Step 5 of 8
Clearing the way
Something is getting in the way: time, training, resources or systems.
What this step is about
Willing people can still be blocked. This step is about removing what stops staff doing the change well: missing time, training or resources, and systems, timetables or policies that pull the other way.
If the old way is easier, most people will drift back to it, however committed they are.
The questions for this step
- Staff have the time, training and resources the change needs.
- Timetables, systems or policies that work against the change have been dealt with.
What it looks like when it’s missing
- Staff agree with the new marking policy, but nothing has been taken away to make time for it, so it adds hours to the week and quietly slips.
- The homework change depends on an online platform that half the department can’t log into.
- The new timetable model needs team teaching, but room allocations haven’t changed.
- The behaviour system asks for restorative conversations, but there’s nowhere private to have them and no time in the day.
What to do
- Ask the people doing the change what’s getting in the way, and write the answers down.
- For each barrier, name who can remove it and by when. Some you can fix yourself; some you’ll need to escalate.
- Protect time: take something off the list to make room for the change.
- Provide training close to when people need it, not months before.
- Check that policies, timetables and data systems support the new way, not the old one.
Common mistakes
- Adding the change on top of everything else.
- Treating a practical barrier as an attitude problem.
- Waiting for staff to raise barriers themselves.