How do you keep track of what you have to do?
I use my notebook. I also have a big stack of post-it notes that I use for my check-ins with my staff. When I think, “Oh, I need to talk to someone about that,” I’ll use a post-it. Then I create a meeting note, and put the date of our next meeting and start making lists of things that I need to talk to them about. I have one of those for my office staff, too. I have a list for every meeting that I have and what I need to talk to them about. I've got the people who report to me into the habit of creating lists. So I say, “Here are the things on my list. What’s on your list?” The other thing I'll do with my AA is that I will ask [them] to put something on the list for the next time we meet. It takes some of it off of me. If my notebook is not around me, which is very rare, I use the reminders app on my phone. Huge lifesaver. I'll throw it in there and tell it to remind me at 8:30 the next day. Then I'll add it to my notebook. It's great for when you’re at the grocery store or you just got in bed or whatever. I won't go to sleep unless I get it out of my head.
How do you process email?
I've set up rules. I get a notification when something happens with a requisition, and I also have a rule for when I get asked to sign curriculum, because those are things where I have to take action or I'm going to slow things down. I also set up rules to delete things. I'll also set up rules that just automatically delete some of this marketing crap that we get.
I set up three different folders: email to read, email to respond to and email to follow up on. Now I just shove things in the email to follow up on. It’s for those things like a student concern, where I have to go and talk to the instructor and then come back to it. I'm actually awesome about finding stuff in my email. I will say this, even though I know what this is going to do to some people: I literally have thousands of emails in my inbox. I have a filing system, and I am awesome at searching for things in my inbox and finding them. But, just like when I was teaching, I live in a world of piles. I know what's in there, right? When I have to find something, I know it's in that pile and I know it's kind of towards the top. So that's kind of how my inbox ends up being: I know it's in there, and I know it was from this person or I know it was cc’d to this person, or I know the topic was this, and between those things I can usually find the email I'm looking for within minutes.
What’s the best process or system you’ve set up for yourself or your department/office?
Honestly, I think one of the things that's working really well — and it's what I've been doing since we've gone remote — is having these set times that I meet with the office staff. That's always on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. One of the great things about Thursday afternoon is that it's after ALC and it's after the deans meeting, so I can update them. It's not that I didn't communicate with them when we were on ground, it just wasn't this set. It's one of the things I want to continue once we're back on ground.
Another thing — It's not really a process — but just kind of a general approach, is that I'm going to be transparent. I'm going to be honest with my folks. I trust them when I say, “Look, this is cone-of-silence and this can't go past you guys.” I trust that they're going to respect that. Obviously, I've had multiple vent sessions with my immediate supervisor and also many of my colleagues, but my mom taught me you don't vent down. You vent up, right? Well, you can't always vent up. Sometimes, it has to come a different way. Sometimes, the conversations I'm having with the people who report to me are — I don't want to classify them as venting, but I just kind of allow all of us to express some frustration. I think that's good because I start to hear things that they might not have shared with me.
What tip or tips you would offer to a new manager?
You're going to send out some typos. You're just going to have typos and, and it’s painful. It's still painful for me. I think you just have to be OK with it. There are times where I’ve read it five times, but it was seven o'clock at night and I've been sitting here since eight in the morning, so I don't think my eyes could really see anything at that point.
The other thing I would say to people is that there are going to be certain emails you're going to do all the time. Budget modification requests, student concerns, performance reviews. What I've done is save those in drafts, so anytime I need to send a budget modification request, I open that draft email, and I copy it, so then I don't have to retype it every time. I just got a draft going with the ways that I respond to students. You know, “Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I am researching this issue. I will follow up with you.” I have a folder for student concerns. When I get them, I save them. When I reply to them, I will BCC myself and then I can put that in the folder. Then I have evidence of this concern and that I responded.
How do you keep yourself from burning out?
Number one, I've created a good group of friend/colleagues within the dean group — people I can send snarky texts to or people that I can vent to, and I don't ever have to worry about how that looks. People I can go out and have a drink with, you know, that sort of stuff. And then, my spouse is my lifeline.
The other thing I'll do is allow myself during the day to just pop on to the New York Times and they have a Spelling Bee game I'll play just as a break, but it's not a totally mindless break. I'm still actually using my brain.
I don't check email after work is over. I don't have notifications on my phone. I try not to even open up my Outlook on my phone. That's a good one. All of my department chairs, all of my staff, they all have my cell phone number, so if they need me for something and it's Friday or Saturday, they'll text me. And then I just try to take vacation, although that doesn't always happen.
One of my department chairs asked me the other day about whether or not I had plans on leaving. He said, “You know, I've discovered that the dean job is fairly well known in the district as the hardest job, and so people don't tend to last in it very long.” I ended up saying, “I'm not ready to leave this job until I feel like I'm doing a better job.”
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Something to think about:
“We cannot let the fear that we can’t do everything keep us from doing something. ”
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The Rabbit Hole (resources, content, etc. that are relevant to the job):
YouTube (6 minutes): How to use Microsoft Outlook Advanced Search
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