100-word response Due 1/6/2024
King
Situation
My School is a K-8 school, we started small and have grown. The principals are also the one who started the school. So, when problems and concerns arose they are the ones that handled the problems or concerns. Now that we are larger, there are other administrators in place to handle these issues. It was decided that there would now be a chain of communication, instead of going directly to them, they would now need to go to the people in charge of that area first. For example, we have someone who is over security (Threat Management Coordinator), that is the person you must go to first, if she is not there then her assistant. In fact, the principal is not on the list at all, since the principal will be determining if it was done according to policy. This may not seem like a big deal but to our school and the culture that has been established it is a big change.
Two successful systemic communication strategies and rationale
Telling-We met as a whole staff and the communication chart was shown to them and discussed and they were able to ask questions.
Selling-They we met again in the smaller grade group meeting and it was discussed again.
I believe communicating the change this way was more effective because it allowed the staff to hear the information in the whole group and then those people who are comfortable with speaking out will ask the questions. It also gave them time to process the change, which may bring about more questions, that are maybe scenario based. Then they were able to meet and have it discussed again in their smaller groups where they are more comfortable to ask these questions. Their reactions were of interest and it appeared somewhat relief. There is some structure to the way things will be done going forward. There is also someone who is always there to take these concerns to instead of one person who may be not be there that day.
Two challenges the school had to overcome to effect the change
My school started small, as stated above, the principal is accustomed to having a say and a hand in everything. So, for her to be the last one to know about an issue is difficult. It is difficult for her and for the staff who are accustomed to just walking up to her or going into her office to tell her these things. It took some time but she was able to tell the staff if they forgot that she wasn’t the one to take the information. She realized that for the school to function as an organization it would need these boundaries in place. It has also helped her not to feel so overwhelmed by the number of tasks that she has.
The culture at the school was small even though we have become much larger, so the staff was having a difficult time remembering who they needed to go to for certain things. It took time selling it, once we put the chart in all hands they were better able to remember. Some have even stated that it is better now because situations are handled more effectively because it is not just one-person handling, or not handling everything.