Every call counts: Phone communication for inclusion and belonging

A ringing phone can be easy to miss when service leaders are in meetings and educators are supervising and supporting children. But how a service manages phone communication is closely connected to inclusion. 

In response to an increase in reports of centre phones going unanswered, Inclusion Professional Jodie Signorino explains why missed calls matter, and shares practical tips for ensuring your phone communication builds trust and belonging, even on your busiest days.

The telephone is one of the main ways families communicate with service leaders and educators. Behind a ringing phone might be:

• A newly-arrived migrant family seeking verbal clarification to understand routines, fees and procedures. Your service may be one of the first formal services they engage with in Australia, and they may speak English as an additional language.
• A parent of a child with complex medical needs calling at the only time they have available during work to share updates from medical appointments, discuss changes to medication, or check how a child is coping.
• A family from a refugee background calling to check on a child experiencing heightened separation anxiety. Due to displacement and trauma, the family may feel cautious or mistrusting about interacting with authority figures.

What does this mean for inclusion?

When Inclusion Professionals work to support the inclusion of children with additional or high support needs, one of our main considerations is responsive, reciprocal communication and information sharing between the service and families. Missed calls make it more difficult to develop trusting relationships and can undermine families’ sense of belonging at a service. As an example, poor phone communication with the family of a child with complex medical needs may cause them to lose trust that your service can adequately care for their child. Missed calls might cause significant anxiety or fear for a family of refugee background, and could lead a newly arrived migrant family to become hesitant to ask for support or raise concerns.

The way your service handles phone calls directly relates to Quality Areas 6 and 7:

Quality Area 6 – Collaborative partnerships with families and communities

Reciprocal communication is essential for building partnerships with families. Missed calls erode trust and create barriers to inclusion and belonging.

Quality Area 7 – Governance and leadership

Good governance and leadership involve ensuring clear roles and responsibilities, and sound policies and procedures, including timely communication with families and educators. 

Whose responsibility?

Service leaders should ensure there are clear roles and procedures in place that everyone can understand and follow.

Tips for timely and effective phone communication

1. Include phone etiquette and procedures in your staff orientation. Orientation should cover what to say when answering the phone, how to transfer a call, and procedures for returning calls and returning the phone to the dock to ensure it’s always fully charged and easy to find.
2. Develop a script for answering calls. Include this in your orientation and display it next to the phone. You might also like to display a tip sheet detailing your service’s phone procedures as a reminder to busy educators.
3. Discuss phone communication regularly at team meetings. Take note of the frequency and any interruption it is causing to the program, and adjust your approach accordingly.
4. Create a backup phone roster or use a phone tree system to ensure calls are always answered. This ensures responsibility for answering the phone is shared throughout a service and can be modified at any time.

Our tips can support your service to develop a system where no call goes unanswered – leaving families feeling heard, reassured and respected, and strengthening inclusive practice.

Need help or advice? Contact your local Inclusion Professional on 1800 177 017 for free support today.

Author
 

Jodie Signorino
 

Inclusion Professional, Victorian Inclusion Agency, It Takes A Village

Jodie’s 30-plus years in education and care started as a mothercraft nurse before moving into site and management roles in long day care, and eventually becoming a governance advisor with Early Learning Association Australia (ELAA). She holds qualifications in early childhood education and care and human services. While Jodie’s experience is diverse, her time in long day care working with 3–4-year-olds and witnessing their opinions and perspectives about the world still sparks her passion today. Jodie’s goal is to empower services to develop skilled and informed practice and she loves seeing educators have the ‘aha’ moments.

 

Acknowledgement/Permission Statement:

This article was originally published in Embrace #19, the Victorian Inclusion Agency’s magazine for early childhood and OSHC educators. Access more free resources at www.viac.com.au