Modern technology has proven to be both a great advantage—and an equally large disadvantage—when it comes to communication between parents and your school staff.

Besides always being connected via cell phones, schools can choose to text, email, Skype, FaceTime, and direct message on platforms like Facebook, WeChat, and WhatsApp, just to name a few.

We’re instantly connected to parents on multiple communication levels, so we can stay in touch and get in contact at a moment’s notice.

All of these outlets should make it super convenient to relay information, but it’s actually much harder to communicate with parents than it ever has been.

I know that sounds like an oxymoron, but think about it.

Having all of these communication methods means that parents constantly have to check their texts, emails, and social media apps to hunt for messages from your school. And the truth is that most parents don’t have this kind of time.

We see schools using multiple different channels of communication far too often. This results in too many messages being lost in the shuffle.

In today’s article, we’ll put an end to communication breakdowns once and for all by showing you why your school will benefit from adopting one universal communication standard.

Trust us, it’s much easier to do than you might think.

[content_upgrade cu_id=”3730″]Bonus: Download our free guide for tips on how to transition to a universal communication standard smoothly.[content_upgrade_button]Click Here[/content_upgrade_button][/content_upgrade]

What happens when communication standards aren’t in place?

From an administrative standpoint, having multiple ways to reach a parent is never a bad thing.

After all, if there’s an emergency, you’d want to reach a parent as soon as possible. You’ll probably call them directly on their cell or work line and then follow up with a text message in case they couldn’t answer the call.

However, if we’re simply talking about day-to-day updates or general announcements, text messages would not be the best or most appropriate route to take. Announcements would probably fall into the category of emails, direct messages in a private group, or even a Skype message, if that’s your school’s thing.

The problem is, there are almost too many ways to stay in touch from a parent’s perspective.

If your administrative staff uses a few communication channels, and each teacher prefers using other ways to stay in touch, parents may have to adapt to using as many as five or six communication styles if that’s how many different teachers their child has each year.

And if a parent has more than one child, you’d have to double or triple these communication styles.

When parents have to learn each teacher’s communication preference—on top of your school’s communication preferences—you’re left with confused and frustrated parents, to say the least.

Parents want to stay in touch, but having to juggle all of these different styles only makes them feel further out of touch.

After all, how many of us can check our emails, text messages, and Skype alerts consistently throughout the day at work? It’s not always feasible.

Taking this route ends up decreasing parent engagement, which is the exact opposite of what your school wants.

Let’s take a look at how this works (and doesn’t work) in another industry, such as going to your doctor.

What if your doctor’s office worked like this?

Imagine if your doctor’s office adopted multiple communication styles and it was up to each nurse to determine how they’d reach you.

Let’s say you have an upcoming appointment and one nurse decides to send you a reminder card in the mail about your appointment one week in advance, so you can arrange your schedule accordingly.

You receive the card, double check that the appointment is in your calendar, hang the card on the fridge, and still have just enough time to prepare for your appointment without any issues.

When you schedule your next visit, you’re more likely to wait for this auto-reminder card to let you know about your appointment.

Now, let’s say another nurse doesn’t like sending out cards and prefers the ease and speed of email reminders instead. However, she only sends out this reminder email two days before your appointment.

If you’re not checking this particular email account diligently, it may get buried under a few days worth of emails, so you’ll either miss it, or see it late and not have time to adjust your schedule with such short notice.

If you miss the appointment completely you may be financially responsible for not showing up to the appointment and the doctor’s office may not accept responsibility since they did in fact contact you with a reminder.

That may not seem fair—or efficient—but that’s what happens when communication isn’t standardized.

This is how your parents feel when they don’t know which communication preferences to rely on with your school.

Why do we need communication standards in the first place?

Without communication standards, the parents at your school have to either keep their head on a swivel for updates across all contact methods, or they’ll just ignore everything until something big happens and you need to call them.

But if every teacher used the same universal communication standard, parents would be informed and know what to expect from your school.

Here’s why your school should implement a universal communication standard:

Learn One Long-Lasting System Instead of Multiple Ones

For starters, parents would only have to learn one system to know exactly what to expect every year and from each teacher.

This means they will get more efficient at mastering one standard instead of adopting four or five and learning just enough to get by each semester.

Plus, when new teachers start at your school, you’ll only have to explain your system instead of forcing them to figure out how to communicate with parents on their own.

It makes everyone’s life that much easier.

Eliminate Communication Issues & Create Consistency

This new system would also cut down on communication breakdowns, too.

For example, if you only send school closure updates via text message, parents would learn that if a text from their child’s school comes in, it must be important.

It’s this consistency and routine that teaches parents what to expect, so they’re not left in the dark.

Everyone Needs to be on Board, Starting from the Top

In order for this to work your entire team needs to be on board—starting with the owner or director of your school.

Once this new system is in place it will be the only one used going forward. This means the days of each teacher using their own preferred method has to come to an end as soon as possible.

Everyone from your tenured teachers to your newest hires needs to clearly understand that there’s a system in place and deviations would ruin the whole plan.

Now, the transition shouldn’t come across as militant. Rather, you should explain how this will benefit the entire team as a whole, not just one area in particular, and strengthen parental engagement.

[content_upgrade cu_id=”3730″]Bonus: For help making the transition go smoothly, download our free guide that comes with this article.[content_upgrade_button]Click Here[/content_upgrade_button][/content_upgrade]

As you can see, establishing one universal communication standard may take some work upfront, but it will make your parents’ and teachers’ lives so much easier.

When parents know what to expect from your school’s communication style they’ll be better informed and learn what forms of contact to expect for any given situation.

This communication standard will streamline, improve, and make your school announcements that much more efficient.

It’s a win-win all around.