Serving Satisfaction

10/10/11 Serving Satisfaction     

We have chosen a career where we serve others. We work in a serving capacity. Our activities and programming at Delta College provide a unique opportunity to so greatly affect people on a daily basis. We are passing to others the benefits we have received that have propelled us to this point. We are paying it forward, and we believe that society benefits as a whole because those we are helping will pay it forward too. Consider this quote from Clarence E. Hodges, “I have been the recipient of love and service, therefore I can love and serve. There is great satisfaction in service to others, in seeing people and their conditions change.” We are changing lives and changing the world!

Not Feeling Well but Assured

3/25/13 Not Feeling Well but Assured

In the same breath that I might encourage a staff member that I value their work and appreciate their dedication, I might also remind them that anyone of us could be hit by a truck on any given day. Ouch! Why would I go there? Well, it is an important consideration with the undertaking of any process, task, program and new policy. Someone else should know how to access the information for any project we work on. We should always write directions for those who will come after us… because they WILL come after us. Everyone is replaceable, but we should work to ensure smooth transitions and operations in the times when we have to replace the work done by someone due to a happy event like retirement or a FMLA for birth or, in the tough situation of, an illness or injury. As always, we have a number of major events coming up. Let’s make sure that we have our “bases covered” with a tidy file that anyone could grab to pick up where someone else left off. We might need to stammer a little and muddle through, but we must provide great service and quality programming. So, if you aren’t feeling well, you can rest assured that we will muster on! 

The Luck O’ The…Intentional?

3/11/13 The Luck O’ The…Intentional?

St. Patrick’s Day is coming. It’s a time when we might think about the concept of Luck… and maybe whether it might “come our way.” Over the last few years, our office has been remarkably successful in providing outstanding service to our students and community partners, and we have maximized our resources in the face of diminishing budgets and the number of staff. Have we just been lucky? Maybe, right? But what is luck anyway? In past quips, I have repeated a great definition of success as the confluence of preparation and opportunity. Is luck (fate/kismet/destiny/providence/instant karma) in the opportunity? Maybe. But, don’t we make our own opportunities, too, when we keep our heads up and make our brains aware of them. And, when has anyone ever been successful when they couldn't capitalize on an opportunity because they weren't prepared? We can NEVER get so lost in the crises of the moment that we cease to plan and prepare and be ready for an opportunity. We must intentionally set aside a portion of our time and attention to the consideration of new opportunities and to the creation of an environment that allows them to incubate. As Ernest Hemingway said, we must never stop doing what we do and being the best we can be because sometimes we will have “good luck” and become “better than we can” be. Let’s be intentionally lucky. 

Service from a Distance

2/25/13 Service from a Distance

Increasingly, we conduct business with and provide services to our students in online  environments. We utilize the obvious email and web-site help forums but also social media and now Skype. For those of us who have been working in face-to-face student service and customer service jobs for a long time may find these virtual communications mediums a little uncomfortable. But this is the reality of the expectations of our digital native customers. We are used to “connecting” with our students in-person. We know and see the benefits of that personal connection. Yet, students don’t always feel the need to connect interpersonally with a human. Frequently they just want their needs met and have a built-in expectation that we would provide just as excellent and comprehensive service online as we do in-person. This, then, leaves us with (at least) two challenges… Provide outstanding service online and be cognizant of the consideration that many of our F2F customers might not be comfortable interacting in online environments. Are we meeting that challenge and exceeding those expectations?

Gratitude

9/26/11 Gratitude           

Delta College is a community supported endeavor. And, we are here only for one reason, to facilitate student success. We have the opportunity to be thankful for the interactions we get to have with our VERY diverse student, alumni and coworker community of customers. But being thankful is not enough. William Arthur Ward said, “Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” Gratitude is an investment that costs naught but a second, yet pays in virtually immeasurable dividends of good will, increased productivity and positive feelings.  You were given 86,400 seconds today. Could you spend just one of them saying, “Thank you”? And, please accept my thanks to you for your gift to us of your time, talents and positive attitude. YOU make this office and college a great place to work, learn and grow.

No Excuses for Not Planning

9/12/11 No Excuses for Not Planning

It's been said that "Failing to plan is planning to fail." The mission of our institution does not change. We are usually glad to be beholden to it. But, there are times when we allow excuses to creep in about why we can't fulfill our mission... "We are too busy to..." Busyness is our number one excuse, but it is always really about priorities. We hide behind busyness but we must instead think about what must be done, what should be done, what is getting done, when things are getting done, and- the hardest- what must be discarded. In an age of increasingly limited staff time and financial resources, something has to give- without sacrificing the mission. So, yes, we DO have time to meet and strategize and prioritize because we are more likely to fail to meet the mission otherwise.

“Hustle” in the workplace

8/29/11 “Hustle” in the workplace

You may have heard me use the word "hustle" in the context of career advising with someone. While it could have negative connotations, I only use it in respect for someone who is always ready to step up and seize- or create- an opportunity. Success is frequently defined as the convergence of preparation and opportunity. If the opportunity comes and one is not prepared, nothing happens. If one spends all of his or her time getting prepared but fails to seize an opportunity (usually from fear of failure), again nothing happens. A "hustler" is one who is simultaneously very aware of his/her skills and ALWAYS looking for the opportunity to exploit them for the greatest gain. We can NEVER be so immersed in the immediate that we never come up for breath long enough to see the opportunity. Conversely, we have to attend to daily and ongoing projects appropriately and not only continually look to the horizon for the 'next big thing'. The best "hustler" in the workplace finds the balance for both.