School Business Administration

Working With People – Reflections

Building positive working relationships with others :
This course has opened up the opportunity to communicate more with staff and students, this opened up relations between them. It has made me understand the general feeling of students and staff on how the rewards scheme is run and I have then been able to communicate this to higher authorities within the school, thus enabling a line of communication between all levels.

Building positive relationships within school requires good communication, being open to discussion, polite, conducting myself professionally and being considerate to all involved. Being a good listener. Recognising differences with others views and ideas. Always showing respect and always offering knowledge, support and guidance where possible. Good ideas should be communicated with assertiveness and good interaction within the team. Humour and motivation are beneficial in building and maintaining relationships

I have learnt it is extremely important that all lines of communication are efficient and successful in maintaining relationships with stakeholders and key to sustaining their involvement with the school. Communication and building relationships is also a vital part of the administration within my role in the school, communication must be effective and efficient in delivering information and maintaining relationships with stakeholders.
Communicate effectively with contacts :

During this course I have learnt that effective communication can improve team work, resolve disputes, help everybody be happier and more efficient and effective within their role. It can also help progress your role and career within the school. It is important to learn communication on all levels whether through verbal, telephone or written communication. I need to ensure that the schools aims and objectives, all procedures, legislation, and policies are being complied with in regard to all communication and information used and in how it is shared. Communication must be effective and efficient in delivering information and maintain relationships with stakeholders.

Verbal Communication - when communicating verbally either face to face or on the phone always ensure you think before you speak and listen effectively to what you are being told as miscommunication can produce problems and listening can gain more respect and cooperation from the people you are talking to. When you are trying to communicate effectively you need to think about what you say as well as how you say it. Make sure that body language is open and accessible; maintaining eye contact with the person you are speaking to. Ensure I am always dressed professionally, presenting a good image for both myself and the school.

Written Communication - part of my administrative role involves of lot of written communication and information which is communicated via letter, email or fax, especially for meetings, where the aim is to gather, prepare, collate and distribute information from school and departmental records. Facilitating the minutes and ensuring they are recorded, stored, distributed and updated precisely, confidentially and efficiently. This information is used by many stakeholders and is imperative that it is correct, accurate, and relevant to the person requesting or receiving the information. All written communication needs to be clear, grammatically correct, precise, and professional to the school.

Acting within the limits of my authority and referring issues beyond my authority to the appropriate people :

Since initiating my Personal Development Plan with my line manager, I am more aware of my role within the school and how I can develop and expand my role for the benefit of the school. There has also been a vacancy made within the school, SIMs Manager, which due to the financial climate will not be fully replaced, it has therefore had various parts of the role distributed between myself and another member of the support staff. My job role has therefore been revised; this will need to be altered with the School Business Manager.

Within my new duties I am undertaking more procedures within SIMs and handling more data, recording, storing, maintaining, extracting and sharing with stakeholders. I understand that if I cannot deal with an issue or problem, who I need to refer this to within the school or how I can resolve the problem myself through asking the relevant person or department for help and guidance.