Finishing

closing the deal and what happens afterward

The 'P' Word

Whispering in the director's ear might work in the short run, but people will resent it, and will either sabotage your implementation, be less likely to support you in future, or start using the tactic themselves. Only do it if the director is trusted by people both above and below them, and you have a good relationship with them, and the changes aren't controversial.

Closing the Deal

Any new way of working initially slows people down. Acknowledging this makes you more credible, which in turn makes people more likely to stick with you through the dip.

Exercise: Retrospective

  1. In groups, discuss a change at your institution that ran out of steam before it was implemented. What went wrong? Was it ever officially halted?
  2. In groups, discuss a change that was implemented successfully. What tactics did its proponents use to close the deal that aren't listed above?

Changing Minds

Exercise: Changing Your Mind

  1. Describe something important that you have changed your mind about in the last ten years (i.e., fill in the sentence, "I used to think… and now I think…").

Dealing with Resistance

Exercise: Inertia

Describe a case in which people continued doing things the old way after most of the organization moved to a new way.

  1. Why was this permitted?
  2. What were the benefits and drawbacks of allowing this?

Sabina Wraps Up