School Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How long does the Future Search method take compared to other approaches to school change?
We find that “time to implementation” is greatly reduced under this approach, sometimes by many orders of magnitude. Getting full participation and ownership from the outset speeds up planning and implementation at every level and every stage.
Accordingly, although there is significant investment of time in the planning and the Future Search itself, the outcomes provide a very significant ROI.
Q: We have previously tried to get parents and others involved in different things but have not been totally successful. How can you be sure that they will want to get involved?
The short answer is that until you try to do it, you will never know for sure wether you will be able to achieve this engagement However, here are some of the things to take into account.
First, generating engagement is actually a marketing exercise which is not a traditional strength of most schools.
Secondly, we help you use our systematic approach which has been proven to be successful.
Thirdly, having a Planning Group which consists of a cross section of stakeholders (including parents, students, teachers, admin staff and other external stakeholders) helps enormously with this because they understand the hearts and minds of the other stakeholders and can take a lead role in generating the engagement.
Finally, school leaders are often shocked at the willingness of parents and others to get involved in something which will bring about meaningful change in their children’s school even though the time commitment is greater.
Q: I’ve seen many forums where there was lots of good ideas but not much follow up action. How can you guarantee follow up action?
We have yet to work with any community or organisation (including a school) that followed all the conditions for success and didn’t have strong follow up action.
Having said that, it is not within our power to force people to act — we can only ensure the
conditions for success and invite people to take action.
Q: Who would normally commence and drive an initiative to effect change in a school?
Although such initiatives need the total support of the school leadership, the idea can come from anybody in the school community including a parent or parent body.
Q: If I wanted to commence such an initiative, how would I start?
The best starting point totally depends on your own individual circumstances.
If you would like some input on how you could start, do not hesitate to contact us. We do not charge for any introductory consultations.
Q: How does Future Search relate to strategic planning?
There is a common maxim that strategic plans make good doorstops. This is because they are often easier to write than to implement. When a plan is developed by a committee or consultant team - even with input from focus groups, interviews or surveys — it often meets resistance or is poorly understood during implementation.
Because Future Search involves people from all levels of the school, from Principal to teachers to students to parents, these problems are avoided. In fact, many schools find that those who have participated in a Future Search take the initiative on implementation. This results from seeing their own handiwork in the plan. In addition, in a Future Search participants make a public commitment to tasks they have chosen to take on.
Since this is a free will commitment, it acts as a strong motivator.
Future Search can be used to develop a strategic plan from scratch, engaging the full breadth and depth of your school in a way that assures it will be implemented. However, when a plan is already in place, a Future Search can be used to move the plan into action. Some schools have used Future Search to implement a plan that previously met points of resistance.
Q. How will the teacher’s union be involved in all of this?
As a full partner. Future Search can change an adversarial relationship between union and management into a collaborative partnership, long before issues develop, or even after they have developed. We recommend meeting with union representatives as early as possible to answer their questions and get their agreement to participate. Union members should be part of the Planning Group.
Sometimes it is hard to convince the union that this is not some school management trick. We emphasise that all decisions made in the meeting are based on common ground agreement and that no one has to change his or her mind for this process to be a success. The key here is that in a Future Search, the pattern of conversation and information exchange between union and management changes, resulting in new ways of working together.
Q: Which students should attend?
This is a decision for the Planning Group, however, in a secondary school, we encourage a representation from all classes across each gender. In a primary school, representation from the older students is sufficient.
Students can also be involved in documenting the process either in writing or on video.
There are also other ways that students can provide positive input into the process.
Q. Will we have to air our “dirty laundry” in front of parents and others?
The chances are that parents and other stakeholders are also dealing with their own tough issues relating to their children and other aspects of their lives.
What arises through a Future Search is an understanding that all organisations and individuals do the best they know how and that life for both organisations and individuals is a process of continual change and improvement.
Anything that is aired in a Future Search is done so in this spirit.
We have never known a Future Search to air things that were later regretted. Our experience has been that parents, students and others appreciate being in on the conversation and will be more impressed with your proactive and open attempt to chart your future than they are concerned about real-life problems you might be having.
As parents and others see you changing in ways to better support their requirements, they will be thankful for having been invited into the conversation. What is more, school leaders often find it incredibly freeing to effectively admit that they don’t have all the answers because the deeper truth is that the answers can only come from engagement of the ‘whole system’.
Q. What if the group comes up with ideas I can’t live with?
It is up to you to set the parameters of influence up front. A Future Search can give participants a range of influence from full planning and implementation authority to playing an advisory role.
At the same time, through entering into a Future Search process, many school leaders have discovered that too much top down control may have been stifling the school. A Future Search can change this, giving authority to those who understand the school from the perspective of each stakeholder This can build stakeholder ownership, productivity, parent and student loyalty and other factors that have a long term positive affect.
In addition, you will be one of the participants. During the Future Search, only decisions supported by everyone present will be accepted as part of the output.
Q. I want to be able to approve all actions after the conference.
You can make this a condition up front, making it clear that the conference is advisory. On the other hand, we have found that the best way to kill effective implementation is to thwart participants at the point they are ready to move into action. If you have a high need to “control” the outcomes of the conference, Future Search may not be for you. If you want effective and long lasting results, it is important that you, as the leader, support the work product of the Future Search. This means allocating resources to support the outcomes, keeping people informed of progress toward the goals and continuing to speak to and reinforce the shared vision.
Q. What percentage of the school workforce needs to be involved?
A good beginning level of participation is at least 25-40% of the staff. If you have a workforce of 50 or less, you might want to include everyone or nearly everyone. If more, you may want to structure parallel conferences of 80 or so people. We can help you strategise ways to involve and inform people who are not involved in the actual Future Search conference. Even when every staff member is not present, we have found that the entire culture and responsiveness of an organisation can be impacted by Future Search.
Q. How do we decide who to invite and who has to stay behind to keep things going?
If you have a small workforce, you may want to calculate the minimum number of people you need to operate a “skeleton shift”. Some schools run a Future Search during personal development time.
It is also possible to have several sequential Future Searches to include a large part of the whole school community. This can be followed by a one day integration meeting. Also, thanking the people who stay behind to keep the ship running is important.
Q. Is it important to get buy-in from school leadership and senior management?
Absolutely. The way we normally do this is a meeting of the school leadership or senior management team to outline the approach and then get input from each attendee on whether to move forward.
If you don’t get the support you want, it might be best to take a smaller step (eg working with a smaller group such as the senior management team) before trying a full Future Search.
Q. Will a Future Search solve all our problems?
The short answer is ‘no’. Organisational life is an ongoing process of change and improvement. A Future Search is an awesome starting point but if you want your school to continue to be great, you will need to continue to engage the stakeholders.
The best way that we know how to do this is 6 monthly meetings of the ‘whole system’ following the Future Search. These meetings can range from 2-4 hours with a focus on What We Said We’d Do, What We’ve Done and What We’ll Do Next. They are a wonderful way of ensuring accountability and keeping the momentum going.
These periodic meetings (beginning with a Future Search) are the best way that we know how to simultaneously operate and change any organisation including a school.
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Coming 2009!
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News and Events
Advanced Meeting Leadership Workshop for Leaders and Consultants, with internationally renowned US authors and consultants Marv Weisbord and Sandra Janoff of Future Search fame. Sydney. October 2008. Large discounts for first 20 registrants!
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