Tandem respectfully acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land on which we live and work, the Wathaurung, Bunurong Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples of the eastern Kulin nation and pay respect to their elders past, present and emerging.
How can we reduce the complexity of our school’s technology systems?
In a nutshell
The client: A large grammar school in regional Victoria.
The challenge: Reduce the complexity of our systems and the processes of our staff that work within them.
Lenses used:
- Complexity science
- Strategy
- Systems thinking
Our response: Find the emergent patterns and behaviours and provide recommendations to reduce the complexity.
The impact: Reduced complexity in the schools’ systems, significant cost savings on infrastructure and staff time.
Case Study
The challenge
‘We’re overworked. We need more people’. The Principal was hearing this time and again when speaking with administration staff.When they probed why, responses blamed the school’s technical systems.
The solutions posed seemed to be more staff, or a new system. More money in effect.
The principal wasn’t sure. They knew they had a good IT department and had invested in good systems. Untangling the situations was difficult. There were mixed messages everywhere. Figuring out which system and which staff was responsible for which process was a nightmare. Somewhere, something wasn’t right.
Our task was to reduce the complexity and complication. We were asked to figure out what was happening. Did their systems work? Was there something else at play? Why was everything so complicated and complex?
Our response
Our first step was to review the technology systems at the school. We conducted a gap analysis on what’s missing and what’s not fit for purpose.
We then used complexity science to understand what was really going on. We started by conducting a network analysis across the key administration areas. This showed us where people and systems were engaging and where pressure points had built up. It also revealed the behaviours and patterns that emerged throughout the school system and where these were creating adverse outcomes that were not what was intended.
We then used systems thinking to map these interactions across the school, between people and people, and people and systems.We found that generally, the school’s systems worked well. It was within the people and processes involved where things were coming unstuck.
The change
We saved the school substantial money around infrastructure costs. We refuted the need to purchase additional technology that was slated for purchase. The school actually reduced the number of systems in place.
Our work freed up significant time for many administration staff by enabling them to see the flow on effect of behaviours and patterns through the school. This also removed the need to hire new staff. We proved that throwing more people at the problem was not the answer.
What our client said
“Tandem’s involvement has helped us navigate complexity with confidence and achieve outcomes that might otherwise have been out of reach. Their talent for communicating with clarity ensures that key messages are easily understood and retained by all”.
School Principal.