A parent asks why a construction crew is blocking one of the entranceways to her child’s school. The school explains a cell phone company is upgrading its tower on school property. Cell phone tower? Since when did the school campus include a cell phone tower?
The parent did not know the flagpole without a flag in front of the school contained a cell phone tower. One mother, upon learning the situation, turned angry and withdrew her kid from school. Was that a prudent or extreme decision? Was the old cell phone tower a safety risk to students? Will the new, bigger tower pose a threat? Were parents consulted on any decisions? Did the school ignore potential concerns because it didn’t want to lose the monthly payment it receives from the cell phone company?
(The school explained the green tower pictured above was the cell phone company’s temporary tower until it finished installing the new one, which is supposed to look like a palm tree.)
This blog is not about the debate over cell phone tower safety. This blog is about how the school handled the conversation.
Take the perspective of one father in particular. No one mentioned the cell phone tower to him when he first visited the school. He assumes the school didn’t want to scare him away, but isn’t his child’s safety the most important factor? If the school worries mentioning the tower will push prospective families somewhere else, why did it allow the cell phone company to install it? No one told the father the cell phone company was now upgrading the tower. No one told him if the Board of Directors gave parents an opportunity to express their opinions.
Organizations, whether they are schools or corporations, must realize the days of releasing information on a need-to-know basis are over. When parents or employees learn about controversial decisions indirectly, trust is broken. People feel, accurately or not, someone was hiding something. In this case, the livid mother who pulled her kid from school shared her facts about cell phone towers. She talked about taking her story to the media. The father, not sure what to believe, started researching the issue, called his pediatrician and touched base with health experts. At his recommendation, the school later sent out a letter, but it addressed construction of the new tower, not any possible safety concerns. Meanwhile, while Dad did research, he shared it on social media in an effort to solicit other helpful opinions. And while all this was circulating, the school lost control of the conversation by not being proactive.
- Be forthcoming with your employees (or in this case, your parents)
- Ask them for their opinions.
- Explain the process.
- Provide research and facts to prevent the rumor mill and social media frenzy from starting.
- Address points critics may raise because if you don’t, the critics will, meaning you lost control of the conversation.
If companies worry simply starting open conversations and asking for feedback will torpedo their projects, then maybe those projects are bad ideas. Businesses can try to keep their plans on the down low, but that only works for so long. People will figure things out. And when they do, social media will allow them to quickly spread information and rumors. Nearly every day on the news, we hear about someone or some company trying to address questions about information that got out. Yes, the school might argue the cell phone tower was not a secret. But the school didn’t appear to offer up the information to parents in general.
I know. Many modern-day organizations still approach public relations with an old school approach. And they will only realize they are behind the times when the bottom falls out and they are forced to face a tower of uncomfortable questions.
How do you think the school should have handled the case of the cell phone tower?