TNTs or Tiny Noticeable Things are small acts of engagement that make other people explode with joy so they are good for our mental health and well-being (MHWB).
They cause people to feel good about themselves and they directly feed into their self-efficacy and self-worth. Adrian Webster (2021) says that TNTs are “all the little, unexpected things that we do for others that show them just how much we care.”
TNTs are a form of people-nurturing that benefits the giver, the receiver and the organisation as a whole as people are more likely to ‘pay it forward’ themselves and this ripples outwards.
The small courtesy, a few warm words, an encouraging email, a listening ear – they are all modest acts of engagement that make an impact on someone’s day. They are the connective tissue that hold your school together.
When you are on the receiving end of a TNT you feel good. If you give one, then you can feel even better knowing that you have made a difference.
Small acts of engagement require little effort or investment and reap huge benefits within any organisation. They are the Red Bull of leadership and management because they generate energy and excellence and they are especially needed in this era of change, upheaval and collective trauma.
It isn’t the big and dramatic interventions that make a difference to how people feel, it’s the small day-to-day things.
There are lots of small steps school leaders can take each day to help create a climate of engagement and those who model servant leadership increase teacher effectiveness in their schools.
12 TNTs that school leaders can deploy
TNT 1: Say hello!
Sometimes people can be so busy that they don’t even find time to say hello or good morning. Take a few moments to greet staff in their classrooms or staffroom, pause and be genuinely interested in how they are doing.
Leaders can make a real impact by greeting staff in the morning. A simple ‘How are you?” makes a connection and can go a long way. Build your ability to empathise through deliberate, small acts of ‘touching base’. Remember that nobody cares how much you know, but everybody knows how much you care.
TNT 2: Perform intentional acts of kindness
We’ve all heard of random acts of kindness, but a school leader must be more deliberate and premeditated. This means taking the time to channel acts of kindness to everyone rather than sprinkling them casually everywhere. Chancellor et al (2017) found that when we go out of our way to be kind and prosocial this can be emotionally reinforcing, contagious and sparks an unequivocally positive experience. Make sure you know when staff birthdays are and the key events in their lives.
Pay attention to who your staff are and what they care about and tie personal communications, feedback and occasional little gifts to that insight. When it comes to arriving a little late or leaving a little early for family and personal appointments, be generous and extend grace.
TNT 3: Recognise and praise
Praise and recognition make staff feel good about their work and they need to know that they are doing a good job. Recognise people for their contributions, ideas, successes and look for opportunities to praise in the moment.
Fizzy feedback is like a little sip of champagne in the day because it can make you feel bubbly and giddy. School leaders can seek out staff and thank or praise them for what they have done. This is the simplest TNT at our disposal and appreciation is one of the most powerful drivers of engagement and happiness.
When people are appreciated, the messages they receive from others is that they are being valued, seen, liked and this develops a sense of meaning and a feeling of being connected. A simple ‘thank you’ and expression of gratitude helps motivate staff and feeds their happiness.
TNT 4: Be civil
Civility pays and when school leaders, staff and students practice it, the school is a healthier place to be. Porath et al (2015) defined civility as behaviour involving politeness and regard for others in the workplace centred on clear norms for respect. Leaders who are civil are seen by their staff as warm and competent and this engenders respect for all. Little things have a big impact: thanking people, listening attentively, humbly asking questions, acknowledging others, sharing credit, smiling or other nonverbal behaviours matter. Civility nourishes our MHWB and leaders need to be charming without being sickly.
TNT 5: Be inclusive
Healthy school relationships start with ‘we’. Saying ‘we’ and ‘together’ can make a big difference to people’s wellbeing. Research tells us that by using inclusive language, it can make us feel like we belong. The words we use can inspire cooperation, confidence, creativity and build teams. A sense of unity comes through a collective language so no one feels isolated or alone.
TNT 6: Show an interest
School is a professional space that demands professional standards and professional conversations. But it is also a social space and that means exchanging social information and getting to know each other on a human level by understanding their perspective, values and background.
School leaders need to know what makes their staff tick and to tune into personal wavelengths so they can be best supported. Create time and space for sharing and disclosing personal experiences, find out what matters to staff and ask them about their interests, family and other events that are important to them.
TNT 7: Have fun
Schools can be pressure-cookers and stressful, which is why every opportunity to have fun should be encouraged in order to feed morale and motivation. Happy teachers make happy pupils so encourage laughter and keep conversations upbeat and light by sharing stories, jokes and positive experiences. Pull back the curtain and share anecdotes about things outside of school.
TNT 8: Share the workload
Staff need support, so when their workload is eased this gives them a break as well as a lift. If someone is having a tough time of things then you might offer to take their playground duty or delegate an assembly to someone else. When someone is struggling with their workload and their brain feels like a browser with a 100 tabs open, then TNTs can stop them from being overwhelmed and going off sick.
Give everyone explicit permission to say no to things that are too much in order to say yes to MHWB and when you can, end meetings early.
TNT 9: Make sure everyone has what they need
Equity leadership means it’s your job to make sure your staff can do their jobs and that means making sure they have the tools in the toolkit. Find out what people need and try to remove any obstacles that might be stopping them from doing a better job. This could be something as simple as more glue sticks!
Gather intelligence by asking staff for a realistic wish list and show that you care, by understanding what’s most important to each person’s experience at work. Take a personal interest in each individual and support their strengths and personal and professional growth objectives. Ask: “What do you need from me to help make you thrive?”
TNT 10: Listen fiercely
Pay attention and focus when a member of staff is speaking to you and give them your undivided attention. Let them speak and try not to get distracted or rush off ending a conversation prematurely. Listen to what individuals say and hear them out. An empathetic listener fully concentrates, attempts to understand, remembers what is communicated, and responds with “readbacks” by paraphrasing what the other person said.
TNT 11: Empower
School leaders need to create the conditions for people to contribute, engage and feel valued so regularly ask for their opinions on what is working well and what ideas they have for improvement.
Empower staff by asking how they would handle a project, task or issue and listen with an open mind to their ideas. Allow inexperienced staff to pitch their thoughts as they are often eager to gain new skills and take on more responsibility. New staff members also have unique perspectives because they haven’t been told there’s only one way to do things.
TNT 12: Cushion the blows
Things go wrong. No one likes to admit it, but they do, and every member of staff will drop a clanger or two or three or four! A TNT worth its weight in gold is to be there for staff when things do go wrong and mistakes are made, by being supportive and working together to understand what happened. Great leaders cushion the blows so that no one has egg on their face for very long and blameless post-mortems let staff know they are not alone.
When you make a mistake, own it, let staff know and set an example of being vulnerable because it makes space for greater psychological safety on your team and builds deeper relationships.
And finally….
Many teachers report experiencing symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression and so poor MHWB can have serious consequences for the teaching profession.
This is why deliberately committing to a TNT culture is important because they powerfully contribute towards a PERMA environment (Seligman, 2012) and the five fundamental pillars of human wellbeing: positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning and accomplishments.
Positive relationships and social connections are central to health and well-being in a school so centre every decision and action around putting people first.
However, if you are giving out TNTs on auto-pilot, you actually run the risk of it having the opposite effect. They need to be sincere, planned and strategic.
A focus on strategic TNTs can make the biggest difference and it is by paying attention to these micro-moments that school leaders can seize opportunities to elevate trust, confidence, support, respect and promote resilience and eudemonic well-being i.e., well-being stemming from personal fulfilment or meaning.
Teachers will increase in self-efficacy as school leaders employ consistent and vivid experiences of modelling behaviour that builds trust and these come about through the little things, the TNTs. They are the ingredients that can help teachers flourish and flow.
There is no such thing as too much time invested in relationship building so drop some TNTs into your daily schedule.
Begin every day by asking yourself how you can support staff and what TNTs you can deploy. One thing though - to develop others, start with yourself first and do a TNT for you.
About the author
John Dabell
John is an ex-primary school teacher and Ofsted inspector who has spent the last 20 years working in the education industry as a teacher, writer and editor. John’s specialist area is primary maths but he also loves teaching science and English. John has written a number of educational and children’s books, and contributed over 1,000 articles and features to various educational bodies. John is Eteach’s school leadership and Ofsted advice guru, sharing insights on best practice for motivating and enriching a school team, as well as sharing savvy career steps for headteachers and SLT.
