The Change Process
The Change Process: The Four Stages
There are four stages to the change process that the National Remodelling Team are promoting. Along the journey there will be rational issues, such as the hours worked, workload balance, etc. to consider. But importantly the process must also recognise the underlying emotional and political issues which are equally important.
A school must first identify the need and desire for change, before moving on to the first stages of the change process.
- Discover
Participants realise that the organisation is doing many good things already, but certain aspects need to be improved. The main aims are to uncover the issues around workload, assess the readiness for change and start to build commitment.
- Deepen
A number of problem-solving techniques are used so that participants can fully understand the scale and scope of the change required. There may be no obvious route to a solution, but everybody's clear that something has got to change. It is crucial to recognise the emotional and political barriers to change before being able to move on.
- Develop
Using problem-solving and teambuilding techniques the School Change Team begin to develop possible solutions. It's up to the School Change Team to define a clear vision of the future and define the change programme they need to achieve that vision. There is no magic formula - every approach needs to be tailored to the individual school. One size does not fit all.
- Deliver
This stage develops the plan further and the vision of the future is shared with the whole school. Then it's all systems go as initial actions are started. A key factor at this stage is the establishment of a change culture within the school where staff have the confidence and excitement to maintain continuous improvement in the future.
(information taken from The National Remodelling Team)