Unintended Consequences
My local gym has a new key checkout policy.
It seems that some members (and maybe kids bored between basketball games) had become a bit lax in how the equipment in a particular room was being treated and there was some ongoing damage. Hoping to solve the problem, management instituted a new key checkout policy to better track who had access to the room. As any SA pro can tell you, the change in that policy helped solve one problem, but the ripple has caused a new one: now there is increased traffic at the front desk so arranging other services is cumbersome.
On your campus or in your unit, you’ve made a lot of adjustments over the last year to accommodate COVID protocols or manage the impacts of shifting enrollment or hybrid work/learning. How are your systems “talking” to each other? Where have you found new compaction of service or time that could be eased? Have you created any unintended consequences?
The folks most likely to know the issues are those who are the end-users, those who serve them, and a combination of your team members who interface with one another’s systems. People tend to solve the kinks in the systems they manage, but are less likely to solve the ones that are effects of the new protocols. As a result, members of your team may not even realize what their changes are causing downstream. (In my gym, I’m betting the increased traffic at the desk isn’t noticed by folks in the equipment room.)
What can you do?
This fall, ask your team members to pay special attention to any changes in systems, protocols, forms or trends that your campus has instituted and identify how those have created new efficiencies (or inefficiencies). Ask them to bring these topics to your attention as a group and see if you can solve them together. You can also ask them to do a mock run-through of your systems, pretending to be a student or staff user and discover what the overall experiences are in today’s environment.
Your team will appreciate the attention to making their lives – and the lives of students – easier and more effective. Bonus: reviewing your systems will identify things you are doing well as a team and provide an opportunity to express your appreciation to everyone along the way!
