DISRUPTIVE INNOVATION: HOW TO CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE ALL STAFF CAN THRIVE!

Transcription

1 DISRUPTIVE INNOVATION: HOW TO CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE ALL STAFF CAN THRIVE! LAUREN LONG EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF STUDENT INVOLVEMENT GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY SARA HEMING ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF STUDENT INVOLVEMENT GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY

2 LEARNING OUTCOMES LEARN HOW TO MEET THE NEEDS OF TODAY S NEW PROFESSIONALS WHILE MANAGING THE EXPECTATIONS OF SEASONED PROFESSIONALS, TO CREATE A SPACE FOR ALL STAFF THRIVE! LEARN HOW APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY CAN BE USED AS A FORM OF COLLABORATIVE INNOVATION TO CREATE A HEALTHIER WORK EXPERIENCE FOR STAFF. GAIN NEW KNOWLEDGE OF TECHNOLOGIES THAT EXPAND OUR ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE EFFECTIVELY AND IMPLEMENT FLEXIBLE AND TELEWORK SCHEDULES. LEARN THE BENEFITS OF IMPLEMENTING A FLEXIBLE AND TELEWORK SCHEDULE FOR HIGH TOUCH STUDENT CENTERED DEPARTMENT.

3 Disruptive Innovation in Higher Education? Brookings Institute considers Disruptive Innovation in Higher Ed: Should college come with a money-back guarantee? We should make going to college be more like hiring a contractor Rethinking college: Disruptive innovation, not reform, is needed Dr. Edward Sears, President of City Vision University, offers a course on Disruptive Innovation in Higher Education. Disrupting College: How Disruptive Innovation Can Deliver Quality and Affordability to Postsecondary Education Christensen, Clayton M.; Horn, Michael B.; Caldera, Louis; Soares, Louis, Innosight Institute

4 What About Disruptive Innovation in Student Affairs? Can we use this idea to rethink how we approach creating an environment where staff can thrive? Can we disrupt the environments that are causing attrition of Student Affairs professionals?

5 According to research in 1998 and in 2006, 50-60% of Student Affairs Professionals leave the field within the first 5 years! (Lorden 1998; Tull 2006)

6 WHAT WE CAN POTENTIALL CHANGE? Excessive hours, Burnout and Work Life Conflict Role of Supervisor - Sarah M. Marshall, Megan Moore Gardner, Carole Hughes & Ute Lowery (2016) Attrition from Student Affairs: Perspectives from Those Who Exited the Profession, Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 53:2, ,

7 What Do Engaged and Thriving Staff Look Like?

8 What words come to mind when you envision staff who are engaged and thriving?

9 Gallup s Five Essential Elements of Well-Being: Purpose Social Financial Community Physical Those who are engaged in their work and who have high well-being in at least 4 of the 5 elements are 30% more likely not to miss any work days because of poor health in any given month Miss 70% fewer work days because of poor health over the course of a year. 42% more likely to evaluate their overall lives highly 45% more likely to report high levels of adaptability in the presence of change 59% less likely to look for a job with a different organization in the next 12 months Gallup Business Journal, Oct. 27, 2015

10 Mixed Messages Established culture of working long hours adds to administrators' pressure to be present during the regular work day and after hours. Supervisory face-time expectations and the culture of working long hours left many of the student affairs administrators feeling discontent with their work-life balance. Without formal policies, administrators worried that they were not performing as ideal workers when they took advantage of informal flexible accommodations. 79% of Student Affairs administrators that participated in their study indicated difficulty finding a balance between their personal and professional lives even with some degree of flexibility of coming in late or flexible hours. Kelly E. Wilk, Chapter 3: Work-Life Balance and Ideal Worker Expectations for Administrators part of How Ideal Worker Norms Shape Work-Life for Different Constituent Groups in Higher Education: New Directions for Higher Education, Number 176. New Systems are Needed!

11 What constructs of Student Affairs need to be altered and reexamined to meet the needs of today s student affairs professionals? Assist professional staff in managing multiple roles which includes SELF-CARE Change the institutional culture around work-life balance practices Nicole Lepone Mayo s dissertation, The Analysis of Student Affairs professionals management of role conflict and multiple roles in relations to work life balance published in 2013.

12 What New Systems Need To Be In Place? WE NEED A SHIFT. in what we both view and communicate as the IDEAL worker." in what kind of environment we want to create. to decide if we want to build teams that we can retain, help grow, and support 21 st century students. in expectations that only face-to-face, hands-on advising and support is the source for setting students up for success. to disrupt our thinking, we need to make a shift. Without compromising the QUALITY of work we provide and expect.

13 CASE STUDY: Student Involvement at George Mason University

14 How Did We Get Here? The need to reconsider how we view roles and responsibilities as advisors to students. Changing needs and desired approaches from millennial staff. The impact of managing up. Navigating change for both new and seasoned professionals. Staff retention and well-being.

15 if you commit to the intensity of the peak moments, it s important to commit to the recovery... use the very short breaks within your day similar to the pauses between the high-intensity intervals Google s Chief Business Officer -

16 A large system maintains itself and grows stronger only as it encourages great amounts of individual freedom Margaret Wheatley, 2006 Leadership and New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World.

17 DISRUPTING THE PROCESS USING APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY

18 What Is Appreciative Inquiry? At its heart, AI is about the search for the best in people, their organizations, and the strengths-filled, opportunity-rich world around them. AI is not so much a shift in the methods and models of organizational change, but AI is a fundamental shift in the overall perspective taken throughout the entire change process to see the wholeness of the human system and to 'inquire' into that system s strengths, possibilities, and successes. Excerpt from: Stavros, Jacqueline, Godwin, Lindsey, & Cooperrider, David. (2015). Appreciative Inquiry: Organization Development and the Strengths Revolution. In Practicing Organization Development: A guide to leading change and transformation (4th Edition), William Rothwell, Roland Sullivan, and Jacqueline Stavros (Eds). Wiley

19 5D Process 1. DEFINITION WHAT IS THE INQUIRY? 2. DISCOVERY - APPRECIATING THE BEST OF WHAT IS 3. DREAM IMAGINING WHAT COULD BE 4. DESIGN DETERMINING WHAT SHOULD BE 5. DESTINY CREATING WHAT WILL BE

20 Questions Asked, Dreams Envisioned Definition: Creating an environment where all staff thrive Discovery: When are we at our best? Dreams Creating new approaches to communication, transparency and work/life balance Design: Creation of workgroups

21 Onward & Upward Destiny: Our Results Memorandum of Understandings Flexible Work Schedules Office Communication Onboarding Processes Programming Standards Performance Management Increased Accountability & Staff Engagement Staff Satisfaction

22 Staff Assessment Results 100% felt valued by their supervisor and the Executive Director. 50% felt valued by institutional leadership. 100% agreed they believe their supervisor is committed to their ability to thrive at work. 75% agreed it created an authentic space for their voice to be heard. 87% agreed the process offered them the opportunity to contribute to the department around a topic they were interested in. 63% felt that participating in the AI Process positively changed their experience at work. 100% agreed that the Flexible Work MOU provided them: the ability to manage their personal life and work life more effectively. the ability to be more productive at their job and enabled them to be more engaged in their work. 86% agreed that the Flexible Work MOU increased positive feelings about their work environment and that it increased satisfaction with their job.

23 Utilizing Technology to Support the Disruption Considerations around using technology to stay connected to students while freeing up the boundaries of the traditional "work-place. Offer Student Affairs the opportunity to meet the demands of both today's new professionals and today's generation of students who need to be empowered and encouraged to lead and learn versus have their hands held for every step. Using tools such as Cisco Spark or Web X Office365 Shared Calendars OneDrive- Document Sharing

24 Cisco Spark...Increased Communication & Flexibility. Video calls, Group messaging, Individual messaging Document access. Staff meetings can include virtual staff Train students at a distance. Chat with individuals or groups from your desktop, Share documents Use whiteboard and save your work.

25 Office Increased Transparency & Accountability Shared team calendars to communicate about when staff are teleworking, on vacation Reserve common space or conferences rooms Create multiple working groups for different programs and projects Access files, planner tools and calendars. Plan events, manage tasks and deadlines together.

26 Appreciative Interviews Partner up with someone sitting next to you or across from you. You will be engaging in an Appreciative Interview experience. You will have the chance to learn the practice of discovery and reflect on what could be happening in your department to create some disruptive innovation. The goal would be to yield a positive work environment and learn about a colleague's positive experience and ideas.

27 Appreciative Interview Guidelines Let the interviewee tell his/her/their story. Try to refrain from giving yours. You will be next. Listen attentively, be curious about the experience, the feelings and the thoughts. Allow for silence. If the other person does not want or cannot answer a question, it is okay. Have fun. At the end of the two interviews, take a moment to talk with your partner about what the interview process was like for you.

28 QUESTIONS? Contact Information: Lauren Long- Sara Heming- THANK YOU! #NASPA18