3 Considerations in Favor of Momentum—Even When Times Are Tough

#Leadership Read time:
“I love your solution, but it’s just not the right time. My staff is burnt out, spread thin, and adding another huge project onto their plates just seems cruel. We’ll have to pass.”

As a homegrown leader of a Midwestern edtech company, let me first commiserate and offer my sincere respect. Team leaders who start with empathy and care for their people enjoy the ripple effects in a stronger, healthier culture. 

However, we’d be remiss if we stopped at good enough and didn’t push the limits of potential partnerships. After all, back in 2016 there were several compelling reasons not to move forward with the next generation of Skyward student information systems, Qmlativ. We pushed ahead anyway. Referenda would never have a chance to change daily life for district populations if school boards shied away from an uphill battle at the ballot box. And while life gets overwhelming, educators keep pushing for continuing education to hone their skills. 

In these scenarios, the team effort and the vision for the future create momentum for growth even amid challenges. Here are three considerations that might influence a different decision when edtech implementation seems daunting.

 

1. Choose abundance mindset vs. scarcity mindset

Similar to student interventions, we must begin with the belief that this is possible, even if it’s far from perfect. After all, when you take stock of the tools available in an intervention—and an implementation—they’re numerous. Goal setting, scaffolding, and technology can all ease the burden in an intervention. The same strategies can be called into active duty during a big edtech implementation.

Every implementation is hard in hindsight. It’s the ones that are hard, but worth every struggle, that we can take heart from.

 

2. Choose the challenges that take us farther

President Theodore Roosevelt said, “Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” 

The work worth doing in schools happens between people in classrooms and hallways—not entrenched in paperwork and locked in filing cabinets. The goal to ease the administrative burden is always worth working toward. As administrators plan their long-term visions, strategic planning can move the district closer to that goal.  

Rather than thinking of new technology taking the form of a temporary headache, consider the positive impact it will have on the long-term success of the district personnel, students, and families.

 

3. Choose vendors whose service starts immediately

Support and service aren’t supposed to start once the implementation ends. On the contrary, a vendor worth your precious funds is going to be there for you from day one. 

Implementation is scary for lots of administrators because it’s unfamiliar—an event, a happening. For edtech implementation teams, the process is a way of life! They are truly the experts in project management, data security, and keeping the momentum even when surprises pop up along the way. Rest assured you’re in good hands that are well-versed in rolling with the punches. 



Sometimes it really isn’t the right time—we get it, and you’ll never catch me pressuring any school district into a big change just for the heck of it. But when your vision calls for big changes, believe in your team’s ability to step up to the plate. 

 

Follow-up resource: Breaking up is hard to do

Learn three reasons to end a partnership with an edtech vendor.


 
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