Friday Focus: Helping each other and creating efficiencies
Aug. 11, 2023
— By Nickole Conley, chief of staff
As a university, we have been running lean for years due to budget reductions, COVID-19, and a change in the national employment market. Some areas have been so thin that losing one staff member leads to critical functions going undone. Over the last several years, we have also seen this compounded due to retirements that cause a loss of institutional knowledge. We rely heavily on those around us to train and pass on historical knowledge. During lean times, such as the past few years, it has been apparent that there is a need for strategic training to maintain and pass on important university knowledge.
Training in a lean organization is critical to ensuring efficiency, continuous improvement, and employee development. As a lean organization, we must minimize waste, optimize processes, and deliver value to our students, staff, and faculty. Our training should align with these principles and focus on providing employees with the right skills, knowledge, and tools to drive improvements and maintain a culture of continuous learning.
One area of training I've been focusing on is creating a service model in the Signers' Business Office that welcomes departments to train with some of our SBO teams, such as grants, finance, procurement, and human resources. While still relatively new, the SBO training and service model has been hugely successful across campus in helping units that have staffing shortages in areas of critical need. SBO has been able to step in and assist by picking up the business functions and providing training to new employees.
As SBO entered this training space, we wanted to bridge the needs of departments in the in-between stages with fundamental training principles that SBO has been leaning into and developing, such as:
Identify Training Needs: Start by identifying the specific areas where training is needed, including technical skills, problem-solving abilities, process improvement methodologies, and customer-centric approaches.
Value-Centric Training: Training focused on creating value for our employees and customers. Employees should understand how their roles contribute to the overall university mission.
Standardized Work and Training Materials: Develop standardized training materials that align with standardized work processes. This ensures consistency in training delivery and implementation across the organization.
Hands-On and Practical Learning: Training is most effective when practical and hands-on. Use real-world university examples and simulations to help employees understand processes and the work.
Cross-Functional Training: Encourage cross-functional training within SBO to break down silos and promote collaboration. This enables employees to gain a broader perspective of the organization and fosters a culture of shared knowledge.
Coaching and Mentoring: Implement coaching and mentoring programs where experienced employees can guide newer ones and grow within the organization.
Adaptability: As the university evolves, ensure that training programs adapt to new challenges and process changes. Flexibility is crucial to our success.
Training is not a one-time event, but an ongoing process. It's about fostering a culture of learning, improvement, and collaboration across ²ÝÁñÉçÇø. So if you ever find your team in need, contact Brad Lobland, director of SBO. Lobland and the SBO team are here to support you with tasks such as training new staff, taking on department needs during periods of transition, or collaborating on processes and efficiencies. SBO is happy to share all things learned and knowledge gained, and if we have capacity, we are happy to support your department in the short or longer term.
Thank you to everyone for all you do and making ²ÝÁñÉçÇø an amazing place to learn, work, and explore.
Friday Focus is a column written by a different member of ²ÝÁñÉçÇø's leadership team every week.