I went through a number of sports seasons ready to pull my hair out of my head before I realized that the problem wasn't the sports or theater or college application season itself. The problem was my lesson policies.

In order to prevent an onslaught of cancellations and unreasonable make-up requests during busy activity seasons, I realized I needed to develop thoughtful lesson policies that took these seasons into consideration.

Here are 3 lesson policies to manage music lesson scheduling conflicts that I've used for years. They've saved my sanity, and help me effectively manage my schedule during busy seasons without alienating parents and students.

1. Offer flexibility on your own terms. Many years ago, I created a separate make-up calendar on SignUpGenius (I use the free version). Each parent has a login to this calendar and, when a make-up is needed, the parent simply goes to this calendar and chooses from the available make-up times. I generally offer make-ups for a few hours on one Sunday afternoon a month. I add those times to the calendar along with any regular lesson spots that open up due to cancellations. For example, if a student lets me know that they won't be coming to their lesson on Tuesday at 5:30, I add this date and time to the calendar as a make-up option for another student. Parents know to check back frequently as the calendar is updated often. Parents came to appreciate the autonomy it gave them to schedule their own make-up lessons, and I no longer had to manage these requests.

   
   

2. Limit the number of total make-ups you allow. During the school year, I limit the number of make-up lessons that each student can have to five. (Students can miss more lessons and stay in the studio - up to a point - but are only eligible to receive 5 make-up lessons). This is published in the policies that I have each parent sign before their student is given a spot in my studio. When I changed my policies to include this limitation, parents of existing students grumbled a bit, but most got used to it and came to appreciate both the transparency and their ability to schedule make-ups on their own.

   
   

3. Put the onus on the parent/student to initiate make-up policy exceptions. I have a policy in place where any conversations regarding exceptions to the 5 make-up lesson rule must be initiated by the parent. I have specific language in my policies that spells out specific circumstances that might warrant a make-up exception. Because I put the onus on the parent to initiate the exception request conversation, this cuts down on requests for silly reasons.

I hope these 3 lesson policies will help you manage music lesson scheduling conflicts this spring and beyond.

Did you find this helpful? Please consider leaving a review or sharing this post with a friend who might also find it useful. And, thanks!