Author Archives: Sandy Wozniak

Making better decisions for your students, staff, and community has obvious benefits – improved student achievement, time and money saved, problems solved, etc.  Setting your decisions up for success not only increases the chances of better outcomes, but it can also lead to synergistic effects such as improved morale, leadership retention, and community relations.

How do you set your decisions up for success? Develop, develop, develop and support the decision-making skills of your people.

1. Provide training for a structured decision making process – agreeing on criteria, priorities, alternatives, risks and planning by asking the right questions can help you avoid the many pitfalls of gut-based or loudest-voice decision making. Renew and recharge these skills as needed.
2. Reinforce and support the training with coaching, relevance, post-work expectations and resources for review and application. Evidence shows that providing leadership with decision -making skills and responsibilities increases both their success and their job satisfaction. Increase skill application by ensuring there is no gap between skills attainment and opportunity.
3. Increase the effectiveness of all participants, even outside stakeholders, with a basic understanding of the process so they have a common understanding and language for the process being used. TregoED’s new Building Process Awareness (BPA) virtual training introduces the basic ideas to those who haven’t yet attended STEPS 1 but whose input or participation is needed.  Michele Sherman, Program Manager, GaDOE Educator Support and Development Division, found after providing an “Building Process Awareness” workshop for their specialists helped “bring the process to life”, increase use, and served as a “great refresher” for those previously trained.

Bottom line, investing in your leadership and staff by giving them the skills they need to be successful can have many positive ramifications beyond improved decision-making – maximizing the use of good process can lead to optimal teamwork, collaboration, morale, application, retention, community relations and more.

Great minds don’t always think alike – as a matter of fact, having a variety of thoughts and opinions often can help you come up with a better strategy or solution to challenges that lie ahead. In fact, Temple Grandin strongly advocates for inclusive thinking championing the idea that when great minds don’t think alike there is more likely to be great innovation.  Involving stakeholders gives you the opportunity to hear different perspectives and ideas, clarify needs, and maximize resources to develop a coordinated and cohesive plan.

How do you wrangle different perspectives?

How do you coordinate and facilitate large groups with differing viewpoints and make them all feel like their voices were heard and considered?  Using collaborative tools or a step-by-step strategy to collect, organize and utilize information can be the key to peaceful and satisfying conversations around complex topics.

Knowing the importance of community involvement in matters of planning and funding, Tuscaloosa City Schools (GA) trained 28 facilitators to gather input from internal and external community members in ten face-to-face sessions – giving 1400 people a voice. Using a modified SCAN framework, facilitators were able to build an understanding of community priorities around future planning and funding.

From our schools to the White House (to Thanksgiving Dinner), managing community engagement over hot button issues has become a struggle. Using a solid process, like SCAN can help you collect, analyze, and prioritize input to help you make difficult decisions and develop better, well-supported solutions.

We congratulate Tuscaloosa City Schools for their comprehensive work and their commitment to their students and strategic use of TregoED tools not only to benefit current students, but to bring about systemic change that will benefit future students. TCS Schools – we like the way you think!

When we recently asked current administrators “What keeps you up at night?” one thing that they all mentioned was that increased community involvement brought increased (and often stressful) preparation for (or rehashing of) difficult conversations.

Many times, going into a difficult conversation – whether it be with parents, colleagues, students, or community members – you prepare yourself with talking points as if you are preparing for a debate. If you indeed do have the conversation – you might “hear” the “other side,” but you hear it through your own filters, or you may jump the gun, anticipating points and in an effort to make your points and never hear the other side.

Focus on what’s right, not who is right

Without developing some kind of understanding, difficult conversations can go south very quickly.  When trust and understanding fall by the wayside, outcomes become less than satisfactory. Going into a difficult conversation with the right questions rather than the right answers can help you achieve a collaborative, satisfying resolution.

Process can help

Using a variation of SCAN – Situation Appraisal – can help you prepare for difficult conversations.

Step 1 See the issues:  set the stage for a conversation rather than a debate by setting the tone and purpose and demonstrate neutrality – ask questions like these to get their perspective:

e.g., “Can you tell me what your concerns are?”   “What do you see as the real problem?

Listen for information: feelings, concerns, fears, goals, “words behind words.”

End Result:   Building TRUST

Step 2 clarify – ask questions that will help you separate opinions from facts, listen intently, clarify similarities and differences identify common ground.

e.g., “What do you mean by?” “Can you explain so I understand?”

Listen for similarities and differences and identify common ground.

End Result: You’re on the same page!        

Step 3 Determine priorities-use common ground to develop “musts” to drive solutions.

e.g., “what is the most serious of your concerns?” “What concerns can either of us put aside for the time being?” “If we don’t address this concern what could be the consequences?”

End Result: “MUSTs” are agreed upon

Step 4 determine solution and plan for success:  Develop a collaborative action plan (with built-in monitoring)

e.g., “How would you suggest we resolve this?”  “What significantly is impacting getting the job done?”

“Can we make a timeline for project completion?”  “If we don’t do something, what are the consequences?”

End Result: An agreement owned by all

Difficult conversations that are not managed well—either avoided or not resolved—result in unsatisfactory resolutions.  The SCAN process can help you ensure stakeholder input with defensible conclusions and solutions with clear rationale.  Proactive planning for the difficult conversations that lie ahead can give you and your constituents increased understanding and satisfaction with actions needed.

The problems that educators face today have changed over the last 3 years, never mind the last 30.  What has stayed the same?  A good approach still works every time!

We recently asked TregoED process users “What is the most critical issue on your plate right now?”:  academic recovery, finances, school safety, mental health, or staffing? These multiple-choice answers gave us a nice-looking graph, but speaking face to face to school leaders at a conference recently, I got a different picture.  They added the everyday perennial challenges of parents, student behavior, etc.  and made it clear, that it was not any one issue, but the onslaught of many issues that was plaguing them.

Ed Leaders: What is the most critical issue on your plate right now?

Chat Bot Chimes In

I then asked ChatGPT  what the biggest issues in education were 30 years ago in 1993 – and after a disclaimer that it did not exist in 1993 therefore had no personal experience- it listed these issues:

1. Funding
2. Standardized testing
3. Diversity and inclusion (in curriculum as well as teaching staff and administration)
4. Technology
5. Dropout rates
6. Violence in Schools

Sound familiar?

Everything is different.  Nothing’s changed. 

While we can’t control what the issues are, we can control our approach and increase the odds of a successful resolution.  Our approach to issues over the past 30 years has not changed – we use research based, proven TregoED processes to help district leaders deal with complex issues using a collaborative approach based on a series of proven questions that will lead leaders to the best possible solutions. Using stakeholder input has always been a key component of the process, with results that are both visible and defensible.

We deeply appreciate the dedication and passion that education leaders bring to the table every day to address the myriad of issues that impact the education of our children.  We feel fortunate and grateful to be able to help them make the tough decisions that ultimately serve the needs of the children in their care.  With the increase in complexity of problems, people, and data over the last 30 years, the need for a proven, transparent, data driven process to develop lasting and effective solutions is a must.