Developing a Shared Vision for Change: Moving toward Inclusive Empowerment

Abstract

Shared vision is an important process for change projects, serving to amplify success, increase participation, and erode the divide between project leaders and constituents. Yet there are few empirical examinations of the process of building shared vision within academic departments. Using focus groups and participant observation, this study examines shared vision development within 13 large-scale change projects in engineering and computer science higher education. We find that teams of faculty, staff, administrators, and students built shared vision with stakeholders through co-orientation, formational communication, and recognition of stakeholder autonomy. Our results delineate practices for developing shared vision for academic change projects and demonstrate the benefits of inclusive stakeholder empowerment.

The challenges of novice primary school heads in Mauritius

“…The perceived isolation negatively impacts on the professional experience and success of the novice leader [42]. This is consistent with the claim of Sheninger that instructional leaders must articulate and share their school vision to ensure effective school performance by creating a leadership synergy from the teachers primarily [43]…”

Implementing specialized vestibular physiotherapy in an emergency department: A process evaluation

“…The quantitative and qualitative data was also consistent in its support for the perceived acceptability, appropriateness and feasibility of the specialized vestibular physiotherapy service in the ED. Developing a shared vision or shared goals for change is an effective strategy for promoting buy-in and participation whenever practice transformation is attempted (31). However, in this study many participants reported feeling unsure about the implementation plan and evaluation plan for specialized vestibular physiotherapy in the ED.…”

Unified Voice and Group Agency: Developing Teams to Transform Engineering Education

“…Team formation is a process, and the team is not a fixed, static entity [7], [11], [12]. During the process of team formation, members co-create an interactive, shared definition of the team that includes a sense of solidarity with teammates [13], [14] and a shared vision for change [9], [11], [15]. Creating a unified team voice and developing a sense of group agency are critical mechanisms in the process of team formation [2], [9], [14], [16].…”