Reality Check!
Change ManagementHaving tried to be innovative and creative about developing the vision for a new learning space it is time to do a series of reality checks on the design ideas you have come up with. The checks range from consideration of high level issues that may be show-stoppers for your project to detailed pragmatic considerations that can affect the usability of individual spaces. It pays to involve a number of people at this stage particularly people who will be carrying out their day-to-day activities in the spaces concerned although you, and they, may sometimes have a tricky time separating genuine obstacles from fears about change. In our section on Influencing Others: Handling Conflict in the Change Management infoKit we discuss the fact that people often tend to exhibit a tendency to be either a Matcher or a Mismatcher. Matchers seek similarities and tend to agree easily. Mismatchers look for differences and tend to be good at testing/proofing/checking out what will stop something working. Matchers may support change but are unlikely to instigate it. Some people who appear excessively critical of what you are trying to achieve may simply be exhibiting mismatcher tendencies. These people can be very useful in terms of helping you to pinpoint risk and test possible solutions and because they like to challenge they can often be effective change agents once you have them on board.
The only magic formula for this stage of the work is common sense. Some of our suggestions may seem to state the obvious but it's amazing what can be overlooked in the excitement of a new build project and some of our tips reflect mistakes that others have already made.
