Group Communication: Text/Phone wheels and trees
Top Tips
- Keep these methods flexible so that people can be added when they start to get involved in the group.
- Everyone needs to be aware about who they need to contact on the wheel or tree. Perhaps give everyone a sheet with the name/s and numbers they need to use.
- Be aware of the politics that can develop around who is and isn’t “on the list”.
These tools allow you to mobilise the active members of your group really quickly for events, actions and urgent meetings. They will also enable you to stay in touch during exams and holidays.
The text/phone wheel
This is a tool for group members to pass a message around the group without the need for a huge phone session, especially useful for smaller groups. One person decides to start off the message, and it is passed round the group (see image below).
Remember to say if you are passing on a text/phone wheel message. If someone is out, move round the wheel and go back to them later. As soon as you get a live person, they take on the message (like a relay). The message continues round the wheel until the person who activated it gets it back again to check it didn’t get confused.
The text/phone tree
The phone tree is a different way of doing the same thing - this time all the calls emanate from one person, perhaps the group secretary. Larger groups will probably find this method more efficient.
Diagram of a phone wheel: anyone can start off a message and send it round the group
Diagram of a phone tree: the message starts from somebody responsible for communication and spreads to the rest of the group
