“Effective communication in an educational environment serves not only as a tool to convey information, but also as a means to inspire, motivate and better coordinate school activities. Through clear and open communication, principals and teachers can ensure each team member understands their goals and tasks, build trust and create a positive and collaborative climate. In addition, good communication also facilitates the process of receiving constructive criticism and sharing innovative ideas that can improve the quality of educational programmes and activities. Conflicts that arise within the team can also be managed wisely through dialogic and open communication approaches, maintaining harmony and keeping the school environment conducive to learning and development. Thus, good communication skills are essential in the development of effective leadership and solid teamwork in schools.” Wafi Ali Hajjaj, Al Munip, & Nurjali Nurjali., 2024.
Simplistically, we can look at communication as having 4 main routes: Non-Verbal, Written, Visual and Verbal. We use all avenues daily in every walk of life, being conscious of the way you communicate at work and taking simple actions to help improve problem areas will have a profound impact. Here we will cover the basics of the 4 different types of communication and relate that back to your setting and your role with evidence based information and further reading available.
Consider examples of all 4 routes of communication which you use daily, what do you use most often? What’s your preference? What works and what doesn’t work? Say we asked you to share this document with your team, how would you do that and why, what would be your first thought?
Here we will briefly discuss all these points for you to consider at your leisure, tying it back to the 4 main routes of communication.
Non Verbal Communication and your behaviour:
Roughly 60% of our communication is non-verbal, so cues you may give without realising can have a large impact of your intent and the way you are received. Burgoon, J. K., 2003.
Let’s discuss body language and the impact that can have to change the tone of a conversation; whether we are listening to them face-to-face, online or by phone (our body position affects the way we breathe and the way we speak).
| Positive or open body language can include: | Negative or closed off body language can include: |
| Using an open posture (not crossing your arms or legs for example)Maintaining eye contactNot covering your mouthNod when listeningTilt your head when listeningConsider using mirroring, where you subtly mirror the body language of the other personRelax your body | Moving a lotTouching hair or faceLooking awayFolding arms or crossing legsAppearing stiff or rigidExcessive blinking Not moving at allNot maintaining eye contact |
Other non-verbal communications can include things like emotional intelligence (Mayer and Salovey., 1997) and, personal space and appearance. Consider how others may perceive how you communicate – do you seem open and willing to listen?
Written communication
Written communication is far more prevalent in a larger team, but you will still find that you frequently send messages, emails, memos and more throughout the course of any given day.
As with any form of communication there are several things to consider, but the most important is to consider your target audience.
- Be specific – get to the point quickly and concisely
- Be clear – ensure that the language you use is clear and easy to understand
- Be inclusive – make sure that your whole team can engage with written communication, is anyone dyslexic? May have sight problems?
- Be considerate – you need to think about when and what you are sending out, is it the right time?
Just a few short things that you could consider next time you pen an email; such as – how is what you have written received? Would you like to receive it? Does it make sense? Did you get to the point?
| Good written communication | Poor written communication |
| Concise and to the point Proof read and grammatically correct Audience specific Short sentences Create key points to remember | Poor grammar and spelling Waffling, indirect language Excessive use of jargon or acronyms Ignoring tone Impolite |
Visual communication and how it works:
Visual communication refers to using visual elements to convey a message, inspire change or evoke an emotion. In the context of an educational setting this might be used in teaching primarily but may also be used to convey messages to your team. A good example might be health and safety information; we quite often see a poster stating the health and safety policy, this would be visual communication.
Visual Communication exists in two parts; communication design and graphic design:
– Communication design refers to crafting a message that educates, motivates, and engages the viewer.
– Graphic design uses design principles to communicate that message clearly and eye-catching to the intended audience.
A common example of visual communication used in schools is videos or screen recordings; something that you might employ for teaching, assemblies, training or even meetings. Integrating effective visual communication as part of your routine norms is important because it helps to bridge the gaps that traditional word-focused communication leaves.
Incorporating high-quality images and videos in your communication rather than relying solely on text to share your message can decrease the amount of time required to absorb the content, maximizing the potential for viewers to open, and understand your message.
What visual communication do you currently use? How does your team engage with it?
Verbal communication and interacting with your team:
Effective and good communication hinges on the person delivering the message in such a way as the receiver understands and takes away the right information and context. In Written and Visual communication, we can take the time to think about and review the information we are sending out. However, in Verbal and Non-Verbal communication we don’t have that luxury, what we say and what we ‘don’t say’ is written all over us for all to see. So how do we manage this?
Let’s discuss some examples of verbal communication which you might use:
- One to ones; in this situation, you are in close quarters to one other person so there is more pressure to behave in a professional and considerate way. Be mindful of your tone, plan what you will say and have a clear goal for the conversation so you don’t get lost as you speak. ~ How is your body language?
- Meetings; here you are in front of a group, so you need to understand each person and their individual needs and requirements. If you don’t know, then start by asking the room whether there is any support you can offer to enable them to engage. Speak clearly and concisely, enable others to respond and give feedback and practise active listening.
- Conversations; something that many people get wrong is the inability to listen clearly in a conversation. Take the time to think, are you really listening or are you just waiting for your time to speak?
- Phone calls; start with an agenda, know what you want to achieve. When receiving a call, listen clearly to what is being asked before you respond.
- Video calls; something that has become far more prevalent since the pandemic, video calls make it harder to understand the nuance of non – verbal communication vs in person meetings. Be mindful of your tone, and speak clearly. Ensure you wait for the other person to finish before you start to respond.
How to improve your communication:
A really good place to start is to be reflective and evaluate how people respond to you in a variety of settings, do they respond well? Or do you find that a lot of the time they don’t listen? Or that they become disinterested?
How to improve your communication:
- Consider your target audience; if you are specific, then your message will be well received but the right people
- Be concise; don’t waffle, keep to the point
- Use the best method for your message; if it’s not urgent, do you need to use a phone call, or will a memo do?
- Talk to your team; when you have natural conversations you’ll get to know people
- Try and favour face-to-face communication; this helps show your team you have time for them
- Make eye contact; this is the clearest way of showing trust and understanding
- Ask for feedback; listen to your team, let them guide you
- Spend time learning how to recognise non verbal cues; this is especially important for people who exhibit neuro-divergent traits as some signalling can show discomfort, misunderstanding or even fear or anxiety.
- Recap important details; this emphasises your point and helps to cement key details that might have otherwise been overlooked or forgotten
- Practice active listening; be mindful of how well you listen, don’t get distracted with how you will respond.
Building excellent communication takes time, skill and practice but being mindful of yourself and how people react to you is the best way to notice when there are changes which might affect your team and how they work. Understand that people are diverse and what works for one person might not work for another, it might sound obvious but the best way to be an excellent communicator is to be holistic.
References/Further Reading:
Wafi Ali Hajjaj, Al Munip, & Nurjali Nurjali. (2024). THE ROLE OF COMMUNICATION IN DEVELOPING LEADERSHIP AND TEAMWORK IN SCHOOLS. Indonesian Journal of Education (INJOE), 4(3), 821~833. Retrieved from https://injoe.org/index.php/INJOE/article/view/89
Burgoon, J. K. “Nonverbal Communication Skills.” Handbook of Communication and Social Interaction Skills/Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc (2003).
Mayer, J. D., & Salovey, P. (1997). What is emotional intelligence? In P. Salovey & D. J. Sluyter (Eds.), Emotional development and emotional intelligence: Educational implications (pp. 3–34). Basic Books.
Maguire, Peter, and Carolyn Pitceathly. “Key communication skills and how to acquire them.” Bmj 325.7366 (2002): 697-700. https://www.bmj.com/content/325/7366/697.short
Ellison, Deborah. “Communication skills.” The Nursing Clinics of North America 50.1 (2015): 45-57. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25680486/
Hargie, Owen. “The handbook of communication skills.” (2006).
Kumar, Sanjay, and Pushp Lata. Communication skills. Oxford University Press, 2011.
Hargie, Owen, David Dickson, and Dennis Tourish. “Communication skills for effective management.” (2004).
Muste, Delia. “The role of communication skills in teaching process.” Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of the conference. The European Proceedings of Behavioral and Social Sciences EpSBS. 2016. https://www.researchgate.net/The-Role-of-Communication-Skills-in-Teaching-Process.pdf
We hope this Toolkit has helped give you some extra reading and information about communication in the workplace.
Got a suggestion for something you want us to include? Need some additional help? We can give you and your team the training and support they need to improve, just contact us to see what we can offer to help you now.
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