4 things IT leaders in education should know about cultural change
In a world where IT leaders are increasingly responsible for much more than traditional IT, it’s no surprise that the key theme of the ucisa19 Leadership Conference is cultural change. With your people just as integral as the technology you deploy, a great culture is critical to delivering transformation that brings results and first-class student experiences.
So how do you improve the culture at your institution? Where do you start and what do you look for? Here are four things you should know:
1. Cultural change is about improving the way people work
Whether it’s enabling researchers to be more collaborative, improving employees’ sensitivities towards diversity, empowering admin staff to voice problems, or reducing siloed working, cultural change is all about changing the behaviours that improve the way people work.
In education this challenge is made more complex since you have two completely different audiences with different requirements. Your students have grown up using digital tools and want the latest software and applications, whereas your faculty want reliability and an environment that makes it easy for them to deliver the course material. How do you support both groups while improving the way people work? IT is a key facilitator and driver of these behaviours.
2. IT are now drivers of cultural change
It’s no longer the sole responsibility of HR to lead cultural change. IT has one of the biggest roles to play because it’s responsible for the tools that facilitate behaviours and influence how people communicate, innovate, and collaborate – not to mention attract the best talent, whether students or faculty. It’s now the IT leader’s job to lead change in mindsets and enable more agile ways of working.
3. Cultural change is a key theme at ucisa19
This year, the ucisa19 Leadership Conference, is “recognising that cultural change is often key to the successful implementation of technological solutions.” The focus will be on both people and technological issues. ucisa19 will be a place to gain insight into how to take a more culture-centric approach to implementing and adapting technology in education.
4. Cultural change is fueled by collaboration tools
The way that your students and faculty are able to work together has a significant impact on your teaching and learning environment, and ultimately, the results you deliver. Whether it’s empowering your research teams to solve global problems and create prestige, or make it easy for students work on projects and complete assignments, collaboration tools are fundamental.
Book a meeting at ucisa to learn how Dropbox Education can enable a more collaborative culture.
