Proactive Pre-Crisis Strategies: The Monday Memo

Have you ever sat in a meeting that should have been an email? Holla' if you hear me, friends! Days are short, but meetings are long. Don't get me wrong, some meetings serve a purpose. Others, however, linger and lag, creating unnecessary frustration, negativity and haste. I have never seen this more true than in the school setting. It's a burden that teachers and administrators across the country bear in solidarity.

You may be thinking, "But we just talked about the importance of communication as a form of building trust - the foundation on which any collaborative and dynamic team must build." And you aren't wrong. Communication, however, does not have to be limited to in-person meetings and face-to-face contact. In fact, a lot of that communication in the school setting can be reactive rather than proactive in nature. So, what does proactive communication look like? Although the strategies are many, here is one that has always served me well in my current leadership role. Enter, the Monday Memo. 

What is a Monday Memo?

The word memo is an abbreviation for memorandum, Latin for, "it must be remembered". Thus, a memo is a brief written message that - you guessed it - contains information that should be remembered. When planned appropriately, it can be a proactive communication strategy that gets ahead of a frustration before it arises. I like to put out my memos on Monday, before the work week begins. This allows me to look to the week ahead, checking school calendars for atypical events or campus activities that will impact my team as a whole, and serving as a reminder of what protocols and procedures may need revisited in order for the week to be a success. Here are the steps I take when preparing my Monday Memo - an activity that, once a template is in place, should take no longer than about 15 minutes to start your day.

1. Check the school calendar. Enter any holidays, campus events (field trips, assemblies, on-site testing, etc.), and fundraisers or club activities that may be pertinent. 
2. Consult the teacher calendar. Is there professional development that needs to occur? Enter the session information on the memo. Are there deadlines for artifacts that need to be submitted (curriculum maps, CFAs, sub plans, etc.)? Place those deadlines on the calendar as well.
3. Enter the Nuts & Bolts. Are there events that require a reminder of protocols or procedures? For example, even if you perform unannounced fire or lockdown drills (which I HIGHLY recommend), a reminder of what to do in an emergency situation is never a bad way to kick off a week so the information is fresh in your teachers' minds. How do teachers dismiss for an assembly? How do you take attendance for on-site testing that occurs outside of a teacher's regular room?
4. Clarify information from the previous week. Undoubtedly situations occurred the previous week that require clarification and reiteration. I prefer to do this on a Monday Memo rather than on a Friday Focus, which tends to be more uplifting and provide closure to the week. I want to send people into their weekends with a calm, clear state of mind, not worried over what they did or did not do over the course of a busy week. Thus, I might clarify attendance procedures, or share a link with a helpful resource on building relationships with kids. The sky is the limit, and this will highly vary based on what happened on campus the week before. 

Pro Tip: Prepare your Monday Memo before you leave the office on Friday afternoon. Information is fresh in your head regarding what went well and what needs to be reinforced and you won't have to rack your brain come Monday morning. 

That's it! Four quick, easy steps that facilitate proactive communication in an email that could have been a meeting. And for some, it certainly still can be! You will know the teachers who require individual follow-up when a drill doesn't go as planned, or when you have to remind them about attendance protocols for the fourth time. Remind them about the importance of reading the memo, and that it is a tool to aid in their success. A quick 15-minute memo can save everyone a lot of distress over the course of the week if planned with intention and with grace.