Jessica, that sounds like a great plan. Thanks for sharing and keep it up.
Dr. Jean Norris
What works best for me is setting a calendar for myself to follow up with each department 2-3 times a week. One of the departments I had trouble communicating with in the beginning has improved since I started doing weekly follow ups and my numbers have improved:)
Ashley,
Thanks for sharing your suggestions for improving both communication and the relationship with other departments.
Dr. Jean Norris
Ashley, thanks for sharing your personal experience here. Yes, knowing your boundaries will provide you with a flexible framework of how to communicate with each party in order to be effective while also staying compliant.
Dr. Jean Norris
Lynn, that's a great point and I like your process here. It's always good to have someone else review a communication to make sure their aren't any unintended misinterpretations.
Dr. Jean Norris
Thanks Jessica. Your comment brings up a good point about who is responsible for making sure that the student understands the message. By checking in with our students to ensure that they understand, not only are we preventing a delay in the process, but we can help to build the relationship between the student and the school.
Dr. Jean Norris
Ashley ,
You bring up an interesting point and an advantage to having communication from multiple departments. Shedding a different light on a situation or giving feedback to reassure the student could help to grow the relationship with your university. It is important to understand the boundaries you have and what belongs to another department. I'm curious, how do you communicate the boundaries with the other departments you work with?
Dr. Jean Norris
Jamie,
Providing a summary of what you understand to be the message is a great method. If you partner that up with a couple of follow-up questions you are on your way to creating clear communication patterns. Thanks for sharing!
Dr. Jean Norris
Heather,
Email continues to be such an important method of communication in the workplace and recognizing how important it is to refine your email messages is great. What are your personal goals for improving your email skills?
Dr. Jean Norris
Michelle,
That's great that you're thinking about how to better engage with students over the phone. What are some ways that you can adapt what you're currently doing to engage more students?
Dr. Jean Norris
Hannah,
Requesting feedback and responses are terrific first steps to improve communication. Your lead could result in others following with similar practices. Thanks for sharing!
Dr. Jean Norris
Devin,
All of your suggestions are great practices. It sounds like you have a good understanding of how you can impact others through your actions. Lead by example :)
Dr. Jean Norris
Having worked with another department that has a lot of power and control, I now know the boundaries that are needed for our relationship. This allows me to have a better relationship with them so that I don't need to have higher expectations on the them than I should and vise versa. To improve, I would like to have face to face interaction, this has proven to be beneficial, likewise, actual phone conversation, instead of simply email interaction, will improve our relationship.
Agreed; we have one particular department that has a lot of control and power to sway a student's decision to come to our University. Therefore, how I respond through email and phone to my student can make all the difference. For example, if my student is upset about the information given to them, I am able to offer positive feedback or shed new light on the situation. I may also reassure the student when they are seeking further understanding about the unknown future. It is important that I am aware of the perameters of the department, what is their role and what is my role. Knowing my boundaries give me freedom and ability to maintain a good relationship with both parties.
I believe that communication that is controlled by another department may be improved through the use of feedback provided utilizing the steps of communication--Prepare, Draft message, check for unintended consequences, and Refine.
I believe that stating positive aspects of the existing communication is important as well as suggestions for improvements.
A thought when I was reading this: Be clear in your instructions, but make sure you are using words that everyone can understand. For example, sometimes I will be communicating with a student and I will say or type a word that they don't understand. If the message you are trying to send your student is not understandable, it can delay the process.
Agreed; we have one particular department that has a lot of control and power to sway a student's decision to come to our University. Therefore, how I respond through email and phone to my student can make all the difference. For example, if my student is upset about the information given to them, I am able to offer positive feedback or shed new light on the situation. I may also reassure the student when they are seeking further understanding about the unknown future. It is important that I am aware of the perameters of the department, what is their role and what is my role. Knowing my boundaries give me freedom and ability to maintain a good relationship with both parties.
When receiving a communication from another department that might be difficult to understand, it would be good practice to respond back to the communicator to summarize what the communication stated to make sure you are clear. This may help the person who is trying to communicate to better understand where their delivery could be improved.
I think it is important to develop good email skills when working with other departments, as this is the primary method of communication between departments where I work. These emails need to be reread, revised, and structured carefully to ensure that the message is clear and cannot be misinterpreted. Refining statements, as the module stated, is key.
While my email communications are somewhat prescribed, I have more freedom when I am communicating over the phone. I would like to create more urgency for students to engage with me over the phone. Usually I leave phone messages and then send an email. Students often fail to call me back or respond.
