Collegiate Project Services
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Latest posts by Collegiate Project Services (see all)
- Is Your Project In Trouble? A Checklist - May 10, 2016
- 5 Ingredients for Project Success - April 14, 2016
- 4 Common Barriers to Systems Change - February 9, 2016
In our previous post we looked at the first criteria for establishing a Readiness for Change Culture on campus and understanding what motivates resistance to change, and what conditions must be present to incent staff to embrace change.
Continue reading to learn how to develop the second criteria essential for a Readiness for Change Culture on campus.
Readiness for Change Culture Criteria #2: Change can emerge from anywhere
In order for change to naturally emerge within an institution, campus leadership must support four specific cultural elements: Institutional Literacy, Empowerment, Willingness to Challenge the Status Quo, and Aligned Leadership.
Institutional Literacy
We define an “institutionally literate” campus stakeholder as one who understands both the strategic context of the institutions and the personal impact they can have on helping the institution achieve its goals.
If staff understand what their department, division and institution as a whole are trying to accomplish, then they are better a let I interpret the need for a specific change and accept the changes brought about by leadership. Staff who see the institutional ‘big picture’ are better equipped to make good decision and offer relevant ideas.
The second aspect of “institutional literacy” is efficacy. Or, do staff understand the impact that their role has on the goals of the department, division and institution as a whole, and do they see the link between their performance and the institution’s overall success? If staff and stakeholders understand this connection they will be more likely to know what actions they should take, or what change they should support and effect, to have a positive impact.
Empowered Stakeholders
We define Empowered Stakeholders as academic, functional and technical staff who have the autonomy to initiate change, within a clear organizational framework.
The value here is very straightforward: staff are more likely to suggest change and feel responsible for carrying out the change if they know they have the authority to make changes and are not required to seek permission for every decision.
This condition relies on a critical leadership capability: installing boundaries and encouraging freedom for staff to act within those boundaries. Leaders across the institution should set goals, communicate boundaries, and then step back. When staff are empowered in this way, they are more likely to take ownership of decisions and become more committed to the resulting course of action. Which contributes directly to a readiness for change culture.
Willingness to Challenge the Status Quo
The third element necessary to promote change emerging from anywhere across the institution is a Willingness to Challenge the Status Quo. We define this not at the individual level, but rather at the institutional culture level – an environment that is open and accepting of new ideas. In this type of environment, staff are more likely to think out of the box and recommend creative solutions, even if those solution run counter to ‘the way it’s always been done’. Staff will be more open to change and support change if they have the liberty to openly challenge the status quo. This may be the most difficult to achieve in a readiness for change culture, as institutional politics reporting structures often constrain this type of openness.
Aligned Leadership
An aligned leader is one who initiates and reinforces the three elements described above.
Creating Institutionally Literate stakeholders requires a commitment to transparent communications of institution-wide priorities, like a strategic plan, as well as departmental-level decisions.
Developing Empowered Stakeholders can occur through planning processes that facilitate leaders to delegate decision making within their departments or divisions with clear parameters for setting boundaries and monitoring success.
Fostering a Willingness to Challenge the Status Quo starts with leaders reflecting on how they have handled suggestions and ideas from staff in the past, how well they communicated their reasoning for adopting or rejecting the idea, and how comfortable their staff are in approaching with new ideas.
Planning for the Inevitable
Change is inevitable at an institution – whether it’s a directed change, and engaged change, and regardless if the campus is ready to embrace it. Doesn’t planning for the inevitable make sense?
Most schools have annual budget planning and academic planning processes, many have annual strategic planning and enrollment planning processes, but few (if any) look at change as an operational constant that needs to be addressed on an ongoing basis. Schools that do look at change processes typically do so as a result of a specific initiative or change event. We think creating a culture of change starts with shifting perspectives on change – and treating it as part of the strategic and operational mission of the institution.
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