IT Communication Strategy - Survey Says...

We all strive to communicate productively in our personal and professional lives. In IT, we want to communicate the right amount of relevant information so that you know what’s going on without feeling overwhelmed.

Recently, BVSD conducted a survey to better understand your communication preferences and habits. Based on your feedback, we in IT have created a new communication strategy that I will outline below.

When IT now communicates to all BVSD Staff, we will follow this model:

Email

We all prefer a tidy inbox. However, the survey results show that BVSD staff overwhelmingly prefers email to other forms of communication—provided those emails are relevant and written for easy scanning. Here are the types of emails that you can expect from IT:

• IT Alerts and time-sensitive communications that affect the majority of BVSD staff; sent as needed 
• IT Tips and Tricks; sent weekly 

Hint: Google offers several tools to help you manage an overwhelming inbox. Try using filters to sort your mail when it arrives. Also, try the Priority Inbox to put the really important stuff at the top.

Service Manager Portal

We will post alerts and outages that don’t affect the majority of BVSD staff on the Service Manager Portal, which you will see when you submit an IT Service Request. Check here first for status updates of your favorite apps.

Hint: Check the Google Apps Dashboard if you suspect an outage of a Google service such as Gmail, Google Drive, Sites, etc.

Monthly IT Newsletter

Every month we will send an IT Newsletter, which will contain the BVSD Technology Blog (see below), upcoming Ed Tech professional development opportunities, short surveys, and other timely topics from the IT Department. We hope you will enjoy this consolidated version of the information that you used to receive in separate emails.

BVSD Technology Blog

You’re reading the BVSD Technology Blog right now! This is where I share information about the technology that affects the business of education at BVSD. Some topics are very specific, such as changes to passwords, and some are broader discussions about the direction of technology. I’ll include the link to my newest blog post in the IT Monthly Newsletter.

Hint: You can add the RSS feed of this blog to your favorite RSS reader. (Not sure what RSS is? Watch this short video.)

Do you have thoughts about our new IT communication strategy? Leave your comments below. Don't forget you have to log in first.

Andrew