Professional Development & Team building

1. Professional Development & Team building By Cindy dooling

2. Discussion • What is the value of professional development? • How do you encourage participation? • How do you develop team work? • What activities have been successful? Why? • What activities have not been successful? Why? • What practical strategies can you use to create a professional development culture? • What is your department professional development budget?

3. Pima Community College • Located in Tucson, Arizona/Pima County • Primarily serves southern Arizona • One of the largest multi-campus community colleges • Serves over 60,000 students annually (credit and non-credit) • Over 360 full-time instructors • Nearly 1,000 full time staff • 84 IT staff • 43 User Support Services staff • Over 7,000 computers and 800 mobile systems

5. IT Reorganization • Began July 2012 • Focus to: • establish standards – develop best practices • insure consistency of service across the college • address College policy issues • develop mechanisms to educate and update campus Presidents regarding technology-related activities.

6. Partial list of goals • Develop staff knowledge, skills and abilities through a commitment to: • Professional development • Talent development • Requirement of appropriate up-to-date industry certifications • Improve understanding of technology-related issues • Improve service and support through: • A plan for staff deployment district wide when needed

7. Professional development activities • Teambuilding • Technical – General and Specific • Strategy discussions • Professional and personal development • Leadership development

8. All it staff • Lunchtime Brown Bag presentations • Book Club • Myers-Briggs • Table Topics • An Amazing IT Race

9. User Support Services staff • Technical training • Tech Swap • Peer Panel presentations • ExploreIT • Job Shadowing • Professional certifications – IT Academy; Certified Software Manager • Strengths Finder • Emotional Intelligence • Competition

10. Brown Bag Topics • Apple volume purchase options and iPad configuration template • SmartSlates • PowerShell presentation • Malware prevention • Group Policy/Active Directory • Nitro security • Backups - retention and restoration process • Desktop management tools • Hacking • Linux for Pima

11. Book club • Getting Things Done by David Allen • The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – Stephen R. Covey • Influencer –The Power To Change Anything – Patterson, Grenny, Maxfield, McMillan, Switzler • The Speed of Trust - Stephen M. R. Covey • Strengths Finder – Tom Rath

12. Technical training • Customer Service and Telephone Protocol • Group Policy and Active Directory • Ticket or No Ticket – Footprints training • Microsoft Deployment Tools (MDT) • Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) • BackupExec

13. Tech Swap • Technicians and Specialists trade locations • Volunteer • Cross training • Networking • Share techniques • Goal for standardizing end-user experience

14. competition • WSUS progress • How to motivate? • They were checking on each other’s progress

15. Windows patch compliance

16. Windows update compliance

17. competition

18. Let them shine • Peer panel presentations – debate on mobile technologies • ExploreIT – show off various technologies in use at different campuses • Apple TV • InFocus collaboration • Hands-on various mobile devices

19. Peer panel – mobile debate

20. Peer demonstrations

21. Peer demonstration – 3d printer

22. Professional training and certifications • IT Academy – discounts on exams • Certified Software Manager • A+, Network+ • Highlight various online programs through Skillsoft - Skillport

23. Job shadowing • Gain information about possible future career interests • Observe the daily routine of the IT host/mentor • Gain insight to the academic, technical, and personal skills required by a particular occupation • Gain information to assist with in goal setting and educational planning • Develop contacts for future opportunities

24. Mix ‘em up! • Encouraged mixing - not successful • Alphabetical by last name – sorta successful • Alphabetical by first name – somewhat successful

25. Table assignments

26. Mix ‘em up – Success!! • Color-coded - a WINNER!! • Draw a colored chip from a bag • Sit at color matched table

27. Amazing Race

29. The amazing race • Food • Peers • Traversing the campus • Working together to solve riddles • Better understanding of each other’s roles • Fun • Competition

30. Amazing race • More competition!

31. Keys to success • Interesting /timely topics • Listening to staff questions/concerns • Flexible schedule • Time – no longer than 2 hours unless includes a meal • Food • Interactions – Q&A, informal discussions, getting out of the seat

32. Discussion • What is the value of professional development? • Morale improvement • Fun workplace in morning • Opportunities for advancement – possibilities • Same training/expectations • Exploring new areas • Comfortable in role • Improved cooperation between peers • Indirectly = peer evaluations • Group activities – • Break down silos

33. Discussion • How do you develop teamwork? • Annual technology expo • Gave out new hardware to staff with 30 day trial and present to department; afterwards switched devices • Annual pro dev plans and meet quarterly to see how it’s going; can help with training • Develop and internal communication plan with feedback from staff

34. Discussion • How do you encourage participation?

35. Discussion • What activities have been successful? Why? • Mandatory customer service training initially; later a mini-session was presented for 2 hours instead of 8; “give ‘em a pickle”; showed the value of the training • Offering food/bribe • Some push-back over lunctime training; helps if topics are self chosen • Traveling between locations can cause pushback; morning sessions are part of the morning and afternoon is done late in the day so you finish; can provide transportation; come for the swag/IT ducks • “Mandatory” holiday party; IT black tie affair; throw the swag into other programming • How do you deal with pushback? Emphasize with supervisors importance; offer at different times and work with supervisor • Who designs programs? What’s HR’s role? Incentive- to get a raise you have to do something, of which these qualify; Cindy is the planner for these events; sometimes the IT staff lead the way

36. Discussion • What activities have not been successful? Why?

37. Discussion • What practical strategies can you use to create a professional development culture? • Start small/grass roots; ex. Lunch-time lightning talks • Provide info after attending a training and offering more info if requested; encourage discussion from many others at different conferences • Created peer group meetings

38. Discussion • What is your department professional development budget? • Educause survey was about $700/person on average • Budget can be driven top-down; having upper management support is very helpful when they have buy-in • Travel budget can be separate from professional development • Can be issues deciding who gets to go and who doesn’t • No money for raises, so do professional development instead; IT re-org was a catalyst along with CIO • Technical training seems to be valued more, but is more expensive; cross-training can be unpopular; conferences can be lowest on the list • Directors and CIO look at a pro dev plan and allocate money to departments, with each department having their own, too • Brining an on-site trainer can help • Training can cause people to leave the institution; out-of-state training can be politically minded • Sometimes you need to present • Differences between technical training versus conferences • Blogging about what they’ve learned; short conference report; possibly formal presentation

39. Professional development budget can be challenging; how do you do it with no money? • Regional events; reach out to peer institutions; training from internal staff that have the desire skillsets; seek support from other departments than IT; local SIGUCCS chapter because it’s local; your institution can offer to host; host can provide meeting space/food; timing is everything; find out who state/regional host is for your area in-state; creating an all-inclusive conference event; offer discount for speakers • Job climate survey • IT staff can sometimes reflect the institution’s other staff; routine assessment can be helpful, along with customer satisfaction; developing tracks allows you to justify advancement; entitlement can be a challenge; what is their value they’ve provided?; pro dev needs to be initiated by you;

40. How have you provided options to advance from tech to manager? • Sometimes you need to leave to advance, even at Apple • Lynda.com and Safari books; Kahn Academy

41. Thank you! • Cindy Dooling • Director – IT, User Support Services • Pima Community College • Tucson, Arizona • cdooling@pima.edu