This week it was officially announced that I accepted an Assistant Dean position, and this position will begin on July 1st. I think there are benefits to a faculty member at a university rising up to leadership, but I am also not naïve and I know there is probably a fair amount of skepticism from my colleagues. I typically am good about “staying in my lane”, putting my head down, and getting work accomplished. This will serve me well and my ability to compartmentalize will most likely be an asset in this new role.
Even knowing this, I want to approach this role proactively, and although some are not celebrating that it is me who was appointed, they can celebrate that a faculty member was asked to assist in leading. I think this sentiment starts with acknowledgment, being open to suggestions, hearing everyone’s voice, and elevating these. I am thinking about doing this for faculty and staff through a small anonymous survey to hear their current state of thinking and impressions (both good and bad) of the organization. I would like to start with this and once I have my steep learning curve (at the end of my first semester), ask for additional feedback in hopes of creating a culture of open sharing where people can feel they can give constructive feedback that leads to improvement—improvement in both the organization and in my own leadership development. Not knowing all that role encompasses yet, I can’t construct this current opinion/suggestion gathering based on the job description or role. I can, however, construct it more generally to seek feedback about their ‘fit’ in the organization and how they would drive change. My thoughts are to provide sentence stems (thank you, special education teacher training) for individuals to complete the statement. Right now, I’m thinking my sentence stems are: One small operational change the MSOE could make that would make my work life easier is… I want to know more from the Dean’s Office about… Communication about important initiatives and/or changes would be better if… I would feel more appreciated if… I think the students would be more satisfied with their experience if… The best thing about my job is… I think these sentence stems would allow individuals an opportunity to weigh in on operations, communications, and what they value about their job. These statements could also be used to drive improvements in communication and make people feel valued—because, as the Five Love Languages has noted people receive messages of appreciation in different ways. The announcement was made on Monday so I think I should start collecting information this week to start thinking about suggestions and a roadmap for improvement. I know the job does not officially begin until July 1st, but part of my transition into this role can begin earlier.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorKristina Scott Archives
February 2023
Categories |