The past few years have been a giant techno-bubble where virtually every problem, every pain point has an answer in technology. Education space is no different and we have seen a giant boom in the edtech ventures, each offering their own technology-based solutions for the problems faced by the school management.
As a school owner, you may have felt implicit pressure to get school management software. This need often emerges from the idea that school management software is a school owner’s ticket into the tech-savvy future which in turn means that without a software, you may be left behind in this race of modernization and progress. This belief is fuelled by schools who have evidently benefited from the software as well as the edtech industry itself which believes that school management software is indeed the need of the hour.
While there is no denying the importance of great school management software for most schools, the important thing to remember is that not all schools and their needs are the same. This means that not every school needs a software immediately. What is needed is a detailed, value-based assessment of a school management’s concerns and needs before arriving at a conclusion.
Distilled from our experience at SchoolPad, below are five essential questions that every school owner must ask themselves before they decide whether or not they really need that software.
Watch This: Are You Afraid of Investing in a School Management Software?
1 Have You Identified Your Key Problem Areas?
A School Management Software is a tool that is meant to help you fix the specific problems you are facing in your school. This means that you need to know what your concerns are, and what you need your software to address. For example, you may be facing problems like fee collection issues, withdrawal mismanagement, or maybe parents are complaining about not receiving proper progress reports. If you are facing such problems and are unable to fix them, it may be time for you to get a software in place that will help you address these issues quickly and effectively.
2 What Is The Size of Your School?
Irrespective of the kind of problems that you may have identified, when it comes to making that critical decision about needing a school management software, your school size matters. Even if you are facing the problems mentioned above but your school size is small, say the student strength of about 50-100, you may be easily able to fix your issues using proper strategy and freely available tools like Excel instead of getting a whole, dedicated management software right away.
3 Is Your Team Ready?
This is a critical question because school management software is data-driven, which means that all the departments would need to feed it data regularly. This in turn means that not only the teams will need to be trained, but also that the school will also need one or two tech-savvy individuals who can dedicatedly work on coordinating the software implementation program and ensure its success. Unless you have a team that is amenable to tech-intensive training and have one or two individuals to spare who can be dedicated to making the software a success, it may not be the right time for you to opt for a management software.
Also Read: The Operator-Monitor Technique To Get The Most Out Of Your School Management Software And Drive Optimal Growth
4 Are you ready for the mindset shift?
It is essential for the school owner or the principal or whosoever is getting the software in place to make a mindset shift from the orthodox pen and paper approach to a technology driven approach when it comes to managing the different areas of the school . Only when the people at the top have a technology-driven mindset, and truly understand the value of technology, can they convince their team and other stakeholders to cooperate and build an authentic, technology-powered school.
5 What is your budget?
Even when your answer to all the above questions indicates that you are ready to get a school management software, you need to check your budget before you make the final call. If your budget doesn’t permit you to invest in high-end software, you may find yourself stuck with a sub-optimal product or without proper service and support, which will eventually lead to failed software implementation initiative and a total loss of investment for you. If you think you are ready to get a school management software for your school, make sure you have the proper budget to invest in it. The best time to get a software is when you can afford it.
This checklist is merely a guideline to help you navigate an otherwise daunting decision-making process and help you make your decision easily and objectively. Ultimately, while a good school management software can be path-breaking, the decision to get it must be logical, well-thought, reasoned, based on your true needs, not industry pressure or pressure from sales people, and made at the right time per your specific requirements.
Having worked with multitudes of schools over the past several years, we at SchoolPad always assist our clients in making a proper, need-based analysis, being aware of their options and making an informed choice when it comes to software acquisition. After all, only the right decision at the right time can make your journey into the world of school management software worth your time, money, and effort.
If this piece has got you thinking about school management software, and you are curious to know more about how we at SchoolPad work with schools and help them manage their data and workflows more efficiently, please write to us at connect@schoolpad.in . You can also click on the request a demo link and one of our coaches will get in touch with you.
