Effective School Management

Aspirations. These tend to be very long term, bordering on the idealistic. Such
gleams in the eye generate little energy or excitement. Replacement of
O-levels and CSE by a single exam was for years such an aspiration, before
they merged into GCSE.
Strategic. These are time bound and are expressions of what has to be done by
year X (say, five or more years away) if we are to reach our aspirations. A
school faced with falling rolls and a drift of population away from the area
might well set a strategic objective to become a community school catering
for a wider age range, in order to survive.
Tactical. These focus on a point in time, usually not more than half-way between
the present and the time when the strategic objective is to be attained.
Agreement on a tactical goal seen as realistic is the main device for generating
tension and energy. It has to make clear where the responsibility lies for the
achievement of the goal.
First steps. These are immediate things that have to be done in order to make
further action legitimate, such as an announcement that a working party will
be set up to initiate the change process.
It is important to consider objectives at one level in the context of those at
other levels in order to ensure coherence and consistency of approach.

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EFFECTIVE SCHOOL MANAGEMENT
Diagrams are often helpful in showing how the various objectives interlink.
As far as possible, objectives should be SMART:
•
Specific
•
Measurable
•
Achievable
•
Realistic
•
Time-bound.
GAINING COMMITMENT
Experience in organizational change has shown that in addition to developing
the plan for carrying out the change, the planners must determine who in the
organization must be committed to the change and to carrying it out, if the
change is actually to take place. Traditionally, managements consider this from
a political stance, talking of the need to ‘get a few people on board’, ‘get the
governors’ approval’, ‘have the unions’ agreement’ or ‘have the majority of
the teachers going along’. We would like to suggest, however, that in addition
to these intuitive political judgements about who needs to be committed, there
should be a systematic analysis of the system to determine those subsystems,
individuals and groups whose commitment to the idea, to providing resources
(e.g. money and time) and to carrying out and persevering with the change is
necessary. Then the manager has to develop a plan to gain the necessary
commitment; this is sometimes called ‘responsible scheming’, which sounds
better than ‘manipulation’.
The steps in developing a commitment plan are as follows:
(1) Identify target individuals whose commitment is needed.
(2) Define the ‘critical mass’ needed to ensure the effectiveness of the
change, i.e. the minimum number of people who must be committed.
(3) Assess the present level of commitment, of each individual in the critical
mass, to the change.
(4) Develop a plan for getting the necessary commitment from the critical
mass.
(5) Develop a monitoring plan to assess progress.
Step 3 can be helped by judging where each individual is on a scale of
commitment, such as
(1) ready to oppose the change;
(2) willing to let it happen;
(3) willing to help it happen; and
(4) willing to make it happen.
Second, a judgement can be made on the same scale of where each individual
needs to be for success. Plotting the position on a chart helps (Figure 18.1).
Step 4 is a crucial one to which there are various approaches. Force-field

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TRANSITION MANAGEMENT
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analysis (Chapter 17) can help. Another way is to apply the Gleicher formula,
which can also be useful in assessing any system’s readiness to change:
C = f(ABD) > X
where
C = change, which is a function (f) of:
A = extent of dissatisfaction with the status quo (present state)
B = clarity of vision of where we want to be (future state)
D = feasibility of the first practical steps for getting there
X = cost of the change, in both financial and psychological terms.
Sometimes managers can gain commitment to change by fanning
dissatisfaction with the status quo, or with the ‘doom’ scenario to which this
will lead if nothing is done. Or they can paint an attractive and enticing picture
of the future state, convincing people that it is something worth striving for.
Often, however, it is the practical steps involved in the change which need
spelling out, so that people can see just how it will work for them. The net
cost of the change can be reduced by trying to ensure that it gives ultimate
personal advantage to those affected by it, to offset the extra efforts required
in breaking the old mould. Enlightened self-interest always helps. Professional
development, or an improved chance of career advancement, are two such
benefits.
Other approaches to gaining commitment are as follows:
(1) Use of power: although there are still heads who rule with a rod of iron,
coercive power is a decreasingly effective strategy for gaining real
commitment. But there are times when it helps to overcome initial
resistance, enough to give way to more acceptable and enduring
methods of winning hearts and minds.
(2) Involvement: a participative style of management helps, but sometimes
takes a long time to produce results. A way round this dilemma is to
think of involvement as applying to three distinct levels – shaping the
decision, shaping the implementation and shaping the pace of change.
Significant commitment can be obtained at the second and third levels.