On 18 November 25, I attended a CPD session that had the title Compassionate Communication, facilitated by colleagues from the student communications hub. This was one of a number of professional development sessions that were run on the day for OU tutors.
The aim of the session was to define what was meant by compassionate communication and recognise its relevance, identify common barriers (to communication), and explore ways to overcome those barriers. Looking back after the session, I can see that it had a very specific and practical focus: how to use email effectively.
What follows are some notes (and thoughts) I drew from the session.
Definition
The session opened with a definition of what compassionate communication might be. I noted down the follow words: empathy, mindful (of different circumstances, and how your words come across), timely (each module has module calendar), clear and transparent (communicating clearly and offering explanations) and inclusive (be aware of the challenges that others face, and use of appropriate language).
We were then asked about the potential barriers to compassionate communication. I thought this was a very good question, and noted down the following: time, stress and burnout (of the sender), inaccessible communication style, misinterpretation of communications, and lack of training.
Practice
Moving to another part of the session, we were introduced to a simple exercise which focussed on a simple question: how might an email message make someone feel? We looked at a sample email message that had the aim of building trust, developing a sense of community, and to encourage contact. Another question was, of course, did it do these things? Also, what else could we add to improve it? What does ‘good email communication’ look like?
Here are some key points that I noted down:
- Clear intent and aim.
- Positive and encouraging tone.
- Acknowledgement of the individual.
- Timeliness of the communication.
- Clear setting of expectations.
- Use of plan English with an active voice rather than formal academic English.
- Providing clear sign posting to answers or resources.
- Consider the length of the communication; keep it short.
- Avoid idioms, dismissing concerns or feelings.
- Never include accusatory language (you haven’t done something).
- Do encourage seeking of support and further, mirror language used by the recipient.
- Show empathy.
My points
Thinking about all these points, I would like to add my own, in order of importance:
- If you find yourself writing a very long email with multiple points, consider whether a call would be more useful.
- If you feel you need to build trust or empathy, schedule a call. Email is good for sharing information. It is terrible for understanding the needs of others.
- When using email to book a time to have a call, offer a couple of alternatives, in order of preference. Also state how you would like to make that call. Is it through a plain old telephone system, through a Team video call, or through your Adobe Connect room. Choose what you prefer.
- After a call has taken place, follow up with a short email, offering thanks for their time, also sharing the key points from the conversation.
- When replying to an email, consider where a student is in their studies. Where are they likely to be in the module calendar?
- Consider what previous email communications has taken place previously.
- If your email contains more than one separate points, consider whether you need to send multiple emails. It is sometimes better to separate out issues into separate messages. Doing this allows you to talk about them during a call, if this is something that you need to do.
- Choose a subject line that is helpful.
- Open and close emails in a clear and polite way.
- Avoid using Generative AI. It will just waste your time. You will spend more time reading and rewriting what it produces. Email messages produced using Gen AI tools often sound robotic.
Reflections
I am drawn to sessions about soft skills for a really simple reason: they are really important.
I was expecting something slightly different. I was expecting something about speaking more directly to others, perhaps when using the phone, using videoconferencing software, or speaking during tutorials. I wasn’t expecting it all to be all about email.
Email is a skill. I spend hours a day in my inbox. I’ve received loads of really long emails that contain very many complicated points. Out of all these points I’ve shared here, if I were to share only two of them, they would be: keep it short, and keep it simple.
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Ellena White and Sara Bradley who facilitated the session. Some of the key points shared in the practice section of the blog have been paraphrased from their slides.