Avoiding School Management Conflicts and Crisis through Formal Communication

Abstract

This paper examined how conflicts and crisis can be avoided through formal communication. It was necessitated by the observation that most of the conflicts and crisis which tend to mar school management today are functions of the inconsistencies arising from “grapevines, rumours, and gossips” generated through informal communication processes. It does not however mean that formal communication doesn’t generate conflicts and crisis; or that informal communication does not help in avoiding conflicts and crisis in school management. The argument is that in formal communication, there are control measures that filter the flow of information and guide against or properly manage the information that could have caused conflicts and crisis in school management. Thus, it is recommended that as efforts are geared towards avoiding school management conflicts and crisis through formal communication, informal communication should not be ruled out; instead strategies should be devised to properly manage it and explore the benefits.