Facilitating Change with Difficult Or Non Compliant Staff Jennifer Walsh- Rurak, School Administrators Association of New York State (SAANYS)

1. SAANYS Fall 2011 Conference
Jennifer Walsh-Rurak

3. 
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4. 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
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzl
principal, director
KoYLzdFo&feature=related or manager.

5. 1. Cross your arms.
2. Uncross your arms and cross them the
other way.

6.  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?

8.  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

10.  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

11.  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

12.  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.

13. 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.

15. 1. Get up and find a new place to sit.
2. Introduce yourself to the person you are now
seated next to.

16.  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?

18. 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.

19.  Are the concerns rational/legitimate?
 Are the concerns emotional?
 Will support, training or resources help?

20. 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.

21.  Pre Meeting Synopsis Form - “Type your
Gripe” concept

22.  3-2-1 Organizer - Helps to identify
questions, issues, potential supports,
benefits, etc.

23.  The Charrette
Charrettes, 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.

24.  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

25.  Set boundaries
 Define expectations
 Require accountability via checkpoints or
benchmarks
 Establish a regular time for follow up

26. 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.

27. 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

28. 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

29. 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=jwxrsngEJ
Dw&feature=related

30.  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

31.  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