Thinking About Thinking: Communication

Effective communication is a key SBL skill. We use it every day, automatically adjusting our language for different stakeholders, parents, pupils, staff, governors, contractors and visitors. In this final article of her digital series, Emma Gray brings together the key insights shared over recent months and explores how to present them

When Education Executive bravely agreed to let me write about thinking, it wasn’t the subject matter which daunted me – but whether I’d be able to communicate what I wanted to say in less than 800 words per article!

The Communication Pyramid

There is a system of communicating which encourages thinking about what you want to say with the help of a pyramid. The conclusion is at the top, small and succinct, so it is communicated first. Then comes the key arguments, there is more information but it’s still pithy, communicating what has led to the conclusion. Finally, below that there is detailed information for a reader who wants as much information about the communication as possible.

The communication pyramid means that the audience can choose for themselves how much they want to know. Some might just want the conclusion and a couple of the arguments. Some, who are super interested in what you’ve been doing in your weekly thinking hour, will want to know the whole process!

I’m sure you have guessed by now, but this is what we have been doing throughout our thinking time, building our own communication pyramid.

Reflecting on What We’ve Learnt

We have used a Mind Map to establish six areas of our work or school we’d like to improve. We have used STEEPLE as a strategic tool to identify strategy headlines. We have done some interesting problem solving, identifying the actions we need to take. We have tested those action decisions with colleagues wearing hats, and we have taken a step back to identify ways in which we can collate our actions into overarching drivers.

We’re now ready to tell everyone what we’ve been doing.

Building on a process we used last time, use a whiteboard and write your six strategy headlines along the bottom.

Then, above those, draw three boxes, each with a key driver, from your systems thinking work, as a heading, which might be, for example.

• Develop systems to improve communication to stakeholders
• Implement training to increase efficiency and excellence in operations
• Document key processes, controls and templates to monitor and manage change

Underneath these driver headings, allocate the actions you’ve decided upon to support your strategy headlines, placing them into a relevant driver. Some actions, such as ICFP training (discussed last time), could reasonably go under any of those driver headings. This part of the communication design can be done with Post-it notes until you have all the actions where you want them, and there is some balance between the boxes.

Stakeholder Outcomes

We have now arrived at a new stage in our communication process which you won’t previously have looked at. However, the investment you have made into your thinking time means you can do this.

Above the driver boxes, write down up to six ‘Stakeholder Outcomes’. These will identify how your improvement strategies, and the actions you propose to implement, are going to impact on stakeholders?

Using our previous example, ICFP training will have the outcome of Stakeholders receive excellence in business support to inform their strategic decision making.

Next, in a line above, write down four ‘Whole School Outcomes’, succinct headings on what’s in it for the school. An example of this might be… (Relaunching our nursery provision will increase pupil numbers and will lead to) Improved financial sustainability (for the school).

Finally, take all those whole school outcomes and see if you can form one over-arching headline, or conclusion. Mine has become:

XYZ School maximises resources with budgetary excellence and improved long term financial sustainability.

If you are familiar with the ‘Start with Why’ model you can see that, using a thinking process to deliver a communication pyramid, we have reached a clear SBL Why. Read your communication pyramid back from the top down to see if it flows. The why, or statement at the top of the pyramid, is your conclusion, and the point of all the work and time you have put into the thinking process.

Ready to Share Your Thinking

You are now ready to convert everything into one power point slide to share with stakeholders. Make sure you include coloured boxes, logos, arrows pointing upwards from one stage to the next, and clear text. Make the headings bold and the outcomes and actions succinct. You can always enlarge on the actions, adding timelines and costings, on subsequent slides.

You did it! You’ve been through a process of strategic thinking, you’ve learned loads, and you’ve had new conversations. Present your work with pride and now start on the actions which will lead to your desired school improvement.

Don’t forget to spend the next few thinking hours evaluating and reflecting on what you have achieved, then you can start to plan your next thinking journey.

Keep thinking!