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Director's Office Communication Plan

The director’s office, because it must remain aware of events and issues throughout the department, serves as the key communication point for the entire agency. It is the means through which all department employees learn what is taking place within the agency. It serves as the conduit through which employees can be kept informed and involved.

Discussions among the director and key staff brought about the following ideas to improve communications not only within the director’s office but the department as a whole.

  1. Keep the Director informed about "significant occurrences" such as:
    1. media inquiries
    2. legislative concerns
    3. employee issues
    4. public interests and reaction to what the department is doing

    This will enable the Director to:
    1. avoid being unaware
    2. be prepared
    3. develop timely solutions to problems
    4. create a united response for media, legislators, fellow employees and the public.
  2. Keep department employees updated about major issues affecting the department through:
    1. timely department-wide e-mails to staff to avoid them learning about the issue through the media
    2. sharing with employees news releases when they are issued to the media
    3. holding regular meetings with administrators to determine issues and concerns that need to be addressed.
    4. a relevant newsletter containing information on a wide variety of department functions.
  3. Track undercurrents in the Department by:
    1. abeing cognizant of feelings of dissatisfaction, listening to staff concerns and informing appropriate upper management staff to help defuse the discontent by explaining in greater detail the reason(s) for the decision.
    2. bencouraging staff to be comfortable in expressing their opposing opinions to all levels of managment in a professional manner.
  4. Continue administrator's bi-weekly meetings that:
    1. stress the need for open discussion of issues and potential problems.
    2. emphasize the need for attendance by the administrator or a designee to ensure discussion of the issues does not get overlooked.
  5. Maintain weekly roundtable meetings to:
    1. deal collaboratively and informally with problems, concerns and issues that arise on a daily basis.
    2. promote the exchange of information in a way that ensures no division is left in the dark on issues with which they should be aware and involved in discussions and solutions.
  6. Continue practice of quarterly management team meetings that include:
    1. opportunities for members to give short summaries of ongoing issues.
    2. time on the agenda for more elaborate discussions of major issues that can be controversial and may require a consensus position of the team.
    3. making meeting summaries available to all employees and the public online.
  7. Implement newsletter improvement such as:
    1. seeking more contributions from agency staff, specifically
      1. administrators, through addition of a "Administrator's Corner" that is written by a different administrator on a revolving basic
      2. a regular report on what is happening in each probation & parole region.
      3. a competition to rename the newsletter
      4. a "question-and-answer" feature that provides information on a department program or issue through a Q&A format.
    2. solicit questions from employees, particularly those new to the agency, on matters they consider important, in order to reinforce the message that management is listening.
  8. Ensure employees have access to timely summaries of key meetings, by requiring those for Correctional Advisory Council and management team meetings be completed within 30 working days for publication on the Department's website and e-mailed to council members and management staff.
  9. Work towards a higher level of involvement and understanding by the Corrections Advisory Council in regard to department operations by ensuring news releases to the public and director's memos sent to staff also go to council members.
  10. Update the Department's website by:
    1. revising the "frequently asked questions " for each division
    2. removing outdated news release links from the home page
    3. ensuring newly issued news releases are posted immediately on the website.
    4. periodically updating the "quick Facts" feature.
    5. completing "virtual tours" of major correctional facilities
    6. posting meeting agendas and minutes for public review
    7. reviewing the contents of the website at least annually.
  11. Promptly handle correspondence by:
    1. trying to respond to letters forwarded from the Governor's Office within two weeks.
    2. trying to respond to letters received by the Director within one week.
    3. creating a method of tracking correspondence so that staff can be notified when a response is overdue.
  12. Improve communications with the Board of Pardons and Parole by scheduling quarterly meetings between the board and department officials, using the board's meeting schedule as a basis for setting dates for such meetings.
  13. Provide assistance to department personnel in preparing and editing documents for distribution to the department, public, Legislature or media.
  14. Measure success of these initiatives at the end of 2008.