Managing Pandemic Change: A Parent Teacher Organization Response

Nina is an agile-based program manager and certified scrum master who loves creating and implementing effective solutions that help people work better and happier.

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Topics: Leadership, Organizational Culture, Organizational Project Management, Stakeholder Management

At long last, it seems the world is coming out of its shell again. As we pivot from pandemic-led policies and processes, how do we successfully manage the change?

An interesting example that has synergies in other sectors is the local public elementary school my children attend. With an enrollment of about 350 students, it is a relatively small school with a culturally diverse mix of families (in its 2021 school profile, 23 languages were reported as being used at home).

Here we have stakeholders that are educators, administrators, parents, guardians and children. There can be strong opinions on nearly every topic, and it’s important to find shared focus and goals. I have the vantage point of being a parent at this school for the last six years. I also am on the board of the Parent Teacher Committee (PTC).

Just as in public and private enterprise, public schools have been constrained in the past two years, with new students beginning online or in a stunted fashion. The impact is a disconnect for new families that don’t have the context of the school’s culture—and a further weakened community as a result of that.

Many project management professionals are seeing similar challenges, whether at work or in the community-based organizations they participate in. By applying tenets of change management and agile methodologies, a useful framework can …

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