Sharon Marsh, managing director of Fairmead Professional Services Ltd and associate assessor at Best Practice Network, talks about how change management needs a calm head, open mind and a whole lot of communication
As school business professionals, we spin many plates. And these plates can often bring about change. I often use the analogy of moving house when talking to people about change. You know where you currently are, and you know where you want to end up. In between you need to decide what things you like, what things are worth keeping and what needs to be left behind.
Change is a chance to look at a situation or process and bring about efficiencies and improve the wellbeing of the people they affect, both directly and indirectly. And, in school, these changes should ultimately bring benefits to the pupils and staff in our schools.
Change brings anxiety
As a consultant school business professional, often, the work I am asked to carry out involves some aspect of change management. Just by being invited into a school can bring some raised anxiety amongst staff members. Sometimes staff who have been established in their post for a long time wonder what I am there to do. Are there ulterior motives amongst those who have invited me in? If I have been brought in because the incumbent school business professional is not there, due to personal reasons or resignation, the staff that have been left behind can be left feeling vulnerable, unsure what a different person in ‘the driving seat’ may bring. How might I want the day-to-day routines carried out? What will my presence mean to them, and how the way they have always done things? I always try and put people at ease and re-assure them that I am there to support them and the school to move forward from the place they find themselves, back into a place of safety. I find that even if I have been brought in to change things, this is always done from a position of non-bias and in the best interests of the school and its community.
People adapt
In my experience, if you give people the information and explanations that they are looking for, along with the time and tools they need to adjust and ask questions, adaptation and change will happen. Even the most resistant or unsure people will eventually come on the journey with you, understanding that they are valued and that with their help school life will carry on and they may even feel better for it.
Sometimes though, I will be asked to support a school by assisting the Senior Leadership Team to think strategically about their position and how they want to change it to fulfil their needs. These changes can also make people feel vulnerable, and so once more, they can be resistant of change and the unknown. Again, in my experience, communication is key.
Once a strategy has been decided and the path to this change is put in place, the best thing I find to help people manage the suggested change is communication. Give people the facts they need, time to ponder, and then an opportunity to ask questions and then the journey will be better. People are much more responsive and positive when they feel that they are included and that the change is not being put upon them. Inclusion makes people feel much more positive. For example, I know that if I am told to do something I am much less receptive to it than when I am asked, and I find that most of the people that I have come across in the wide variety of school environments that I have worked in are the same.
Change can be scary, infuriating or frustrating, but with the right words and actions, change can be a really positive experience. Sometimes, to make change less intimidating, we need to take a breath, step back, and understand the full picture. Then we can take actions to see how far we have come and feel the progress we have made; acknowledging the good that has come from the change and embracing it.
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