BAM! Spicing up Tech Support at Bucknell

1. BAM! Spicing up Tech Support at Bucknell Mary Ann Johansson – mjohanss@bucknell.edu Lisa Veloz – lveloz@bucknell.edu

2. Bucknell University • Private liberal arts university with 3500 students and 1000 faculty/staff http://www.bucknell.edu

3. About Our Organization • Information Services & Resources (ISR), formed in 1997, is the combination of the library and the computing services • 94 staff in the organization • 1/2 involved in Technology Support • 1/3 involved in work redesign

4. Hungry for a change • Rapidly expanding technology • Overworked staff • Repeated miscommunications with clients • Repeated miscommunications internally • Frustration: We knew we could do better

5. Are you hungry? • What needs to be done differently? • What do you do well that you could do more of? • What does your staff know can be done better? • What are you hearing from your clients?

6. What ingredients do we have? • Collaborative work environment: our way of working together based on ISR’s shared values • http://www.isr.bucknell.edu/About_ISR/values.asp • Commitment to change and improvement • Physical environment • Resources • staff • skills • $$$

7. What ingredients do you have? • What does your organization value? • How does your staff make decisions? • What type of communication do you have? • How does your staff do with change, imperfection and ambiguity? • Do you understand your client needs? • How developed are your staff’s leadership skills? • What are your resources?

8. Important rules to follow( “No metal in the microwave” ) • Everyone involved has a voice • Create win-wins wherever possible • Customer service is big picture • Follow golden rules • Keep focus on goal • Include don’t exclude • Inspire, inspire, inspire • Collaborate, collaborate, collaborate • Communicate, communicate, communicate

9. Chef’s (CIO) Golden Rules • “Progress over Perfection” • Comfortable with ambiguity • Give me: • Happy clients • Happy staff • Staff who don’t preach client self-sufficiency • Saying “no” less often and more thoughtfully • No black holes • “I stayed the hell out of the way” -- Gene Spencer – AVP of ISR

10. What are your rules? • What’s important to your CIO, administration and staff? • What’s non-negotiable? • How open can you make the process? • How do you define success? • How can you be successful in your organization?

11. Our recipe • Get the right people together • Lots of conversations about the work • Ask “What do we do well?” • Design from customer’s perspective • Focus on work that makes a difference to customers • Determine key systems and define work from there • Small groups focusing on how the work should get done • Streamline the work

12. Our recipe -- continued • Match people to the work • Druthers – “If you had your “druthers” what would you do in ISR?” • Create work groups • Let the people doing the work build processes • Build in ongoing assessment • Continuous improvement

13. Your recipe Ingredients Equal parts: Values Rules Work Resources Goals Directions • Preheat oven • Mix ingredients firmly but gently. Progress over perfection; batter may be lumpy. • Season with humor, inspiration and reassurance. Serve with generous helping of celebration!

14. There will be heat, things will burn, and milk will be spilled.

15. Don’t attempt Baked Alaska on the first try. You may have to start with Jell-O.

16. You can’t make a Martha Stewart Thanksgiving dinner over a campfire.

17. It will all work out. How? We don’t know; it always does. It’s a mystery.

18. You won’t go away hungry….Bon Apetit

19. Thank you! • Resources • The Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry • by Sue Annis Hammond • Web Address • http://www.isr.bucknell.edu • Contact Information • Mary Ann Johansson – mjohanss@bucknell.edu • Lisa Veloz – lveloz@bucknell.edu