne
Page 17 and 18: schools or departments where commun
Page 19 and 20: current technology has made it easy
Page 21 and 22: exception of sports. The Harford Sc
Page 23 and 24: greater community, such as BRAC and
Page 25 and 26: Recommendation 5: Improve communica
Page 27 and 28: distributed as well), so that every
Page 29 and 30: epresentatives (as end users) in de
Page 31 and 32: Stakeholders could sign-up on the d
Page 33 and 34: communicator network and to conside
Page 35 and 36: As HCPS’ flagship publication, th
Page 37 and 38: school motto and mascot, etc.). At
Page 39 and 40: “experienced” parents can serve
Page 41 and 42: • Encourage district leaders to b
Page 43 and 44: HCPS to have a clearly delineated p
Page 45 and 46: • Mandatory media training - We r
Page 47 and 48: The current HCPS public web site is
Page 49 and 50: • Provide additional support to s
Page 51 and 52: • Develop guidelines for marketin
Page 53 and 54: enhance the web site with streaming
Page 55 and 56: Conclusion HCPS is a quality school
Page 57 and 58: Logo ■ Needs updating. Best sourc
Page 59 and 60: Current image of the district ■ I
Page 61 and 62: • Curriculum evaluation committee
Page 63 and 64: • They want to help, yet run into
Page 65 and 66:
• Have had three principals at th
Page 67 and 68:
• “We need to bring our busines
Page 69 and 70:
• Need to start over with high sc
Page 71 and 72:
Greatest challenges facing the dist
Page 73 and 74:
• The benefits sign-up process is
Page 75 and 76:
Information timeliness ■ Good; ex
Page 77 and 78:
Ways district communicates well ■
Page 79 and 80:
Current image of the district ■ F
Page 81 and 82:
GROUP: SECONDARY TEACHERS Strengths
Page 83 and 84:
• To a large degree, district has
Page 85 and 86:
• Principals keep getting more on
Page 87 and 88:
Web site ■ In general, the web si
Page 89 and 90:
Current image of the district ■ I
Page 91 and 92:
■ No “one clear voice” respon
Page 93 and 94:
What people need to know ■ HCPS s
Page 95 and 96:
• Construction should happen in t
Page 97 and 98:
Greatest challenges facing the dist
Page 99 and 100:
• Parents have their own interest
Page 101 and 102:
NSPRA Communication Audit 100 Harfo
Page 103 and 104:
8. Do you feel the district does a
Page 105 and 106:
Focus Group Questions for Student G
Page 107 and 108:
Page 109 and 110:
show all

NSPRA's Communication Audit Report - Harford County Public ...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?