Effective School Management

Communication of expectations and capabilities
Whether in any given situation you are the ‘customer’ or ‘supplier’ you should
try to ensure that
(1) the ‘supplier’ fully understands the expectations of the ‘customer’; and
(2) the ‘customer’ fully understands the capacity of the ‘supplier’ to meet his
or her expectations. If there are any constraints or question marks, these
should be communicated as soon as their existence is known, otherwise
the ‘customer’ may be ‘let down’.
Get it right first time
A lot of time and effort are needed to correct mistakes. This truth applies not
only to marking pupils’ work but also to all fields of human endeavour
including the running of schools. If incorrect information is circulated, if there
is a clash of dates, if a flawed timetable is published, it is often not simply a
matter of redoing the same work. Special efforts may be needed to ensure
that all affected or misinformed parties are contacted and some ruffled feathers
may need to be smoothed.
Research has shown that if you get something particularly right, one or
two people may hear about it; whereas if you get it wrong, the number is
likely to be anything from ten to over a hundred.
How do we ‘get it right first time’ then? Here the next two maxims apply.
INVEST EFFORT IN PREPARATION INSTEAD
OF IN CORRECTION
The human tendency, especially under pressure, is to ‘get on with the job’, to
‘get it out of the way’. This is particularly true if deadlines are looming. We
therefore tend to spend very little effort in planning and preparing, a moderate

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EFFECTIVE SCHOOL MANAGEMENT
amount in ‘doing’ and we may consequently need to expend a great deal of
time and effort in checking and correcting. The need is to reverse the
allocations.
CONCENTRATE ON THE PROCESS RATHER
THAN THE RESULT
This principle is best illustrated by a production line, though it is equally true
of secretarial work, classroom work, the organization of school events or any