Winchester Schools: An interesting case study

In 1990, I spent one of the longest years of my life teaching English to junior high students in a private school. Three weeks earlier, I had left a lucrative career as a senior marketing consultant in the insurance industry because, more than anything, I wanted to teach. I don't know what made me think I could walk into a classroom and teach teens without any preparation whatsoever. Of course, I don't know why in the world I was hired with absolutely no experience. Nonetheless, the lessons I learned during that long year were invaluable.

One of those lessons was not so much about classroom teaching but about communication and power. I wrote this fictional case study (inspired by my own experience) some years later when I began teaching organizational communication at a university. (Note: Because I was not paid to produce this case study for the university, I have the right to publish it on this blog.)

After you read the following situation, please share your comments about the ways in which power had been exercised or ways in which it could have been exercised.

Winchester Schools

Winchester Schools is a private, nonprofit religious educational organization serving K-12 students. In the past forty years, Winchester has grown into a three-campus organization.

Though faculty at Winchester are paid far less salary than public school teachers, many on staff have been with the school for several years. Most of the teachers are women.

Though the teachers may not have been paid the same as public school teachers, they do have excellent health benefits and some on staff have taken advantage of “free” tuition for their own children or other family members. (Of course, this has been a “bone of contention for faculty who do not have children attending the school but get paid the same as those who have two or three children getting free tuition.) Yet, as the chairperson of the board (referred to as the “chairman” within the organization) has frequently reminded the staff, “they are a family,” and were chosen to teach because of their dedication to making a difference in the lives of children. The real reward for working at Winchester is the joy they have in knowing they are making an investment that will reap rewards for a lifetime.

During the past couple of years, Winchester has struggled financially and has needed to increase tuition considerably. Further, when teachers have retired or quit, they have not been replaced. Class size increased considerably over time.

At an administrative retreat, a decision was made to hire a full-time development manager who would solicit gifts for the school and also run an annual auction. The development manager would be paid a base salary and a commission on additional revenue generated.

The board chair and administrators strongly encouraged teachers to support the new development manager’s efforts for the sake of the kids. Many of the parents and teachers volunteered to help support the new fund-raising efforts with the understanding that any new revenues will benefit everyone.

The first auction was a smashing success – far more revenue was generated as a result of collective efforts than anticipated. Yet after the net revenue was distributed across different programs and needs, individual faculty members saw little personal gain.

Some of the teachers were not at all happy with the way in which the fund-raising efforts were handled. Why should the development manager get a large commission on the backs of underpaid teachers? Why should all classrooms benefit when not all teachers helped out with the fund-raising efforts?

Soon after these few words of discontent were whispered, the board chair, administrators, and a few of the more “trenched in” teachers launched a staff development program called “The Heart of Servanthood – a Teacher’s Calling.” All teachers and staff were required to participate in the new program. Some teachers even confessed that they were ashamed of the bitterness they had felt toward those who had not volunteered in the fund-raising efforts. It soon became clear that those who dared to continue complaining would do so at the risk of offending other “family” members. Worse yet, those who did not get their “hearts right” would risk being excluded from the informal community life of the organization. Complaints disappeared. No one left the organization. Teachers continued their work without pause.

Over time, the continued fund-raising efforts, new marketing programs, and increased tuition were helping ease some of the financial concerns at Winchester. However, when teachers and staff were again asked to help with another large auction, a whole raft of compensation issues again surfaced. Board members and administrators knew it was going to be necessary to develop a new compensation strategy or risk losing good teachers who were willing to work for less than it would cost to replace them.

Listening Awareness

If you are interested in cultivating stronger relationships with others, start by listening to them with your full and undivided attention. Though this process will not be easy, the rewards will be great. According to Daniel Goleman, author of Social Intelligence (2006), “Intentionally paying more attention to someone may be the best way to encourage the emergence of rapport,” (p.88).

Focused attention requires effort: Giving another our full attention means we need to work at keeping focused. Some more recent models on listening suggest that our ability to attend to messages is much like a limited resource that we consciously and unconsciously distribute. For instance, we will not be able to give someone our full attention if we are also distracted by other messages such as conversations in the background or even other competing internal messages.

Because focused listening does take a lot of energy, most of us cannot sustain this effort for more than an average of 15-20 minutes at a time. When we are experiencing anxiety in a listening situation, it becomes even more difficult for us to keep focused.

Focused attention requires a willingness to listen: Not only must we make an effort to listen, we must also be willing to listen before we can be fully attentive. Are we willing to listen to others when we don’t agree with them? Are we willing to listen to others when they aren’t organized? Our attitude has a lot to do with the amount of energy it takes to really focus.

Consider strategies for improving attention: Though fully attending to others takes both effort and desire, there are a few things we can do to improve our ability to listen.

Reduce distractions such as shutting off cell phones or other personal devices.
Choose a quiet environment when wanting to give undivided attention.
Try shadowing as appropriate—quietly repeating verbal messages as they are spoken.
Use nonverbal listening behaviors such as body positioning and eye contact to help keep focused.
Check out a self-assessment test developed by Richmond and Hickson (2001), the Willingness to Listen Measure: http://www.jamescmccroskey.com/measures/wtlisten.htm

In this era of information overload, multi-tasking, and fast-paced living, let us commit ourselves to stop, look, and then fully listen. By doing so we will not only influence others, but we ourselves will be changed in the process.

Listening for Understanding

Stephen Covey, author of Seven Habits of Highly Effective People recommends that we “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” If we all endeavored to heed this simple advice, our relationships with others would profoundly change; when we truly seek to understand another person, we are communicating that we value them.

By first identifying some common listening barriers and then by practicing some counter strategies, most all of us could improve our ability to listen for understanding. Consider the following barriers and counter strategies:

1. Interrupting: Whatever the reason, when we interrupt others, we could be unintentionally sending the wrong message such as “What I have to say is more important than listening to you.”

Counter Strategy: Listen to the entire message—let the speaker finish their thoughts. Sometimes speakers may pause while trying to express themselves. Allow for pauses as appropriate without filling in for the other person.

2. Listening with an attitude. If we expect to hear something that confirms what we already believe about a speaker or situation, we will usually find it. If we expect to be bored, our expectations are more likely to come true.

Counter Strategy: By reframing the listening encounter as an opportunity to learn something new or to gain additional insight, we are more likely to meet these expectations and improve our own understanding.

3. Assuming we know exactly what the other intends: Though we may think we know exactly what the other means, we typically use our own experiences, background, and knowledge to interpret messages from others—our understanding is limited.

Counter Strategy: Check assumptions by using such techniques as paraphrasing what the other said or asking clarifying questions such as “Do you mean…?”

4. Listening only to the verbal message rather than the intended message: Too often we may hear only what the other person said rather than what they meant. Sometimes we will even experience semantic reactions – strong emotional responses to certain words that prevent us from really understanding the other person.

Counter Strategy: One way to improve our ability to understand others is to pay attention to not only the words but to the emotional tone and to other nonverbal messages that may either reinforce or contradict the verbal message. Another strategy involves self-awareness—recognizing when certain words trigger reactions and prevent us from fully listening to others.

Though it is far easier to talk about effective listening than to practice it, we could all improve by making consistent and conscientious efforts. I for one have a lot of work to do in this area. Communication really is a “discipline for life.”