Networking Beyond PSE: Chambers of Commerce

To work in student affairs is to collaborate with others. Our partnerships on campus go from physical resources to faculty and everyone in between. Extending partnerships beyond our institution's borders to businesses, community groups and local leaders is not as common, or at least not done in as consistent a manner.


The Canadian Chamber of Commerce just released a report, Canada's Skills Crisis: What we heard (found here), which states one of four key priorities for the chamber is "Improving the connections between educators and employers to balance supply with demand for skilled trades and highly skilled occupations."

Countless opportunities exist for collaboration between educators and business, especially when one considers: collectively student affairs professionals have access to over 1 million students who are enrolled in post-secondary education (PSE) in Canada and the chamber represents "192,000 businesses of all sizes in all sectors of the economy and in all regions"

Getting a job is the main reasons students enrol in PSE today (CUSC, p27). Expanding our network beyond our campus community will help us better meet the most important need our student's express. Tapping into an established network, like your local chamber, will be one of the fastest and most efficient ways to do this. The Canada's Skills Crisis: What we heard report indicates we have a willing partner who can facilitate connections between us and businesses.

Lifelong learning requires Lifelong learning advisors

The best sales people stay in contact with their clients long after the initial sale. In my experience, I rarely hear from a sales person again after I buy a product or service. If I do hear from a sales person it will typically be to sell me more of the same; never to follow up on the previous sale or simply to grow our relationship.

Sadly, colleges and universities are poor at sales. A significant amount of resources are put into marketing higher education to traditional students - those coming directly from high school. An excellent example of this is the Ontario University Affairs. Marketing and sales are not the same though. Marketing makes (potential) clients aware of a product or service whereas sales secures a commitment from clients to generate revenue.  

Any good problems present good opportunities and learning is no exception. Consider that
the amount of knowledge that exists is doubling as fast as every year and future job needs are nearly impossible to predict. This situation presents an infinite number of opportunities to "sell" learning. In other words, people will need to continually be learning to keep up with new knowledge and skills required to remain relevant and effective in the employment market.

As the need to learn continues increasing in importance the opportunities to guide learners how to learn efficiently and effectively will grow. This guidance will be supplied best from someone who knows you, your background and the previous knowledge you've gained. Who better to fill this role then colleges or universities. We have the expertise, data and relationships to be lifelong learning advisors to our students. All we need is the system to bring these factors into alignment. Career centres are well positioned to leverage this opportunity. A website like Linkedin or job listing sites like Workopolis or Monster could also fulfill this need. All that's left now is to see who will capitalize on this emerging opportunity.



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Name Tags for Everyone!

Have you ever been introduced to someone only to forget their name 10 seconds later? I have on many occasions. Coming into my new role in housing at uWaterloo where I would be responsible for 100 full-time staff and 200+ student staff I'll admit I was a little concerned with how I was going to remember everyone. Fortunately a solution was already in place.

Long before I arrived one of the housing staff, I believe one of the cleaning staff, suggested all of the full-time staff should wear name tags. Obviously a simple solution. Smart too. Yet few staff in higher education have adopted name tags. The result is missed opportunities.

One obvious missed opportunity is the barrier to strike up a conversation with a colleague. Another is making higher education a little easier for our students. Staff or students who can identify (other) staff and then address them by name will be that much more comfortable and more likely to engage in conversation. For new students this can be invaluable. I've been stopped by random people - students, parents and staff - walking round the uW campus over the past couple of weeks likely in large part because I'm wearing a name tag.  While I have not always had the answer people have engaged with me at a time they needed assistance. Student affairs staff are known to be helpful and often identify strongly with qualities related to helping others. Wearing name tags will help us help others even more.

Does your boss prefer to read or listen? It is important to find out.

 

Finding out if your boss prefers to listen or read could provide a big piece of the puzzle to making your boss happy. Peter Drucker identified this dynamic many years ago.

“Peter Drucker divides bosses into “listeners” and “readers.” Some bosses like to get information in report form so they can read and study it. Others work better with information and reports presented in person so they can ask questions. As Drucker points out, the implications are obvious. If your boss is a listener, you brief him or her in person, then follow it up with a memo. If your boss is a reader, you cover important items or proposals in a memo or report, then discuss them.” -- Gerald Heralds Blog


While listening to the Manager Tools podcast series on creating a 90 day new job plan the hosts highlighted another one of their podcasts which expanded on the listener vs reader phenomenon.

At work the single most important one to one relationship you have is between you and your boss and you will be best served by adapting your approach to meet your supervisor's style. Knowing if your boss prefers to read or listen to an issue is much more likely to set you up for success, especially when new information is being presented to your supervisor.

Knowing your preference is important too. Do you prefer to read or listen to (new) information at work?



Image source: http://wishtank.org/peter-drucker-the-man-who-hated-the-word-guru/

Manager Tools 90 Day New Job Plan

If you are a manager or wish to be a manager then you should use manager-tools.com. Chad Nuttall has been a long time fan and he brought the site to my attention. Last month I decided to become a member and I'm considering a membership for the spin off Career Tools as well to gain access to additional resources, such as podcasts. 

The Career Tools resources include three podcasts dedicated to a 90 Day New Job Plan to help with someone who is onboarding into a new job. Perfect for me given that I'm in a new job. Here is a link to each podcast with a few key points I've taken from each podcast:

1. 90 Day New Job Plan - The Overview
•  The main message is "fit in, fit in, fit in." The hosts, Mike & Mark, say that the first 90 days is about creating relationships and not about getting results. Trying to get results may negatively impact your future ability to get results.
2. 90 Day New Job Plan - Relationships
•  Asking questions to get to know people is a very important skill to use early in a new job. At the start of a new job someone will be given a lot of freedom to ask questions. Areas to focus on include getting to know about people's personal lives, company history and people's strengths.
3. 90 Day New Job Plan - Bosses
•  Mike & Mark suggest that the single most important individual relationship you have at work is between you and your boss. Early in a new job is the time to get to know the names of your supervisor's peers, get this know his/her strengths and challenges, if s/he is a reader or a listener etc.

Two weeks in - Time to check-in with myself

"The beginning of a new venture is a very important time." - Plato

This concept is simple to understand but can be very difficult to act on successfully. I'm now two weeks into my new role of Director of Housing at uWaterloo and the mantra I created for myself for the first 90 days is to "Meet, Read and Observe."

Over the first two weeks I would say the bulk of my time has been spent meeting people. I have had some great conversations where I have learned a great deal. My colleagues inside the department and across campus have been very supportive and welcoming. Given that uWaterloo houses over 5,000 students, has over 100 full-time staff and around 250 part-time staff in housing and a total enrollment over more than 31,000 students relationship building will be a key component of my role.
 
If I was to critique myself I would say I need to dedicate more time to reading and observing. Staff have pulled together a number of documents for me which I have yet to review or review in any great depth. As for observing the housing marketing staff had set up a series of video shoots, inspired by Undercover Boss, which has given me a chance to introduce myself and interact with a variety of staff as they were going about their work. This approach has helped me make some early connections and reminded me of the many tasks we undertake in campus housing.

To help me organize my approach for the coming week or two I am focused on getting through an extended weekly review - which is a key concept in the GTD model. It had been weeks since I have gone through a weekly review so I was feeling a little unorganized.

If you have started a new job recently what actions, in hindsight, do you feel you would have spent more time on in your first 90 days? 


Image Source: http://nabolister.com/title/34759/cast/add

Campus housing now delivered in many ways

Up to 20 years ago campus housing was provided using one model: institution-owned-and-managed. The past two decades has seen new models being used and we can expect campus housing models to continue to diversify in the coming years.

In my my Our great-grandchildren's view of our work blog post I highlighted some of the macro factors that are now greatly influencing higher education and campus housing. The list included government debt, politics, more scrutiny of and interest in the campus housing model and emerging changes in enrollment patterns. Technology such as mobile computers and social networking are dramatically changing our society, not just higher education, so it should be included in the list of macro factors as well.

The macro factors formed the basis of a presentation I made at the OACUHO conference last month where I shared some of the themes that are emerging in the campus housing models that are available to institutions:  

• Public-private-partnerships are a viable option
• New models focus more on undergrad housing
• Models are becoming more complex – design to agreements
• Mix of models at more institutions
• On or near campus remains important
• Management of student life remains important
• Emerging model is partnering with properties that have been around for years

Would you add, subtract anything from the list or stress any particular theme as being especially important in all models? 

Here is the full presentation:

The changing student housing ...

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