The Dean's List #33

What’s the best process or system you’ve set up for yourself or your department/office?

Frank said something in a meeting recently that put into words something that I believe in, but I never heard it put more succinctly. He talked about local control all the way down. What I interpreted that to mean was that the people we work with are really smart and we should empower them to have agency over their own work, and we should do that so that we can foster creativity. That definitely is my perspective. I taught for 10 years and I like to think that I was innovative and I did some things that were non-traditional, but I got beat up about it sometimes. So, I want faculty not to have the experience that I had and I want them to know that they have control, local control, as Frank said, all the way down. One of the reasons I think that's the right way to roll is because when faculty go into that classroom and shut that door behind them, we have no idea what they're doing. And we have no way to figure out what they're doing. Our evaluation processes are so minimal. That means we have to trust them and empower them and hope that they will do the best that they can.

What is the best productivity or time management trick you’ve learned?

If I’m available, I appreciate interruptions, especially face-to-face interruptions, because you can snuff out so many things. It’s so fast, you know? Another productivity tip that's similar is I use the phone a lot. I encourage people to call me, and I warn them that I'm so old fashioned, I’ll pick it up. That's a productivity tip because there are so many things you can take care of in two minutes on the phone that would take much more time if they ended up in email. It's so helpful for me, but I've had to work so hard to get people to call me because it's so different. They just, they just can't imagine. “Is it OK to just call the dean?” I've got some on board with it. I think there are some who will never call me, and then I've got a few who call too much. I think a real failure of the modern workplace is that email has become too important and it overshadows what can actually be done better over the phone.

What tips would you offer to a new manager? Hard skills? Soft skills?

I was faculty at a small college, so if you wanted it done, you did it yourself. As faculty, it's really easy to become very autonomous and just do it all. If you end up in a leadership role, you can't do that. The hardest thing for me to learn was to leverage my assets. The scale of the job I have now is just so, so much bigger than anything I've ever had to deal with. You would kill yourself trying to do it all. I feel like I've pivoted from being very autonomous to being almost shameless about what I will ask people to do. I feel shameless, but I'm sure I'm not. I don't ask them to do my job, but I think I witnessed people who are just too proud to ask for help. That's not me. I definitely will ask for help. If you come from faculty ranks, I think that's a hard skill to learn.

What's the most valuable lesson you’ve learned the hard way in this job?

One thing that I leverage to my advantage is that there are some things that I really trust my instincts on, and I’ll make that decision right there on the spot. But there are a lot of decisions we’re called on to make that don't have to be decided today. For me, one day's reflection on things often really helps me get to the right answer.

How does it feel doing the job now versus how it felt when you started?

It definitely feels different now. Just having experience with the things that come up, having more confidence. I think the more confidence part is helpful. People are attracted to confidence. I hope my confidence is genuine and authentic, but having done the job for a while, things start to happen that have happened before. I know. I know what to do now. I know what worked or what didn't work.

Book, podcast, website recommendations that help with work life?

There’s a guy I like. He's an ex-military guy named David Marquet. He posts a weekly YouTube clip. His lessons are short and they are very applied lessons. ------------------------------------------

The Rabbit Hole (resources, content, etc. that are relevant to the job):

Why Your Team Members Need Daily Check-Ins by Stacia Garr