I expect that the telephones and front door are covered. The assistant principal is present and can be the first line of defense for any major issues. In the event of an emergency, I can be contacted on my walkie 

In an emergency, staff will contact me if I’m on campus via walkie. For other non-emergency issues they contact our Program Specialist if she is on site. They are also asked to text me with info so I am aware of what is happening. Depending on the situation and if I’m in a local meeting , I may return to the office. If I am absent the district will send admin coverage. 

As a supervisor, I do not have nearly the time restrains as principals and I therefore have more flexibility. 

In my school, I have an understanding with administrative assistant that unless a situation is an emergency, I am on classroom visits and I will return when complete but please don't page me back to the office. Teachers also know that behaviour issues should be handled by them first, however if student needs to be in the office, please send them along with work. These things help allow me to go about the walkthrough process. 

Who to contact during my absence from the office and how I can be reached during an emergency. 

I have a first responders list of people that I have trained to handle tasks that I would normally handle, so the staff knows to reach out to these people before they reach out to me. And if there's a need for them to meet with me and their issues aren't resolved, then they can schedule an appointment with my clerks. That way, I can continue to get into classrooms and still address the needs of the staff.

Our office staff usually know that if I am not available, they can reach out to one of our other administrators. They also know they can text me if it is urgent and I will answer if available. Our office staff usually know that they can take a message for anything non-emergent and I will return the call. 

Communicate with the office staff when I will be going in and out of classrooms. I keep my phone on me so if there is an absolute emergency they can get ahold of me. If not, they call tell the teacher to email me or I will find the teacher later in the day. 

I don't typically get a lot of people needing my assistance, however the building principal's do. They sometimes have their secretaries help determine which issues need immediate attention and which ones can wait so that the principal can do other things. 

My office team is great with politely redirecting vendors and other non-parent visitors who try to see me without an appointment. My assistant principals and secretary also know that they can text me if they need something urgent, but they are clear about classroom visits being a priority for me

They may consult my assistant principal. My office staff can take a message for me and I will handle the situation upon my return. They can text me if they need a response right away. 

My secretary will take a message and text me if its an emergency which is only like 10% of the time 

I keep my cell phone with me at all times. I am rarely in my office so my staff knows how to get in contact with me if needed. 

This year, I'm a single adminstrator in a fairly large high school. So, you know, there's been a little bit of negotiation around that. I feel like I'm stretched a little bit thinner than I might be normally, but I have a really good relationship with my admin assistants. So we have a really nice routine where, every time I come in and come out of the office, I make sure I stop and I take the time and say to Esther, that's my admin assistant, Esther, what do you need for me? And, you know, we have a really good working rapport. Often, she gives me the thumbs-up. She's like no, I'm good or you know, I know I have that trust with her, that if she really needs something she will ask me and I will follow through and I will do it. So it's a trust because then I know too that if she's asked me to do something, she can help me decipher, is this something that I need to stop, and I need to sign something for her right now, I need to get something done so somebody else can get their work done, or is this something that can wait, and I can go out for a ten or fifteen minutes and come back.

My office staff does an excellent job of screening interruptions when I am doing formal classroom evaluation observations, so the idea of telling them that I am unavailable for 10-15 minutes at a times does not seem challenging. 

Our office staff gets training so they feel confident in handling most issues. They take messages and set up meeting times if need be. If there is an upset parent, they will get a member of our admin team. It doesn't have to be me. 

I just try to make sure that I keep open communication with my team in the main office and school nurse so that they always know when I'm available. Where met. We also have radios, which is a great way, a great form of communication in case there's emergency. That's something that we definitely I definitely use all the time as an effective way to just make sure that I know what's happening in the building.

I have the expectation that the office staff can handle things for the few short minutes that I am out of the office and in the building. I also expect that they know the difference between an emergency and a "fake" emergency and when to call me back.

I use my walkie-talkie to delegate concerns or issues.

When I’m not available and off campus, my staff will refer the issue to my TICs or message me if it’s not an emergency or immediate need. There are a few times that issues have been referred to my TICs when I am in a meeting on campus, but most of the time, those issues can wait. If I am doing walk-throughs, I can have my office staff take a message or let a parent know that I am not immediately available and ask when a good time is to call them back. If it’s a behavior issue, I can have my staff ask the referring staff to send the kids to the office, with work, if needed, and have the office staff ask the students to write up a witness statement or incident statement, which usually takes about 15 minutes or so. If students need to monitored or separated in the office, I can ask a rover sub, an aide, or proctor to sit with the students until I return.

Being honest here...as an instructional coach, I don't have a "team" to rely on. Everything gets done (or not done) by me. I am a singleton in my building.Now, that being said, the first mindset of "can't get caught up," is the mindset that I'm going to focus on because that IS something I can control even if I am the only one doing it. So, as I'm listening to you talk, I know the upcoming productivity pieces will be helpful, and I'm also thinking a little bit about maybe needing to see what I should stop doing or cut BEFORE I make productivity changes. It is very possible that there are some unnecessary things I am doing that don't bring a good ROI to my time. 

I am grateful for an amazing office team who manage things when I am not in the office. I am the one who needs the mindset change by not letting other things seem more important than being in the classroom. 

If we are not in our office, our secretary radios us to see if we can be disturbed. She is well versed in taking messages for us, reminding us we need to call someone back, or asking a parent to make an appointment. I frequently ask teachers to send me an email so I can handle their problem later. 

My past VPs and administrative assistant were excellent at managing the day to day issues that arise in a school and would update me when I returned to my office. The only time I would be radioed would be for things only I could deal with. This past year I was faced with a VP that is struggling with taking initiative and also my admin assistant changed. I have a plan in place to deal with the first situation - slowly I am placing more responsibility on her and I have a temporary admin assistant that is excellent. There is the constant struggle of being radioed and it is for a vendor that asked for the "principal" but I know as my admin assistant gains experience that will cease. My bigger issue will be my VP who I need to put in supports in order for her to be successful. 

Since I am a supervisor in all the buildings, I am made available through my cell 24/7. If I am needed, I can stop what I am doing and travel to where I need to be. Our district is small enough that it would take no more than 10 minutes to get somewhere. 

We try to arrange ahead of time for one of the Assistant principals to be available while the other is observing. If there is an instance where we are both out of office, staff is able to radio us on the walkie-talkies or send us a G-chat if it is an emergency for us to handle right away. 

I communicate how long I'll be gone and designate other admin to assist if there's a problem. I also let them know when I'll be available. 

If I am not in the office I always secure a substitute adminsitrator to be in the building. If I am in the building the secretary can either use the walkie or text me to alert of any issues that we may have.