Thirteen Tips for Managing Change
Dennis Sparks, Executive Director of the National Staff Development Council, offers these 13 tips for managing the complex and difficult change process (Sparks, 1993):
Educate the leaders of change, including both principals and teachers.
Use a "systems" approach to ensure that all aspects of the school organization are considered when planning and implementing change.
Use a team approach that involves many stakeholders in the change process.
Share power with teachers and others to encourage the implementation of the change efforts.
Make plans, but "hold your plans loosely." Develop plans, but know that they will have to be adapted to change as needs change.
Realize that there is a tension between establishing readiness for change and the need to get people implementing new approaches quickly. While getting people intellectually ready for change is something to be considered, it should not take so much time and effort that people lose interest and motivation.
Provide considerable amounts of training and staff development for those involved. These activities can include everything from holding study groups to "on-the-dash" coaching.
Choose innovative practices for and with teachers that are research-based and "classroom friendly." Picking approaches that have been used or researched can help the implementation of those approaches.
Recognize that change happens only through people. The emotional effects of change on educators need to be considered and understood by all involved in the change process. Understanding resistance and working with it is key.
Be prepared for "implementation dip." Fullan (1993) and others note that things often get worse temporarily before improvement begins to appear.
Help educators and others develop an "intellectual understanding" of the new practices. While the outcomes are important to assess, people also need to understand the underlying meanings and functions of the practices.
Seek out "paradigm shifters" and "idea champions" who are interested in making substantial changes in practice.
Take the long view; realize that change takes time and should not be forced to occur too quickly.
Cheers!!
Archna
From India, Delhi
113Dennis Sparks, Executive Director of the National Staff Development Council, offers these 13 tips for managing the complex and difficult change process (Sparks, 1993):
Educate the leaders of change, including both principals and teachers.
Use a "systems" approach to ensure that all aspects of the school organization are considered when planning and implementing change.
Use a team approach that involves many stakeholders in the change process.
Share power with teachers and others to encourage the implementation of the change efforts.
Make plans, but "hold your plans loosely." Develop plans, but know that they will have to be adapted to change as needs change.
Realize that there is a tension between establishing readiness for change and the need to get people implementing new approaches quickly. While getting people intellectually ready for change is something to be considered, it should not take so much time and effort that people lose interest and motivation.
Provide considerable amounts of training and staff development for those involved. These activities can include everything from holding study groups to "on-the-dash" coaching.
Choose innovative practices for and with teachers that are research-based and "classroom friendly." Picking approaches that have been used or researched can help the implementation of those approaches.
Recognize that change happens only through people. The emotional effects of change on educators need to be considered and understood by all involved in the change process. Understanding resistance and working with it is key.
Be prepared for "implementation dip." Fullan (1993) and others note that things often get worse temporarily before improvement begins to appear.
Help educators and others develop an "intellectual understanding" of the new practices. While the outcomes are important to assess, people also need to understand the underlying meanings and functions of the practices.
Seek out "paradigm shifters" and "idea champions" who are interested in making substantial changes in practice.
Take the long view; realize that change takes time and should not be forced to occur too quickly.
Cheers!!
Archna
From India, Delhi
Dear Archnahr,
Thats a good one.
I have a case on "MANAGING CHANGE" perhaps it can be stated as
"ACCEPTING CHANGE".
Our team is in the Brink of absorbing change.
But we do not find many/any value add even after the leader or report person is changed.
If you/others happen to share some information about how to accept change and what to look for to accept change, i shall be delighted.
vennpuru
From India, Madras
Thats a good one.
I have a case on "MANAGING CHANGE" perhaps it can be stated as
"ACCEPTING CHANGE".
Our team is in the Brink of absorbing change.
But we do not find many/any value add even after the leader or report person is changed.
If you/others happen to share some information about how to accept change and what to look for to accept change, i shall be delighted.
vennpuru
From India, Madras
Dear Vennpuru,
John Kotter's highly regarded books 'Leading Change' (1995) and the follow-up 'The Heart Of Change' (2002) describe a helpful model for understanding and managing change. Each stage acknowledges a key principle identified by Kotter relating to people's response and approach to change, in which people see, feel and then change:
Kotter's eight step change model can be summarized as:
1. Increase urgency - inspire people to move, make objectives real and relevant.
2. Build the guiding team - get the right people in place with the right emotional commitment, and the right mix of skills and levels.
3. Get the vision right - get the team to establish a simple vision and strategy, focus on emotional and creative aspects necessary to drive service and efficiency.
4. Communicate for buy-in - Involve as many people as possible, communicate the essentials, simply, and to appeal and respond to people's needs. De-clutter communications - make technology work for you rather than against.
5. Empower action - Remove obstacles, enable constructive feedback and lots of support from leaders - reward and recognise progress and achievements.
6. Create short-term wins - Set aims that are easy to achieve - in bite-size chunks. Manageable numbers of initiatives. Finish current stages before starting new ones.
7. Don't let up - Foster and encourage determination and persistence - ongoing change - encourage ongoing progress reporting - highlight achieved and future milestones.
8. Make change stick - Reinforce the value of successful change via recruitment, promotion, new change leaders. Weave change into culture.
Hope you can lay your hands on these two books for understanding the change process better.
Cheers!
Faizal Haque
From India, Vadodara
John Kotter's highly regarded books 'Leading Change' (1995) and the follow-up 'The Heart Of Change' (2002) describe a helpful model for understanding and managing change. Each stage acknowledges a key principle identified by Kotter relating to people's response and approach to change, in which people see, feel and then change:
Kotter's eight step change model can be summarized as:
1. Increase urgency - inspire people to move, make objectives real and relevant.
2. Build the guiding team - get the right people in place with the right emotional commitment, and the right mix of skills and levels.
3. Get the vision right - get the team to establish a simple vision and strategy, focus on emotional and creative aspects necessary to drive service and efficiency.
4. Communicate for buy-in - Involve as many people as possible, communicate the essentials, simply, and to appeal and respond to people's needs. De-clutter communications - make technology work for you rather than against.
5. Empower action - Remove obstacles, enable constructive feedback and lots of support from leaders - reward and recognise progress and achievements.
6. Create short-term wins - Set aims that are easy to achieve - in bite-size chunks. Manageable numbers of initiatives. Finish current stages before starting new ones.
7. Don't let up - Foster and encourage determination and persistence - ongoing change - encourage ongoing progress reporting - highlight achieved and future milestones.
8. Make change stick - Reinforce the value of successful change via recruitment, promotion, new change leaders. Weave change into culture.
Hope you can lay your hands on these two books for understanding the change process better.
Cheers!
Faizal Haque
From India, Vadodara
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