Welcoming Students Back to School

For nearly twenty years now, I've been greeting new students and their parents as the students move into the UMD residence halls for the first time.  It is an exciting time for families.  Students are both eager and apprehensive about starting this new phase of their lives.  Parents are proud of their kids but missing them already.  It is fun to meet them and encourage them to share just a little of their life stories.

I just came from the Chancellor's Convocation, an event for new students intended to infect them with our enthusiasm, open their minds to our shared values, and encourage them to be successful.  As I looked out over the sea of student faces, I wondered which of these students will become our leaders of tomorrow.  I also greeted some of our returning students, and I saw for myself how they are expanding into their maturity and emerging as leaders.  The president of our Student Association spoke to the new students, talking about how she never anticipated where she would be today when she was a new student three years ago.

On Monday, I will be offering a workshop to a small group of students titled, "Building Friendships and Influencing Others." This workshop is based on the article, "Building Relationships," by Brian McDonald of MOR Associates, Inc.  Of all the lessons I have learned from Brian and others at MOR, the four Is of initiative, inquire, invest, and influence had the most profound impact on me, and I am hoping to pass it on.

For those of you who work in education, enjoy this time of year.  Meet some new students, and encourage them.  We are all responsible for helping them to succeed.  Some of them will become great leaders, and many others will provide leadership at different levels.  Show them how we do it.

Excitement or Stress?

It's the time of year when most of us in service organizations in higher education are moving at a very fast pace.  Our freshmen arrive on campus next Wednesday, and classes begin the following Tuesday.  We are putting the finishing touches on all of those projects that we want to have done before classes begin.

We in IT work hard all year long, and summer is no exception.  We try to use summer to focus on large projects that could impact services, but increasingly we find that there is no down time to our year, and there are fewer times that have minimal customer impact.  So finding time to make major changes is a challenge.

Despite all this, it is exciting to think about students returning to campus.  Much as I hate to see summer come to an end, students are the reason we are all here, and we look forward to seeing our students share the technology we provide.  We also look forward to having our valued student employees return to campus.  Some student employees work for us through the summer, but many return home to work or complete an internship.  We know we cannot deliver the quality of service we do without their contributions, so we welcome them back with open arms.

I welcome the excitement that comes this time of year, but I have to be careful to manage my stress and watch over our staff.  Excitement can switch to stressed-out in the blink of any eye.  Stress often pops up when that project you were just about to finish runs into a roadblock.  At those times, I try to step back, take a deep breath, and then start making contingency plans.  When you are in the heat of the moment, it may seem like a huge deal when something goes wrong, but it is rare when you can't recover, find a new way, or ask for help.  Occasionally the best solution is to slow down a little, extend your time line, and make sure you are getting it right.  Other times, you need to shut your door, put your head down, and push through.

So whether you are excited or whether you are stressed, remember to take care of yourself this time of year.  Get some exercise.  Take a break.  Sound off to a friend or colleague.  Taking care of yourself enables you to enjoy the excitement and minimize the stress.  Happy start of school to all!

Developing a New Process

Developing a new process can be a real challenge, both for leaders and for participants.  It can even become painful when people's feelings are involved. 

Here is an example from our department.   Earlier in the summer we created a regular technology coordination meeting.  The purpose of this meeting is to allow a project team to tell other interested staff about their project and seek input before moving ahead with implementation.  The rub comes when a team, which has been working very hard on a project, receives feedback from others that the project isn't ready to go.  Or even if the project is ready to go, a team may be asked many questions, leading the team members to feel that they are "being beat up," or "not trusted to do their jobs."  And  those doing the questioning may feel that their concerns are not being adequately addressed or that the work they need to do to support the project is being dumped on them at the last minute.

This meeting, and the change management process that it supports, has been a very valuable effort, in my opinion.  But I don't like to see people's feelings being hurt.  I keep trying to remind myself that conflict can be a good thing, but it doesn't always feel very good when you are in the middle of it.  I talked with several staff members today, and when I mentioned feelings, one told me, "I don't have feelings."  This made us both laugh.  Feelings are difficult to work with in the high-tech world.

Because I want this new process to evolve and be successful, I'm optimistic that we will all learn from the experience and get better at working together at our coordination meetings.  Feelings are important, so we need to learn to get the issues on the table without too much ego damage.  And in the end, I am confident that the changes we make will be better planned and have less negative impact on our customers.

What To Do When You're Tired

I'm tired today.  I've been pushing hard this week, and I didn't sleep all that well last night.  But I'm still at work and trying to be as productive as I can.  So what should you do when you are tired?

• Get some rest.  This seems obvious, but I'm constantly surprised at the number of people who push themselves through day after tired day without addressing the underlying problem.  I'll definitely sleep well tonight.  I make sleep and rest a priority, because I know I work best when I'm rested.
• Do something fun or relaxing.  I've got a weekend coming up, and I definitely want to enjoy myself.  Relaxing is different than sleeping.  It involves really getting away from work and giving yourself the down time you need.  I have a hobby that I enjoy, so I'll spend time on that this weekend.  Try to turn your brain away from work so that when you return to work, you'll be refreshed.
• Get some of the easy stuff out of the way.  This can be dangerous advice, because I can easily be tempted to spend way too much time on the easy stuff and never get to the important and more difficult work.  But on a day like today, when I know I'm not at my peak, clearing away some of the things that must be done but don't take too much brain power seems like a good strategy.
• Get up and move.  Walk around to clear your head.  Talk with a colleague.  Moving your body helps clear your mind.  Even a five-minute break can help.
• Get some help.  If you find that you are having more than an occasional tired day, you may need some help to make a major change in your life.  Seek advice from someone you trust.  Ask your manager to help you look at your work load and determine what could change.  If you think you might be depressed or ill, seek professional advice.

I'll be back on Monday, and I'm sure it will be a better day.