Communication is Key
I provided a session yesterday to leaders navigating change associated with curriculum adoption and implementation. We tend to focus on the elements associated with the choosing, but not as much on other key elements. One key element often overlooked is communicating the change.
Staff often mistake the true “why” that initiates a change. This can occur for several reasons, but one is that the leaders are often ahead of their staff in understanding the need or the why for the change occurring. It is sometimes assumed by the leader that their staff know why the change is occurring, and in fact, they do not. This leads staff to feel like something is being done to them and not that they are part of the change management process.
Here are a few things to keep in mind:
Be clear in messaging. What do staff need to understand as the key message about why the change is occurring?
Communicate often. We sometimes assume communication needs to be formal to be understood, but sometimes these can simply be conversations with consistent messaging.
Articulate the process. It is helpful for staff to know what the change will look like over time. Implementing a new idea does not function like a light switch—it is not absent one day and amazing the next.
Define success criteria. Again, a process takes time. What does success look like at the start, middle and end of the school year?
I will reiterate that people appreciate transparency even if it is not a topic that they like, in general. As a former assessment director, many topics were not favorable or exciting, but they still needed to be communicated. My goal was to overcommunicate the key messages. At the end of the day, even if it was not liked, people could not criticize that they did not know.