Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/you-are-what-you-write-improving-the-quality-of-your-written-communication/5020742/
Good and plentiful communication often lands high on the list of priorities for families participating in child care programs. Conversely, poor and scarce communication often lands high on the list of reasons parents leave a particular child care program. In my experience as a director, families indicated that they’d like better communication; my response was to produce more communication. “Oh, they must want a weekly newsletter or updated staff bios!” I would think. Looking back I see that what I produced was unnecessary and ineffective. What parents wanted was more detail, more relevant information, more access. Overall, they wanted more effective communication, not just more of it.Written Communication
There are many types of communication to consider when meeting families’ needs. While in most situations, verbal communication is preferred, we can’t ignore how critical written communication is in our field. Clearly, in many cases, it would be easier if the communication we had with families was face-to-face. We would have the opportunity to listen, answer, and clarify on-the-spot to ensure that families’ needs are met and questions are answered. But for a variety of reasons �" to accommodate varied schedules, to ensure communication has a lasting impact and shared understanding, to share ...