Facilitating Change with Difficult Or Non Compliant Staff Jennifer Walsh-Rurak

Facilitating Change with Difficult or Non Compliant

Staff

SAANYS Fall 2011 ConferenceJennifer Walsh-Rurak

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AGENDA

IntroductionReasons People Resist ChangeProactive Approaches Dealing with ResistanceResourcesConclusions

“Sensible and responsible women do not want to vote.” ~ Grover Cleveland, 1905

“There is no likelihood man can ever tap the power of the atom.” ~ Robert Miliham, Nobel Prize in physics, 1923

“The horse is here today, but the automobile is only a novelty - a fad.” ~ President of Michigan Savings Bank advising against investing in the Ford Motor Company

“Video won’t be able to hold on to any market it captures after six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night.”

~ Daryl F. Zanuck, 20th Century Fox, commenting on television, 1946

“What use could the company make of an electric toy?” ~Western Union, when it turned down rights to the telephone in 1878

Change is painful, difficult, complicated…and a necessity!

A Small Problem with a Big Impact

It is estimated that difficult and

non complaint staff make up less

than 10% of an organization, but take the majority

of the time and attention of the

principal, director or manager.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzlKoYLzdFo&feature=related

1. Cross your arms.

2. Uncross your arms and cross them the other way.

Change Game 1

Thought Questions:◦ How did it feel when you were asked to cross your

arms the other way? ◦ Did it come naturally or did you have to stop and

think about it? ◦ Were you comfortable with doing this differently

from your normal process?

Change Game 1

Reasons People Resist Change

“To win people’s commitment for change, you must engage them on both a rational

level and an emotional level.”~ A. J. Schuler, Psy. D.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEnUX2oZpqc&feature=related

Understanding Reasons People Resist Change

Fear Comfort Not perceiving a need No faith in the process Lack of knowledge Lack of trust Heavy-handedness by leaders Personal preference

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpuHUiy_xog

Anticipating and Preventing Resistance

Know your employees◦ Consider reactions to previous changes ◦ Be knowledgeable about opinions and

philosophies ◦ Seek feedback from trusted employees before

implementing change

Define your role as the change agent◦ Be participatory◦ Describe your plans for involvement throughout

the process

Some Proactive Steps to Consider To Prevent Resistance

Some Proactive Steps to Consider To Prevent Resistance Communicate

◦ Clearly spell out the rationale for change/Present a compelling case for the change

◦ Explain how the change relates to goals◦ Be direct and honest◦ Don’t repackage unpopular

decisions in a favorable light/In some cases this means admitting this is going to be difficult for all of us

Train◦ Provide adequate tools and resources ◦ Provide varying levels of support ◦ Respond to challenges that come up with support

Some Proactive Steps to Consider To Prevent Resistance Demonstrate Success

◦ If possible, show proof of other schools or organizations that have had positive gains with the same initiative

◦ Highlight examples of success early on in the transition

Involve Staff in Decision Making ◦ Give teachers/employees a voice◦ Leaders have to use employee suggestions at

least some of the time.

Doing a ‘pre-mortem’ on the rollout of any new process or program will help a leader identify and address areas where problems may arise or

that the change will drive resistance.

A Pre-Mortem for Change

Change Game 2

1. Get up and find a new place to sit.

2. Introduce yourself to the person you are now seated next to.

With your new neighbor take a few minutes and discuss:

1. How did it feel to be asked to change seats?

2. Did you view changing seats as an

opportunity to sit with someone new or as an uncomfortable or undesirable change?

Change Game 2

Still Resisting? Now What?

Resistance

General preventative and proactive approaches are often not effective when dealing with:

Difficult personalities Bad attitudes

Poor performers Passive Aggressive Individuals

When implementing change these type of people require individual attention.

Seek to Understand Are the concerns rational/legitimate? Are the concerns emotional? Will support, training or resources help?

Create a Quality Dialogue Conduct individual structured conversations

where those who are resistant can discuss their fears and concerns with the new concepts.

Require individuals to identify the specific concerns they have with a change prior to

the meeting.

Strategies for Understanding

Pre Meeting Synopsis Form - “Type your Gripe” concept

Tools for Understanding

3-2-1 Organizer - Helps to identify questions, issues, potential supports, benefits, etc.

Tools for Understanding

The CharretteCharrettes, in the world of architecture and design, are relatively brief sessions held among colleagues for the purpose of improving a piece of work. Charrettes can also help teachers and school leaders move forward in the early or middle stages of the development of a project, a new schedule, class lessons, a new initiative, etc., before it moves into a more high-risk/high-intensity environment.

Tools for Understanding

Mentor or Peer Buddy – Pair the resistant party with someone who is well respected and has bought into the change initiative.

Arrange visits to other organizations that are further along in the process – Set up a visit to another school that is using the program or process you are implementing.

Outside Expert - Invite guest speakers to provide insights and expertise.

Consult – Talk to other administrators or leaders

Additional Strategies

Set boundaries Define expectations Require accountability via checkpoints or

benchmarks Establish a regular time for follow up

If at first you don’t succeed…

Fullan's goal is to change whole systems so as to allow all involved in to invest the passion and energy to get results.

The six secrets are, in themselves, unremarkable. But each is not as simple, as it first seems, to action, and all need to work together to ensure success. The 'secrets', once introduced, would act a guide to monitor your leadership and 'your' school's success.

1 Love your employees. 'The quality of the education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers'. 'Top down' reforms fail because this has not been appreciated. All people involved in any organization have to be equally treated with respect - principals, teachers, students and parents. It is the total culture that counts - everybody needs to feel proud of what is being achieved.

2 Connect peers with purpose. One of the problems organizations face is how to develop cohesion and focus in an otherwise fragmented environment. Purposeful peer interaction is the secret. This can only happen when: the larger values of the organization and those of the individuals mesh; when information about effective practices are widely and openly shared; and when monitoring is in place to detect and address ineffective practice while consolidating effective ones.

3 Capacity building prevails. Capacity building concerns competencies and motivation. People high on capacity are committed to getting important things done and are collectively and continually learning. Helping people develop capacity by being non judgmental is the key. If you don't learn from failure, you fail to learn.

The Six Secrets of Change Michael Fullan

4 Learning is the work. The challenge is to strike a balance between consistency and innovation/creativity. There is a need to address core goals relentlessly while at the same time learning continuously. Such focus on a few core teaching beliefs frees energy for creativity.

5 Transparency works. Transparency is measuring what has been agreed by all as agreed as important. 'Measurements' should be guides to direct behavior and not so powerful and not substitutes for judgment and wisdom. Transparency of measurement helps all involved develop 'trust' in the organization if it is a positive pressure for improvement. Everyone needs to be held accountable to putting into action what is agreed by all.

6 Systems learn. The first task of secret six is to enact the first five secrets. Systems learn, in times of complexity, by cultivating leaders who are both confident and humble at the same time. Leaders need confidence 'in advance of the battle' and advice to followers is not to put blind faith in leaders. Leaders need to take action and then learn from experience. They need to visualize the whole while working on individual part.

Adapted from:http://leading-learning.blogspot.com/2008/04/six-secrets-of-change.html

The Six Secrets of Change Michael Fullan

Change Agent Ideas

Change is a threat when done to me, but an opportunity when done by me. - Unknown

Just when I think I have learned the way to live, life changes.- Hugh Prather

We change, whether we like it or not.- Ralph Waldo Emerson

The one unchangeable certainty is that nothing is certain or unchangeable.- John F. Kennedy

Leaders must embody the values and principles they want other people to adopt.

This famous Gandhi quote reminds us all that one of the most important tasks is

personal… to be a role model, exemplifying the best of what the change is all about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwxrsngEJDw&feature=related

"Be the change you seek to make in the world."

Fullan, M. (2008) The Six Secrets of Change: What the Best Leaders Do to Help Their Organizations Survive and Thrive, Jossey-Bass.

Johnson, S. (1998). Who moved my cheese? : an amazing way to deal with change in your work and in your life

Kotter, J and Rathgeber, H. (2006) Our Iceberg is Melting

Lippit, Mary. Managing Complex Organizational Change

Taylor, M. S. and Tekleab, A.G. (2004), Taking Stock of Psychological Contract Research in Coyle-Shapiro, J.,

Shore, L.M., Taylor, M.S., Tetrick, L.E. (2004) The Employment Relationship, New York, Oxford University Press Inc

Weick, K.E. (1996), Drop Your Tools: An Allegory for Organisational Studies, Administrative Science Quarterly, June 96, Vol 41, issue 2, p301

Weick, KE and Sutcliffe (2007) Managing the Unexpected; resilient Performance in an Age of Uncertainty

Resources & References

Jennifer Walsh-Rurak jrurak@ccsdk12.org

A copy of this presentation is available as a Slide Share file via LinkedIn at:

http://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferwalshrurak

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