Leadership During Change
Higher education is in the midst of transformational change due to the pandemic. It has been experiencing pressures to change for some time now. The pandemic has just accelerated and significantly disrupted any sense of tradition activity. Leaders have had to react and recover, and now must reinvent their future as the political, economic, social and cultural ramifications of this disruption become known. Universities are forming partnerships, restructuring campus units, consolidating programs, and elevating the importance of their teaching and learning center and IT departments to adapt to new ways of learning.
Whether you are a program director, department chair, or dean, the recent confluence of events is testing your leadership like never before. Common advice for leaders during this time is to first and foremost make health and safety the top priority for everyone. Engaging parties from all units on campus in strategic planning should include staying true to your mission, protecting the health and safety of students and employees, and adopting flexibility, creativity and adaptability as means of preserving your future.
Leaders can help their teams with transition by working with campus administration to clarify the vision and establish structures that support change. It is important to keep the whole college and campus in mind when making changes as actions taken in one program or department can affect the entire college and campus. Feedback on proposed changes should come from both inside and outside of the university to reach various stakeholders and receive diverse perspectives from which to make better informed decisions.
In order to get the support of those affected by change, the rationale or purpose of the change must be clearly conveyed. Clear, open, authentic and consistent communication is key to earning support for change from others. This can be done through multiple channels including email, teleconferencing, newsletters, etc. Encouraging questions and feedback indicates a leader’s receptiveness to listening and understanding others’ viewpoints.
Modeling a positive response to organizational change and conveying trust in campus leadership can also provide additional assurance to your team that change is being handled with competence. For more insights on leadership during change, I encourage you to use your ASAHP membership network, attend ASAHP’s ongoing webinars, join ASAHP’s online communities, and watch for a series of upcoming virtual presentations on current topics.
“Be the Change You Want to See in the World” ...... Mahatma Gandhi
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