Building Success Through Communication: Clinton-Essex-Warren-Washington BOCES (NY) SS/HS Initiative
If you ask Wanda McQueen to illustrate her approach to communication, she’d probably draw an unfinished brick structure. According to this 2008 project director of the Clinton-Essex-Warren-Washington Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) Safe Schools/Healthy Students (SS/HS) initiative in upstate New York, “Communication is layers; it’s never just an isolated piece. You have to keep building upon what you’ve done.” And she’s been building on each successful approach since the outset of the project.
Laying the Foundation
As Wanda recalls, the first year of the grant was time-consuming and demanding: Just getting it up and running was a full-time job. But early on, she realized the necessity of promoting the initiative both internally and externally so that everyone would be working together. This meant layers of people to inform—from school board members to teachers, parents to legislators—and layers of information specifically tailored to each audience. She and her team faced a unique communication challenge because the initiative has 18 major partners across 5 school districts and 2 rural counties, with some core team members located more than 100 miles away from the Plattsburgh base.
“We knew we absolutely needed to think things through, and we had to do it strategically,” she observes. Using the Communication & Social Marketing Center’s 8-Step Communication Planning Model, Wanda and her team began by identifying four goals that could guide their communication efforts from implementation through sustainability: introducing the initiative; promoting ongoing collaboration; sharing best practices, programs, and highlights; and sharing project data. “These goals will never go away,” she explains. “We’ll just keep adding layers to them, such as introducing the initiative to new partners or sharing evaluation data with additional audiences.”
Building Success
Wanda sees communication as key to both success and sustainability. “Communication is such an integral part of everything we do,” she emphasizes. “You have to tell people—and keep telling them—how great your project is.”
In keeping with this strategy, Wanda gives presentations to as many groups as possible. She updates her BOCES assistant superintendent monthly. Her team members created a Web site to keep far-flung partners continuously informed and coordinated. They developed a comprehensive resource binder about their SS/HS programs and services and put one in every school so that staff members and teachers have the information they need to help parents, students, and themselves to understand the initiative.
And with each new opportunity, she and her team build on what they learn.
To illustrate her point, Wanda recalls that in their first year, her team members created a detailed brochure about the initiative, which they sent to parents along with a permission form for students to participate in programs. They received a good rate of return, but they still had to follow up with many parents. This year, the team sent out the permission slips prior to the school year—when parents are used to completing forms. The team also reduced the length and reading level of the program information. The result: a return rate near 100 percent. “Wherever we see a barrier,” Wanda observed, “we use communication to knock it down.”
And the audience is always front and center for every communication opportunity or challenge. For example, Wanda carefully prepares her speeches. She says, “I really think about what I want to get across to this group and plan a lot in advance. I want to stay focused and not waste my audience’s time.” If she uses PowerPoint slides, she carefully considers their content and shows her audience only what she wants it to keep in mind as she speaks. “I want people to listen,” she explained. “If I want them to read, I can send them a newsletter.” She also makes sure to wear a watch so that she can keep to the time allotted.
Taking It Higher
Despite communication successes, Wanda doesn’t consider herself to be a creative person. But, as she observes, “You don’t have to be an expert to do things well—use the talent you have in-house.” She notes the principal, who happily volunteers her editing skills, and the mental health provider, who is phenomenal at creating graphics and making project materials look professional.
She also values the resources available from the Communication & Social Marketing Center. “The Communication Web site is a resource you can access as much or as little as you like, and you don’t have to budget for it!” she exclaims. And she appreciates having access to her communication specialist for guidance on communication planning, as well as for input and feedback on her communication ideas and materials.
Wanda stresses that communication should be a top priority for every project director. “If you think strategically about who you need to reach and why, and then you tailor your messages to those people and purposes, you’re going to save time and money—and you’re going to be successful.”