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AFTER-HOURS ELECTRONIC communication is bad for our health and productivity. We all know this, don’t we, based on the wealth of research that’s emerged in recent years plus our own lived experience?
Has this knowledge motivated you to change your habits? How often do you slip into old ways?
At Chinook’s Edge School Division (based in Innisfail), officials were troubled by evidence suggesting that a growing number of staff were “plugged in” for up to 18 hours each day. So last year the division implemented “Weekdays ’til 6,” a new practice that confines nonemergency outbound emails and texts to before
6 p.m. on weekdays.
This means no more evening or weekend electronic communication from school administrators to staff or parents. The division also asked parents to adhere to this time restriction in their communications to division staff, including teachers, and asked teachers not to respond to after-hours communications until the next day.
“I’ve heard all kinds of testimonials from different staff members around the division. I think all have really appreciated the efforts and the actual outcomes,” says Trevor Sanche, president of Chinook’s Edge Local No. 17.
The initiative came about after discussions between the local and division administration. The change has provided more down time to division staff, which has helped them bring more energy to their practice when they are working, says Ray Hoppins, the division’s associate superintendent of people services.
“We’ve had a remarkable decrease in the number of emails,” Hoppins says. “It’s been good for all of us.”
