It's back to school time, and for those of us with kids, we know we have to start getting prepared for the deluge of information that is headed our way. Everything from, parent consent forms to special after school program information packs. I'm not sure how you typically feel about all the paper work that flows between the school and you, but at times I personally find it can be overwhelming. Quite often, my children (age 9 and 13) will come back with a back pack stuffed with loose leaf notes or photocopies requesting my attention to read and sign. Every year we also get a thick school manual explaining how the school works.

During the school year, typically we get a few emails per night from the school association, sometimes multiple times a day, often quite lengthy. If that was not enough, soon, we are told, we will be receiving automated voice messages from the school as well. There is also a school web site, unfortunately, at last check, it was pretty much dysfunctional. A working one, could prove either good or bad depending on execution. Where am I headed with all of this? I want to talk about communications management. As I hope to make clear, the process of communicating effectively is kind of an art form.