Problem Overview
Team building and collaboration are essential in the education sector and beyond since they encourage personal growth, promote employee motivation, facilitate job satisfaction, and are associated with reduced stress. Research shows that organizations incorporating team building into their work culture enjoy better work outcomes facilitated by improved communication, planning, and collaborative problem-solving (Hargreaves, 2021).
The problem that needs to be addressed in the educational organization is a lack of team building and collaboration among the teachers and other staff. The issue is mainly attributed to the prevailing existing culture in the school when teachers have learned to work independently, adopting their teaching methods and practices. This isolated teaching practice method has stagnated the level and quality of education provided since there is no chance of knowledge sharing among educators. Compared with other educational organizations encouraging collaboration, this facility has lagged as the best practices for educating learners are not shared.
Data/Observations Identifying the Problem
There is tangible empirical evidence that the school lacks a team building and collaboration culture. Observing the school’s teaching practices shows there is an isolation in how the teachers conduct their lessons, as there is no evidence for joint lesson planning. Additionally, there is scarce evidence for interdisciplinary interactions with teachers from different departments seldom interacting with one another to share insights.
Moreover, observing how the classes are conducted, one will quickly view that there are no shared best practices like teaching among teachers. This school has held workshops encouraging teachers to have standard practices, but data shows that very few teachers attend or take these workshops seriously. Interviews are an excellent way to collate qualitative assessments to gain perceptions, insights, and opinions (Döringer, 2021). The data collection to identify the problem was conducted by interviewing the teachers and students to determine if the teaching practices were identical and the impacts of different teaching methods.
Impact of the Problem on the Organization
Lack of team building and collaboration has diverse negative impacts affecting teachers and students. Nenonene et al. (2019) show that teacher collaboration results in improved quality of education due to teachers sharing important insights, the school managing to create cohesive plans, and enabling the adjustment of school systems. Collaboration among the teachers also correlates with better student performance, making this institution disadvantaged. Other factors that are negatively impacted when an educational system lacks good team building and collaboration are innovation, teacher morale, optimization of resource use, community building, organizational culture, and institutional growth.
Potential Benefits of Solving the Problem
Solving this problem at hand can make a significant difference to the entire organization. Generally, increased collaboration among the teachers will improve teachers’ morale, good student educational outcomes, and reduce operational costs for running the educational facility. When teachers participate in meaningful team building, they share skills and tactics, thus enhancing learning and teaching outcomes (Tran, 2019). Collaborative teaching practices have also been associated with improved teaching outcomes since educators can share practical strategies, monitor students’ progress collaboratively, and offer a more cohesive and supportive learning environment (Regmi & Jones, 2020). Solving this identified problem will make the organization enjoy all the benefits of team building and collaboration.
Establishing a Sense of Urgency with Evidence from Research
A multi-faceted approach shall be taken to give a holistic view of the organization’s problem to reveal to all stakeholders the significance of the issue and the immediate need for a change. The data about the problem collected using various means will be presented to the principal and then to other stakeholders to show them this lack of collaboration among the teachers and how it affects the institution. A research synthesis will show how organizations that do not employ collaborative approaches are left behind by their competitors.
Liu et al. (2021) found that teachers’ collaborations are related to improved teaching outcomes, and consequently, students’ performances should be presented to the school’s management. This evidence helps create a sense of urgency in implementing programs to facilitate to ensure that there is team building within the school. Additionally, real-time success stories where collaborations helped organizations achieve better outcomes should be told to the relevant stakeholders. The stories could be supplemented by a comparative analysis showing that organizations that emphasize collaborations perform better than those where the employees are more self-centered.
Vision and Desired Outcome
Selecting Leaders for Vision Implementation
Creating a guiding coalition of educators who advocate for the change will be necessary to foster collaboration and team building among the partners. Kotter (2012) states that one apparent individual usually leads the significant transformations in an organization. Burgelman and Sharif (2021) show that Kaiser, a multibillion-dollar healthcare organization, had such a leader as Dr. Robert Pearl, who implemented change policies that prevented the organization from failing. The guiding coalition could also be led by a group of people or a committee specially designed to spearhead the change.
Strategic Vision and Desired Outcome
Once a guiding alliance has been established, developing a vision and strategy to help direct the change effort will be essential. In this stage, the educational institution will also formulate the strategy for achieving the said vision. The management team shall then design avenues for communication of the change vision to the teachers and other stakeholders in the school. The guiding coalition established will be tasked with the role of ensuring the vision is appropriately communicated to all the relevant stakeholders.
A broad-based action will then be taken to get rid of the obstacles that could lead to the achievement of the change vision of team building and collaboration from being achieved. There will be a change in organizational systems that makes the teachers work individually and avoid open communications and collaborations. In this stage of taking a broad action, teachers will be encouraged to take risks and try teaching methods they are unfamiliar with, but their colleagues have tried and found effective.
Members must understand the importance of short-term wins rather than big goals when promoting team building within the institution. The educational institution must set its goal as fostering team building and collaboration within the organization. However, this goal will be subdivided into many small, achievable, and realistic objectives. When initiating change, organizations need to consolidate gains and produce more changes (Kotter, 2012). The management will hire people to ensure the organization’s changes have been achieved in all departments. The final step of the change shall be to anchor the changes in work structure and incorporate them into the organizational culture. This will ensure that the newly gained habits of team building and collaboration among teachers stay in the organization over the long term.
Engaging the Guiding Coalition
When implementing the changes in the educational institution, it will be necessary to have some relevant stakeholders who will be part of the guiding coalition. The first will be a group of experienced teachers in collaboration and team building in a school setup. The insights from the professional teachers shall be critical in the strategies the organization will formulate to solve the problem at hand. To get a holistic understanding of the problem and subject matter, experts in a diverse range of subjects will also be invited and form part of the guiding coalition.
The importance of having a change team comprised of teachers from different departments who team different subjects shall be to ensure that the solutions formulated apply to all tutors regardless of the subject they teach. When incorporating changes in organizations having a diverse team of experts is known to reduce resistance to the implemented changes from employees (Kho, 2020). It will also ensure that the changes can have early adopters from different departments to access if the solutions are dynamic and relevant across all sectors.
Rationale for Selecting Guiding Coalition Members
The individual selected to be part of the guiding coalition will be chosen based on their expertise in different areas. For instance, teachers who have led collaborative teams will be preferred over those who have not, as they will bring unique insights to the committee. The selection will also be representative, and an effort will be made to ensure that all the departments and subjects are represented in the team to spearhead the change.
Teachers and other stakeholders who are more influential and capable of pushing for change shall also be preferred when selecting the committee members. Influence is critical as resistance from the employees will be expected when going for the change. It will also be essential to incorporate people who will bring diverse perspectives into the change process, including some individuals who are for individual teaching practices. These individuals will ensure that the established policies and structures do not limit the advantages that teachers enjoy by having autonomy in their work.
Developing the Strategic Vision
When creating a strategic vision, the management team will gather all the relevant stakeholders and get their views. Having stakeholders’ views before incorporating changes within an organization has been associated with reduced resistance (Lasserson, 2019). Then, the external and internal environment within the organization should be scanned using various frameworks such as the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threat SWOT analysis. The organization will need to analyze its short- and long-term objectives to ensure that the developed strategic vision aligns with its values. The team must reveal strategy implementation techniques other organizations use and incorporate innovation when making important decisions.
Communicating the Vision
To communicate the vision effectively, a narrative that compels the teachers, students, and other workers within the organization will have to be crafted. A transformational leader shall be an essential avenue in communicating the strategy. These leaders have been proven by research to be effective communicators as they design a method to be followed by their subordinates (Tian, 2020). Additionally, the school’s portal and social media pages will reach all the stakeholders, including those within the organization. The message will have to be repetitive and consistent so that it can stick to its target audience.
Barriers to Success
Identifying Barriers to Success
There are several barriers that the teachers interviewed have put forth that hinder collaboration and team building within the educational institution. Many teachers say collaboration is time-consuming and could take away time for leisure or classes. This challenge will be addressed by setting dedicated timeslots for team building and cooperation. The Administrative department of the school states that the school lacks enough resources to facilitate team building activities. However, promoting collaboration results in sharing resources, thus reducing expenses for procuring various tools and equipment (Mishra, 2021).
Empowering Employees to Address Barriers
The most significant expected barrier will be resistance to change caused by some workers’ wish to maintain the status quo in the organization. When communicating with resistant employees, Forbes Coaches Council (2021) suggests leaders should always ask for content, acknowledge and thank them, suspend judgment, and strip away judgment. Additionally, the Forbes Coaches Council (2021) proposes listening with open body language, practicing open body language, asking the resistant employees to be specific, evaluating prompted feedback, and being curious, treating the resistance as a growth opportunity. Adopting these barriers will result in better outcomes for the proposed collaboration measures.
Strategies for Removing Barriers
Resistance must be addressed through discussions with these employees and actively listening to their concerns. As the assistant principal, it will be essential to ensure that conversations within the organizations concerning the issue are cooperative and feedback flows smoothly. The leading coalition members should ensure that the conversations between them and the teachers are engaging, promote the self-esteem of the employee, and the conversations are cooperative, as suggested by (Zenger and Folkman, 2016). Addressing inherent risks such as an isolation mindset and fear of losing autonomy among the teachers will be necessary. Resources needed to address the challenges will include communication tools and resources to hire highly skilled experts to train change management principles.
Short-Term Recommendations
It will be recommended that collaborative workshops that train the teachers on how to communicate effectively, resolve disputes, and have interdisciplinary planning be implemented. Workshops are beneficial for teachers as they help them better utilize their time and stay organized (Karlberg & Bezzina, 2022). Their success will be measured by the number of employees attending the workshops, interviews that gauge if the workshops deliver value, and the general application of collaborative skills in work. Resources need to be set aside to implement the workshops, and a team of experts to lead the workshops are hired. Teachers and other workers must be reminded of the importance of attending the workshops.
In the short term, it is recommendable to launch pilot projects where a select group first tries out the implemented collaborative programs before being launched to the entire organization. The success of this pilot project will be accessed by the skills shared and its adaptability in different subjects. The groups where the pilot projects will be launched shall be selected randomly, and guidance will be provided by the teams of experts employed.
Long-Term and Sustainability Recommendations
The Change Initiative’s Success Over the Long Term
Over the long term, it will be essential to integrate collaboration into schools’ policies, mission, and culture. This will improve the education institution’s teaching quality and student outcomes. It will also boost the organizational reputation as a school with highly skilled educators with a uniform teaching style.
Regularly reviewing change policies is associated with improved processes, adjusting policies to the required needs, and promoting excellence in any organization (Urban, 2020). It will need to be regularly reviewed to ensure that collaboration is well implemented in the schools’ policies. Over the long term, the changes will also result in improved teaching practices where teachers will have guidelines from previous teachers who adopted collaborative approaches.
Sustaining the Progress and Instituting and Anchoring Change
To sustain the progress of the collective culture, the organization should set a percentage of revenues that will be directed toward promoting collaboration within the organization. The changes shall be anchored through celebrating wins by holding staff ceremonies, acknowledging the wins in publications, and reinforcing values of cooperation. After two or three years, questionnaires will be the essential evaluation tool to measure the ongoing success of the changes. The responses will provide feedback regarding the changes experienced and help the key stakeholders identify areas of improvement. Other organizations that have had to promote a collaborative culture in their operations have enjoyed long-term sustainability, making it necessary for this organization to encourage a team-building culture.
References
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