Schools that implement EdSmart and have roaring success share these five things in common
All schools are on a transformation journey, but not all will be successful. They’re changing their ways of working, their pedagogical approaches, and their tools and systems; all to better suit the demands of life in the 21st century.
Schools choose EdSmart to help them take their school administration digital and return time to their most important work – teaching and relationship building. But not every school on a journey of transformation is as successful as another. We’ve worked with hundreds of schools all over the world, and here are the five key factors we’ve seen drive out the outcomes schools and their communities most want to see.
1. Customisation is key
Every school is different and has its only “way of doing things”. EdSmart is fully customisable. The more you customise EdSmart to reflect your school’s needs and goals, the better it can and will assist you.
This is why the Discovery step in the EdSmart onboarding journey exists. It teases out needs and scenarios unique to your school environment and community, and ensures that your systems meet those needs, not someone else’s.
2. Empowering staff with training
As with any new tool or system, success doesn’t happen if people aren’t using it. And adoption doesn’t happen if people don’t feel the confidence to make it their own.
To get the most of EdSmart, you’ll need to train the appropriate staff and empower them to build out the needs and uses of the platform as you use it. The EdSmart team will help you, of course!
3. Bring everyone along
People are more inclined to buy-in to something if they connect with its reason for being, and understand how that reason translates into benefits for them or people they care about.
Have a plan for your EdSmart roll out and communicate with Staff, Parents and Students WHY you are using EdSmart, HOW it will be used and WHAT you expect of them for shared success. Again, we can help you if you would like – we have experience helping schools manage this change.
4. Analyse and review
As you use EdSmart over time, take advantage of platform analytics to understand how well the tool is serving your needs. Your success is our success, and regular review and feedback is important.
Dig into your data – which areas of the school are getting the most out of the platform? Which individuals? Where is there room for improvement? Is more training required, or a tweak to your set-up?
What you need out of EdSmart will evolve over time, and we are continuously adding new and enhanced features that might solve new challenges for you. Always be optimising!
5. Appoint your champions
In the early stages, it helps to make one or two key staff responsible for the success of EdSmart in your school. Those people can work directly with our own team to drive your desired outcomes.
Don’t forget to look for ‘hidden’ champions in your data and insights. Are there super-users of the platform who are hidden in plain sight and could help mentor others who want to get even more out of it?
Have a question? Need a hand? Check in with our EdSmart Help Centre anytime.
