Unit SCH 51 Use and development systems that promote communication
1.2
There are a number of different ways in which as a manager I would use to communicate with the many people that I come into contact with.
Verbal communication Verbal communication is a very important in my view especially when dealing with a service user. This allows the person that the message is meant for to feel valued and to feel like it is a more personal approach. Verbal communication could also be via telephone conversations.
Written
Written communication is also an important part of my job role. Written communication is used in the vast majority of people that I am communicating with. For example; if I have a one to one meeting with a member of staff I would always follow the meeting up with a written account for each party. Written communication is also important when providing evidence for other professionals i.e. minutes for meetings, information for other professionals regarding service users etc. Newsletters have proven to be an effective form of communication for a large number of our service users as well as letting people in our reach area knows what the children’s centre offers. When conducting meeting with staff members, other professionals and service users I have found that using a variety of communication types is usually the most effective way to keep people engaged and interested in the message that I am trying to put across.
Flip charts, hand outs, written explanations and written activities could all be used.
Another useful form of written communication is the use of signs within the centre and also in the local area. Staff memos are often used in the children’s centre environment usually located in the staff room. These are used to give the staff team relevant information about staff meetings, events, supervisions, deadlines etc.
For the service users signage is usually used to reinforce any important information that has been included on newsletters such as term dates, nursery closures, inset days, parents evenings and any illnesses that we may have had in the centre.
The use of posters and signs in the local community is also widely used. This informs people in our reach area what they can access and when in the children’s centre, how and who to contact at the centre.
Electronic
Electronic communication plays a big part in the day to day running of the children’s centre.
Emails are a daily part of my job as a manager. I communicate with my colleagues, other external agencies, service users, the occupational health unit of BMBC and the human resource department of BMBC. Communicating in this way allows documents to be sent to the other agencies and outside professionals instantly rather than relying on the postal system. It is also usually more effective than trying to contact other professionals via telephone, if the person you are trying to speak to is unavailable for example it would mean leaving a message with a third party and increasing the possibility of a breakdown in effective communication. When conducting a meeting using an electronic system would usually be incorporated, a few examples of this are: interactive whiteboard, video clips and PowerPoint presentations.
Pictorial
Pictorial communication is widely used in the day care part of the children’s centre.
This is a very important part of developing effective communication within day care. We have children who are accessing speech and language support from external agencies, children who have English as their second language for example so in order to create an environment which meets the needs of all service users pictorial communication is essential in order to support the development of effective communication.

In order to support effective communication within my own role as a manager there are a number of factors to consider the main one being ‘To whom I am communicating with?’
This is imperative to the form of communication used. Regardless of the