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

epresentatives (as end users) in developing guidelines for keeping e-mail and voice mail
communications manageable. These should address such issues as:
Reasonable response times for returning calls and e-mails from parents and other
district departments (i.e., within 24-48 hours);
Expectations for the use of communication tools, such as limiting “all user”
messages and non-essential information, limiting the length and number of
attachments, etc.;
Establishing what constitutes unreasonable demands on a teacher or
administrator’s time (i.e., daily e-mails or calls from a single individual, or an
expectation of immediate response);
Establishing appropriate e-mail etiquette;
Developing subject line codes that establish priority levels;
Other issues that are important to staff and parents.
Once these guidelines are determined, they should be widely distributed to staff and
parents. They should also be included in student handbooks and on the web site.
Training staff in the use of communication technology is also an important consideration
in order to maximize the district’s investment. Even though a great deal of information is
available internally on SharePoint and InfoWeb, a majority of employee focus group
participants were very unclear about which sites to use and how to find the information
they need. Training schedules should be reviewed and revised in order to better serve
employee’s needs so that HCPS can more effectively use the available technology.
• Involve staff in decisions that impact them. When decisions need to be made that
directly impact staff members, it is important to ask for their input in advance. For central
office administrators who must make decisions that affect the jobs of hundreds of people
in school facilities throughout the district, it is particularly important to factor this into
decision-making timelines. For example, focus group participants indicated that changes
made to purchasing procedures have greatly impacted the work of administrative
assistants. Although the online purchasing procedures were supposed to make the process
easier, participants said that it has become more time-consuming. Gathering staff input on
decisions like this may require extending timelines, but it can pay big dividends in
building morale and pride in job performance.
There is great loyalty to the district among HCPS employees, but focus group input
indicates there is also a need to build a greater sense of ownership. Creating opportunities
for staff to participate in discussions about important issues and decisions, especially
those that directly impact their jobs, can help build that sense of ownership as well as
responsibility for outcomes.
NSPRA Communication Audit 28 Harford County Public Schools