Policy without (much) pain - University of Ballarat

Policy without (much) pain17. Implementation, communication andtrainingImplementation is something that should be considered and planned from the start of your policyproject (see section 11 Planning and section 13 Consultation). It isn’t enough to post theapproved policy on the website and expect that staff will comply with it. Where a policy requireschanges in the way things are done, change management is needed. This means identifying andcommunicating with affected staff and students, as well as support and possibly training for staffmaking the changes. The implementation process should also be carefully monitored forunforeseen difficulties with the changes that may require early adjustment of the policy.Make sure you know when it will be posted as in effect on the institutional policy website. Someinstitutions have a requirement that policies be promulgated (publicly posted) for a period beforethey take effect.If your consultation process has been thorough, so that all your stakeholders have engaged withit, change management will be easier. Key staff will already be aware of the change, will haveplanned for it and will have prepared their teams for it. Having the team leader as an ally becausehe or she helped develop the policy is more effective than trying to make the whole team changefrom the outside.Where the change affects many organisational units, however, it would be rare for allstakeholders to be fully aware that it is impending. To reach uninformed stakeholders, use asmany media as you can: specialist newsletters, email announcements, institutional newsletters.Many staff, however, won’t change the way they do something because of an email or anewsletter. For a major change such as a new assessment policy or credit policy, the policyowner probably needs to ‘go on the road’. This means making presentations to the relevantcommittees and/or holding workshops in organisational units. For some who attend, this may be~ 32 ~