Neil Limbrick, partner and IT consultant, Limbrick Consultancy LLP, ANME ambassador and founder of the Education Collective, discusses how to implement change management effectively
Read the full article below or on page 34 in our May magazine
In previous articles I have talked about the ten areas that make up the IT operation in your setting:
- Service desk.
- Incident management.
- Problem management.
- Change management.
- Configuration management.
- Release management.
- Availability and capacity management.
- Service level management.
- Service continuity management.
- Financial management.
In this article I am going to talk about the one the area that is probably has the least well-established procedures in place for most schools – change management.
Change management is the process for managing the implementation of new hardware, software, services or changes of practice. The purpose is to minimise disruption and also to make sure that any change is properly embedded with the relevant documentation, and any new policies or procedures that may be required are securely in place.
It can be notoriously difficult to bring about change to IT systems in schools – the most prolific of these being a change to an MIS system.
Technically, making the change is relatively straight forward – particularly in this era of cloud-based solutions where data can relatively seamlessly move from one place to another – but it is this sort of simplicity that can lead you to overlook the real difficulties of bringing about such a significant change – and that is the impact on the users.
Because I have helped so many schools migrate their MIS I am no longer surprised by the emotional reaction it can bring out in key users, but if it is not something you have done before you do need to be careful you do not underestimate the challenges you may face.
Good change management is largely about communication and having a clear decision-making process. If implemented well the benefits are a consistent approach to planning any change, including planning for failure, a clear understanding of what communication and approval are needed for significant change to take place, and reduced disruption.
When evaluating your current change management process, a good starting point is to ask yourself who is the decision-maker – who is the person, or group of people, that sign off on change being made? This could well be your first hurdle if change management is not well-established in your school because this is key to the process. Who that decision-maker is will determine what information needs to be provided in order for them to feel comfortable signing off any change.
The decision-maker(s) can then also look at who they want to be involved in the process of helping them reach the decision; this could be key users, an established user panel, technical experts etc.
Having this process in place sets out the expectations clearly for everyone involved in terms of the information required, the information to be communicated etc. If designed well, this sort of consistent approach helps build an ethos where nobody fears change because they know what is happening and feel involved in the process. They have a voice to highlight what they need from the process in order for it to be successful for them and, ultimately, they will not only be happy to go along with change but may even be proactive in driving it forward.
For a lot more information about implementing change management – take a look at the EdFITS framework on EdTech Central – https://edtechcentral.uk/framework/
