Notifying staff...

[rpettit]

How do you best notify staff about network issue, new features, network downtime etc?

 

We currently send an e-mail to all staff...but these never get read (not that implementing another solution will improve this) but is there a smarter way than I am not seeing?!

 

We included information in the staff news and other pieces of paper that end up on staff desks.

 

Thanks

[mjs_mjs]

Kent load this page (in a full screen app with quota info at the top) when you log in

 

IT service alerts

[FN-GM]

How about staff briefing?

[robdoessound]

We use impero to push notifications out to our staff for urgent things. It's brilliant as it pings up over all other active windows. As for planned maintenance, we will announce in briefing, follow up with an email, then use smoke signals for those who still can't use computers. :-)

[laserblazer]

Don't laugh but if I notice the email server has gone down out of school hours, I use FB. Amazing how quick it gets around.

[Mr_Jiminy]

We doctor SharePoint and create an announcement page, at the top of which we create an alert section. You mention hard copies - always a winner in education

[IWDave]

Same as @Mr_Jiminy we use SharePoint, the staff intranet page is loaded by default every time the user logs in or opens up their browser. It's the first thing they see. However, saying all that, its amazing how many people still don't see notices (we don't have that many!). Short of wondering round with a staple gun stapling post-it notes or memos to their foreheads they are not going to know (that might not even work!).

[fairm010]

We stick an announcement on HAP. Staff know this is where they look for any updates.

[pcstru]

We use Intranet or our staff bulletin for most things. If we have an immediate system problem or an issue which I want to put in more in peoples faces, I'll use an all-staff email. For emails I always try and get the important info into the subject and include a one line tl/dr type summary at the top. I also try and use a little humour in the emails and it seems to work - people are generally complimentary about them so they are definitely reading them.

[synaesthesia]

We use email and usually email alone. If people don't read it or pay attention to it, the problem is theirs alone and any grievance they have as a result is moot and will end up in *them* getting told off. Impero as above is awesome for instant notification but wary of using that in case of interrupting lesson flow unless we really have to (haven't done it yet). A service status page is something we've looked at and will likely use in future, maybe on one or both of our portal (internet homepage) and xibo screens.

Plenty of notice always given for maintenance/planned tasks, after all we hold all the keys regarding communication so there's no excuse for not using it! Initial warning, reminded the day before perhaps, and a "Don't forget xyz is unavailable in 10 minutes" assuming it's in the day.

Each school is different though

[cooka]

Morning briefing if a lot of downtime expected + email seems to work well here - only a "few" selected TAs refuse to look at their email / touch a computer. Their problem I guess ;D

[Novalee]

Staff emails usually or if it's an immediate problem then we use pop up messages on screens. Also we have briefing a few times a week but don't usually have to resort to mentioning anything there - our staff are quite good with their emails. I remember about 5 years ago when any message had to be printed off 120 times and put in all pigeon holes - it took some work to get the staff using emails as standard but totally worth it - are your staff just stubborn or are there reasons they don't use email as standard?

[hardtailstar]

I use email and I have a board in the staff room that I write it up on.

 

If they cant be bothered to read emails or the board its their own fault.

 

However if its an issue in middle of the day thats relatively small, I tend to go and speak to those affected this usually is enough. I also send emails as a reminder/bottom covering.

[Oaktech]

For prior notice, an All staff email a couple of days before. (CMIS/ePortal upgrades)

For immediate notice a screen message from RM console. (ePortal or other server reboot in the day)

If it is super urgent I will blank out and lock everyone's screen using the Lan view get attention feature. We've only used this once when we had a virus outbreak and had to turn the whole site off.

We use briefing to keep people informed if a situation is ongoing. (an issue with exchange preventing outlook from connecting, that lasted for 2 days, but allowed outlookanywhere to work)

[robjduk]

I tend to email and then await the "why is the network down at the moment" conversations I have in half term. I spend ages moaning about it, go home for whisky and then forget about it.

[Tall_Paul]

We email to all staff too.

 

As others have said, if they just delete it then more fool them.

[pcstru]

As others have said, if they just delete it then more fool them.

There may be a problem with this.

 

Usually we email staff because we want to prevent them from notifying us of a problem we already know about, better one message than someone fielding 50 phone calls "Yes there is a problem, yes we are fixing it blah", or even worse not answering the phone at all which will leave users with the impression "IT - pah their systems break *and* they can't even be bothered to answer the phone".

 

So while there is truth in the "more fool them" line, what may also be happening is they take a poor view of IT support.

[TechMonkey]

Email to all staff and stick in on the Intranet at the top in a big font with bright colours. We still get complaints about people not knowing there was maintenance but showing them usual makes them go quiet.

[synaesthesia]

@pcstru why is a member of staff receiving an email and deleteing it any different to answering the phone to them for them to entirely ignore what you've told them and complain anyway?

None, it's the same thing, regardless of what media. We should generally make it as clear as possible with the methods possible.

[teejay]

We email them, if they ignore it then I write it on a post it note, stick it on the baseball bat and pay them a visit:mad:

[Tall_Paul]

@pcstru why is a member of staff receiving an email and deleteing it any different to answering the phone to them for them to entirely ignore what you've told them and complain anyway?

None, it's the same thing, regardless of what media. We should generally make it as clear as possible with the methods possible.

 

Exactly!

 

I should make it clear we wouldn't be rude to anyone if they rang up or popped in but I would say an email had been sent out about it. If the boot was on the other foot I don't think they'd accept my excuse of 'I didn't read it because I deleted it'!

[pcstru]

@pcstru why is a member of staff receiving an email and deleteing it any different to answering the phone to them for them to entirely ignore what you've told them and complain anyway?

None, it's the same thing, regardless of what media. We should generally make it as clear as possible with the methods possible.

My point is simply that it is worth putting some effort into maximising the effectiveness of communications - which means taking time and effort to understand why people aren't reading the emails and trying to address that. The "more fool you" can be short sighted and damaging to the reputation of your department - not intentionally, but if you don't realise then you can't do anything about it.

[Tall_Paul]

My point is simply that it is worth putting some effort into maximising the effectiveness of communications - which means taking time and effort to understand why people aren't reading the emails and trying to address that. The "more fool you" can be short sighted and damaging to the reputation of your department - not intentionally, but if you don't realise then you can't do anything about it.

 

What you are talking about is an organisational, or even personal, issue surely?

 

If staff are deleting emails, ignoring phone calls, not reading posters or screens, etc, etc then I honestly cannot see how they can blame anyone if they miss out on important information (bearing in mind information regarding everything in our school gets disseminated this way, not just ICT problems).

Edited January 29, 2014 by Tall_Paul

[pcstru]

If staff are deleting emails, ignoring phone calls, not reading posters or screens, etc, etc then I honestly cannot see how

Do you read junk email? Do you read marketing bumf? If you receive a communication from someone, and it is incomprehensible or irrelevant, how likely are you to ignore the next one or the one after that? If you received messages from the head of English dealing with the schools delivery of the curriculum (some might consider that at some level, that involves you!) and 99% of them were utterly irrelevant to you, would it really be your fault when you used the word "irregardless" to a student, despite it being banned by the English AUP?

 

I delete emails all the time without even knowing what the content is.

they can blame anyone if they miss out on important information (bearing in mind information regarding everything in our school gets disseminated this way, not just ICT problems).

It's not about 'blame', BUT here is a thread in which people who want to communicate with people, KNOW that those people don't even bother to read the emails, but anyway, will send an email and then say "well, it's YOUR fault you didn't know that".

 

Now, **don't get me wrong**, that might just be OK, depending on the consequences of that lack of knowledge. But even in a fairly benign situation where the patient doesn't die on the operating table because the firewall maintenance interrupted the live teleprescence link from the expert surgeon in South Africa, it might give a pretty poor impression to senior management when you know what you are doing is ineffective, but you do it anyway.

 

If you *really* want people to know stuff, you need to do a little more than write a few words. The more you need them to really know stuff, the harder *you* need to work.

Edited January 29, 2014 by pcstru

[xenonive]

Email and note on the staff room door for planned maintenance

 

Email and note on IT door if something is unplanned maintenance