I learned very quickly as a principal that what I said carried great weight with my staff. The slightest, off the cuff comment could be something that someone really hung onto and even took action on, even if I wasn’t really wanting anyone to anything. Over time I had to learn to not only think carefully before I spoke but be clear after speaking on whether I wanted anyone to take action.
But let’s face it, when it comes to the principalship, everything communicates. It isn’t just the words that the school leader says, but literally everything they do that communicates what is a priority to them. Most staff members do not interact with the principal on a daily or even weekly basis, so many staff members draw their conclusions from one of the main times when they see and hear the principal: the staff meeting.
What school leaders do and don’t talk about in a staff meeting says a lot about where the campus is going. Does the time follow a particular pattern such as teaching and learning, administrative, and celebration. Or does one of those things consistently use a big chunk of time? What is focused on, and what isn’t focused on, communicates a lot.
Even what is talked about within those bigger agenda items will tell the staff a lot. Take celebrating success as an example. What does your campus celebrate? Is it athletic achievement, student achievement, awards that staff members have received, or something else? If the focus is consistently on athletic achievements, staff learn quickly that that is is the main priority. And if nothing is celebrated, that tells the staff that the campus is like a pressure cooker: we constantly raise the temperature and hope nothing blows up.
Or does your school focus on more technical things on the agenda such as how to use a technology tool, how to administer testing, how to manage grades at the end of grading periods, etc? A huge focus on these things sends the message that compliance is the desired end for the principal. No matter what, we just want to do things the correct way.
None of these things are bad in and of themselves, but the principal has to be extremely careful to ensure that the balance of agenda items reflects what they think are the biggest priorities for the school. And if those things are out of alignment, they need to do something about it immediately before the focus of the campus slides.
So what are some things principals can do to ensure alignment? Here are a few recommendations.
- Be clear on what your priorities are– This sounds simplistic and many principals believe they really do this when in fact they are all over the place. You have to start with what your priorities are for that particular school year. Is it data analysis techniques, a laser focus on specific instructional data, walkthrough information, or something else? I always used summer down time to think on those things and clearly define them so I could do a good job of communicating them. And after those things are defined, the principal should make a plan for the school year on how and when they will focus on those things, talk about them, and hold others accountable for doing them.
- Make a staff meeting plan for the school year- Many principals also think they do this because they publish a schedule of staff meetings. But this misses the point entirely. Your plan should include not only the dates of the meetings, but should state the area of focus for that staff meeting that aligns with your big priorities for the year. Done well, this is strategic planning at its best. Perhaps you are rolling out two items during the school year that will take some time for staff to adapt to. When will you do the first training? What will you say about it? By when are staff expected to be comfortable with doing it? What are times of the year when it would be best to lower the pressure, such as during the end of the grading period? Pace those items out in your staff meetings throughout the year, but plan on talking about it every time you are in front of the staff. Even if your staff doesn’t do anything new with it on that particular meeting date, they will hear that you think it is important and will make it a priority even if a deadline is not approaching.
- Don’t delegate your communication– Too many principals delegate their communication about their priorities to other people, including their assistant principals and instructional coaches. I think many principals do this with the idea that they are providing a leadership opportunity for someone else. However, this is a huge mistake. If the principal says nothing about their instructional priorities, and the only people saying something are their direct reports, it sends the message that the principal has either been told to roll this out, that they are afraid to do it themselves because it might be controversial, or worst of all, they don’t care about that item. None of those messages is a good one to send to staff. If it is important, they need to hear it from you, and they need to see that you are focusing on the details of it too.
- Lead the trainings– This also is too-often delegated by principals. If you want to send the strongest message possible to your staff, lead the training yourself. That doesn’t of course mean you have to say every word and deliver every point, but you should lead part of it and I recommend you even lead some of the more technical points of it. I always believed in setting the stage for those who were going to be presenting with me. My job was to define the “why” behind our focus on that topic on that day, sometimes presenting data to indicate a deficiency that we needed to address. And at points throughout the training I would jump back in with my instructional coaches or assistant principal to deliver a comment, drive home a point, or point us back to the data we had looked at. It is critical for staff to see the principal is involved, aware, and taking action.
- Train like you want your teachers to teach– This sounds small but it is not. If you wouldn’t tolerate your teachers lecturing for a straight hour, why would you do that yourself in your meeting? There are many excuses out there for avoiding this approach: time constraints, “we need to get this information out,” our group is too big, etc. But once again, your teachers can make those same excuses about their classrooms and you do not tolerate them. Set the tone! Break your staff up into groups to discuss a point and share out. Show a video clip. Use technology to get realtime feedback that can be talked about in the meeting. No matter what, model what you expect, even if it takes more time to do so.
- Communicate the timeline– The principal should be responsible for showing the staff what the rollout timeline is of a new initiative, and talking about how they themselves will be monitoring the rollout. This communicates that the item is not negotiable and staff will generally make it a high priority just based upon that.
- Balance– Most campuses I have seen really miss out on this and yet it packs the most punch. When your agendas are developed, is there balance or not? Is it all celebration, or technical training, or teaching and learning items? There has to be balance. I tend to push more toward teaching and learning and less on the other items, but no matter what your area of focus is, there should be balance. Consistently focusing on only one thing (celebration, for example) will put your campus quickly on the wrong path because you never focus on the real work.
So how does a principal roll all of this out? It takes planning, forethought, strategy, and an eye on the end goal you want for that year. And what better time is there to do something about it than now? Teachers are almost gone for the summer so principals can now get to this deep level of work.
If you need a thought partner to work with you on focusing your priorities, I can help. I have templates, question prompts, and conversation starters that you can use with your leadership team and yourself. Message me if you are interested in hearing more.
The Principal Teacher 