Weekend
Change management #3
By Terry Freedman
Sat, 21 Jul 2007, 11:55

You might wonder what qualifies me to write about cultural change in an organisation. Well, I’ve done it several times, and I thought I’d set myself the challenge of trying to describe some of the success stories I’ve enjoyed in 250 words or fewer (not counting this generic introduction, of course).

My main motivation in writing these vignettes is that I keep meeting depressed people: people who are in such a dire situation that they have started to believe that they will never be able to change it.

So what I should like to do is provide very brief case studies comprising the before and after, but not the during: my aim is to uplift, rather than instruct, in these stories. That's why I aim to publish them on a Friday or over the weekend: so you can go home full of hope rather than despondency!

This week: getting teachers to change from using quills to using computers.

One of the big problems facing the educational technology or ICT co-ordinator is getting the other teachers to use the technology. I once asked a Headteacher in an interview what would be his criteria for my success if I was given the job. He said:

"I want teachers banging on the doors of the computer labs demanding to be let in."

In both that school and the next school I worked in, computer usage by staff went up from virtually zero to very high within a matter of months. You don't need to convert all teachers to the joys of tech: your job is to create a critical mass, a tipping point. In marketing terms, your job is to create a buzz through word of mouth marketing.

Doing so requires putting into place a series of short-term and longer-term goals. You'll know that you've been successful when you have people moaning that they couldn't get their printer to work at 7 am this morning, havingcome in early specifically to use the school's facilities.

In one of the schools I just mentioned, by the time I left the facilities were in constant use by staff, and I had non-specialists running training not just for their own department but for anyone else.

The point is this: it doesn't matter how Luddite-like the staff are, things can be turned around. The key is always in strategic planning and, crucially, follow-through.

Much of my work is in helping to bring about transformation in the use and management of educational technology in schools and other institutions. To find out more about the sort of work I do, and how I could work with you, look here. You may find it useful to scroll down the left hand side and click on the page about the assignments I've undertaken as an independent education consultant.

© Terry Freedman Sat, 21 Jul 2007