Communication

Traditional forms of communication have drastically changed in the last 10 years for many people and teachers are no exception. What is considered the most acceptable form of communication for some is becoming much harder to standardise for others. For those who are used to regular face-to-face meetings, there are as many who prefer less f2f and more asynchronous platforms. In my position and with the variety of people working here, the flexibility of using asynchronous communication tools combined with one-to-one meetings (both pre-booked and on-the-fly) as well as the very occasional full staff meetings is the preferred option. Of course, it comes with its challenges.
So what is required to support comunication? The more people we have here at the Centre and the more regularly this personnel changes, the more important the policies are that inform all staff about the operational procedures of the Centre in a timely fashion. But while the nature of the staff continues to be flexibile and fluid, the challenges for management to develop policies and procedures that are relevant and appropriate are evident. There is no one-stop shop for this.
Here's what I use:
f2f meetings (pre-booked and on-the-fly)
full-day meetings at the beginning of the term
email
txt msg
chat
telephone (Skype, mobile and landline)
wikis
forum discussions on macict.ning
I will continue to look at other tools.
What do you use?