Emergency parents' evening
A communication breakdown in a Berlin daycare led to simmering rumors and escalating conflicts between parents and staff. Find out how the situation was defused through targeted measures here.
Initial situation
The shit really hit the fan at a daycare centre in Berlin. A rumour mill was already boiling in the parents’ WhatsApp group, parents meeting in the playground were gossiping and inventing even worse legends and the daycare centre supervisor had been called several times. The problem? A member of staff had worded a sentence incorrectly weeks ago and now rumours were circulating that the daycare centre was to be closed. The parents felt inadequately informed, and a very aggressive choice of words arose in relation to the management. The professionals were unable to answer the parents’ questions and referred them to the provider. They also felt let down as they feared losing their jobs. The management could no longer keep up with discussions with parents. Side issues arose in which personal animosities were literally fought out.
Initial measures
Stop toxic communication
What to do? First of all, the toxic communication in the tiresome WhatsApp group had to be stopped. A clear statement from the management was needed here that they would not respond to tips from this group.
Clarity and structure
Gather facts and involve the sponsor/authority
The management needed clarity and facts. So I asked for a meeting between a representative of the provider, the counselling service, the provider’s communication department and the management team. It became clear where the rumours could have come from – the daycare centre had had vacancies for months. The provider was asked to develop a communication strategy to explain to parents how it could secure funding in such situations.
With the communications department, we had a specialist on hand here.
Mit der Kommunikationsabteilung hatten wir hier eine Fachperson an der Hand.
Inform parents
Parent meeting and parent letter
A parents’ evening was then organised at very short notice. In order to provide all parents with the information promptly, a letter to parents was written – in three languages.
In these forums, specific reference was made to the rumours so that there could be no doubt that there was nothing to them. It was also important to show that the parents’ concerns were being heard.
Es wurde in diesen Foren konkret auf die Gerüchte Bezug genommen, sodass kein Zweifel bleiben konnte, dass nichts dran war. Es war auch wichtig zu zeigen, dass die Sorgen der Eltern gehört wurden.
Fazit
In preparation for the parents’ evening, a team meeting was organised at short notice and attended by the same committee. This ensured that all team members were able to communicate the same information. They were relieved of their anxieties and were thus able to be contact persons for the parents again.
At the event, the management had their say, reminding parents of the sense of cohesion and community that was paramount before the escalation at the daycare centre. She asked all carers to talk to her directly in future instead of creating fears in parent groups. This approach was very well received.
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