At Laughology, we like to think we’re on point, up-to-date, and keeping up with the times. So, who remembers Bob Hoskins’ ‘It’s good to talk’ advert in the ‘90s?

Although it was 30 years ago, the message is still relevant in all walks of life. It is good to talk. 

In fact, is there any occasion when it isn’t? Unless, of course, you’re in an exam hall, The Crucible, or crammed into a cupboard playing hide and seek?

The very best school leaders are great communicators. And that to help their team and pupils develop and thrive, everyone needs to play their part in creating a culture where helpful little chats happen on a regular basis and big chats happen when they need to. 

Why is it good to develop a talking culture?

Imagine walking down a corridor as two teachers are discussing a lesson. One’s getting the other to reflect and improve by asking what went well and how it could have been even better. And it’s not because you’re within earshot either. It’s ‘because that’s how we do things here’.

Now imagine you’re in the school office. Someone’s just taken a tricky phone call and you know that, when the time is right (probably not straight away!), their colleague is going to chat to them about it, help them put it in perspective and maybe see the situation from another viewpoint.

Or what about, as part of your regular staff training offer, teams get together in action learning groups to help each other with their behaviour management skills? Or their understanding of children with additional needs or an upcoming meeting with an anxious parent?

By empowering your team (and pupils) to have these great coaching-type conversations, people and schools move forward at a faster pace than if everyone works in splendid isolation. i.e. in their classrooms, not sharing any good practice, or asking for advice. 

For some, chatting comes naturally. They:

• Have great social and emotional awareness
• Know how to create the right environment for conversations and are happy to make uninterrupted time for others
• Know how to help people FLIP and solve their own problems – and when to step in to make suggestions if needed
• Have a growth mindset and encourage it in others

For nearly everyone else, there’s Laughology’s communication training - Top of the League or why not download our free cheat sheets to help you?

As well as all of the above, our sessions cover:

Listening to learn and understand

We all listen internally. Someone makes a comment and we jump to our own conclusions, based on personal experiences. 

When a colleague says, “I worked all Sunday,” we respond with, “Well, I worked all Saturday and Sunday.”

If someone says they’ve been on the phone to a parent for an hour, we tell them that half an hour is more than enough and they need strategies to end calls sooner.

Great communicators know about ‘The Power of Pause’. Something is said, we pause and then we choose how we respond, in a helpful and thoughtful way.

“I worked all Sunday,” is kindly challenged. “What can we do to help you better manage your workload and enjoy a healthier work-life balance?”

“I was on the phone for an hour to a parent,” is greeted with an offer to support the next time that parent wants a chat.

Making time for chats

Did you know that there’s no such thing as multi-tasking? 

Yes, we can blink and breathe at the same time, or walk and eat (watch out for indigestion though). But we can’t respond well to an important email and give good advice to a colleague at the same time. 

If someone knocks on our door and asks, “Have you got a minute?” we should either:

• Say yes, and completely ‘switch off’ from the email
• Say, “Can you give me a couple of minutes and I’ll come and find you?”

Giving future-focused feed-forward

Who doesn’t love a lesson observation? Everyone, we hear you cry. 

Leaders who purely give feedback, based on the unchangeable lesson they’ve just seen, are missing a learning opportunity. Instead of talking about how it went, why not talk about a next time? What are the behaviours, knowledge and skills you want to see going forward?

This is one of the most effective ways to support growth mindset thinking in your team, rather than fixed.

Making sure everyone is psychologically safe

Really good big and little chats underpin a successful school ethos because they ensure everyone remains psychologically safe. 

Consider how you are:

• Encouraging people to take calculated risks and learn from any mistakes they make 
• Making sure people know what’s happening on a day-to-day basis
• Making sure everyone can contribute to conversations – whatever their preferred style of communication
• Having a laugh together

Leadership Programmes

It might be that, to start off with, you want to upskill your leadership team to have great conversations. If so, here’s a case study that shows the amazing impact our Big Chats, Little Chats leadership programme has had in organisations such as O2. 

To lead the charge in the wonderful world of education, just give us a ring. When they’re not crammed in cupboards playing hide and seek, Doug and Sarah are sitting by the phone, waiting for your call.