Open Systems Theory

Time to implement a new vision to help support the Student Affairs mission.

Open Systems Theory- This is the idea that motivates organisms to be open systems which input energy and information from the outside environment, transforming those inputs into outputs of goods and services and then exporting those outputs back into the environment. The environment will then provide feedback which will start the process all over again.

How can this be applied to Residence Life? If we consider who our client is it can make us more efficient to the needs of the residential community. We as Resident Staff can avoid making decisions based on unscientific assumptions and common sense. If those ideas become dis-useful the community will reject them through feedback and provide recommendation for an newly evolved product.

Culture is evolving so quickly it is important that residential community ideas are evolving with them.

What P.F. Drucker taught me today....

"Successful Leaders don't start out asking, "What do I want to do?" They ask, "What needs to be done."
-Richard Karlgaard


"For the Authority of Knowledge is surely as legitimate as the authority of position."
-P.F. Drucker

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My copyrited quote for your day! The value of the working person within your organization...

I had a supervisor once that would seem to relish in the opportunity of reminding us subordinates (what seemed every other day) "You are replaceable. There is a line of people waiting for your position."

Personally, I do not think this supervisor was actually attempting to be rude or mean but just make a point that there ARE people who could easily fill one of our spots if we were to ever move on, complained or were faced with termination. Non the less I don't believe any of us who ever heard this quote took it as a compliment. Rather I believe it really removed from us a bit of personal dignity every time it was said.

I have thought about it over the years and through experience realized there is a better way for structuring this quote that has strength, encouragement, praise as well as an awakening reminder. It is loosely based on the idea of the valued importance of taking care of your internal customers (employees) equally as well as your external customers (the consumer).

"You cannot replace good employees. These gems are invaluable to a company, coveted among the workforce. But you have to replace difficult employees. They are the catalysis for organizational entropy. "

Copyrited quote- Welcome to Synergy Cafe, Director of Residence Life Blogger (yup, your friend J.)

This is a personal reflection from an excerpt of A Carrot A Day: A Daily Dose of Recognition for your employees. by Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton.

Recognition must be focused on the right behaviors

What is most important to me as a supervisor?

What specific actions do I value?

What values will I recognize from my staff and theirs?

That can be determined by answering some important questions and recognizing some important aspects of our position as a synergetical organization (Synergetical... is that even a word??).

1. Why are we here? Why do we even have a job?- Students living on campus in our residence halls. They are, in essence, our customer and our client. Their level of happiness and satisfaction is essentially our job security. Effective and reliable customer and clientele service. Our motto/mantra- A Customer Service Approach towards our Clientele.


2. The timely completion of our responsibilities affect the ability of others within the organization's to meet their own responsibilities. Initiative and timely completion of responsibilities, deadlines and projects.


3. Who are we working for and do we recognize and trust their level of accomplishments and experience over our own? This question is essential because it asks the overall question of are we motivated to help our supervisors succeed as much as we wish to success for ourselves? Proper attitude and behavior. Integrity. The ability to be led.


4. Our internal customers are just as valuable as our external customers in regards to our success. They can only be as effective as the leadership they are given. Effective and influential leadership. Respect for the dignity and integrity of resident staff and the community.


5. The ability to be a team player and take initiative, make sacrifices and take responsibility of one's own work and responsibility so another colleague doesn't have to is vital for cohesiveness within the organization as well as proper synergy. Support the department by taking initiate, sacrificing and meeting and exceeding the same standard that the rest of the team is responsible for.


6. The condition of one's residence hall tells a lot about the level of respect he/she has for their position as well as the level of pride they have for what they have been given responsibility for (i.e. the condition of the residence halls). Integrity, Pride and commitment to what one has been given responsibility for.

So if I was to list for my employees (and I soon will) describing what values staff member can expect to be recognized the list would be as follows-

• Proper over-all attitude/opinion and and personal behavior towards the department and University as a whole.


• Willingness to take initiative


• Personal Integrity


• Ability to keep and exceed department deadlines


• Ability to be led and taught. To willfully, thoroughly and timely follow supervisor's instructions/directions.


• Relationship building skills in regards to the residential community.


• Relationship building skills in regards to supervisor and teamwork and adoption and application of the synergy concept.


• Ability to follow all departmental guidelines and hold accountable those in residential community who do not follow guidelines and Student Code of Conduct.


• Ability to effectively manage and supervise a resident staff.


• Level of personal pride manifested in the care and condition of one's residence hall.

And as always friends- There are no problems, just challenges and opportunities for greatness.
-J

We are not enemies but friends...

What a great quote that united a nation after the inaugural of Abraham Lincoln!

I like it even more as an application to a team of individuals who have a unified vision for young people but may have different competitive strategies for a common good.

I believe I am going to print this, frame it and place it in my office to constantly remind me of how much of a blessing the people I work with really are to me especially in the midst of a conflicting situation in regards to policy decision makings.

along with my soon to be office banner "Welcome to the Synergy Cafe!"

"We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battle-field, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearth-stone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."

-Abraham Lincoln, March 4, 1861.

A stumble may prevent a fall...

Sometimes the greatest favor you can

do for someone is fire them...

Letting someone go from a job never is easy. You never want to be that guy. I mean, we are talking about disrupting a livelihood here. That is why I believe in

• Proper training and close supervision in the beginning (I am trying to create a no hassle, uber-informative training orientation as we speak).
• When the first problem arises it is essential to take the problem to the employee that is responsible and show him/her the challenge that is before them. Sometimes people just need to be made aware...
• Then if that doesn't seem to rectify the problem I may try to do a little deeper mentoring. Maybe go over orientation and expectations once again with the acknowledgement that the position is on the line.
• If this doesn't give me the results our department needs it is time to show them the door. And sometimes you cannot wait till a third time to terminate. You may need to do it immediately the first time.
  

This may really sound cold and uncaring but many in this field will tell you that a problem employee is always every one's problem and not just your problem. Their insubordinate behavior affects every one's ability to work at 120%.
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I am reminded of a time in which we had an employee that made work-life difficult for not just myself, his immediate supervisor and his colleagues but also for other persons in other departments as well as some of our partners from the community.

This was workplace incivility at it's finest and it was affecting us all. His supervisor tried his best to work with this person and help save his job but this was the sort of individual who didn't seem to get it and really didn't want to get it. And we were all getting a piece of it and this was hurting all of our job performances.

In the end our supervisor did the right thing, the difficult thing. He did what he had to do even though it wasn't what he wanted to do. He did what was best for the department and what was best for those of us who were giving 120% to the job we loved and the people we cared about.

We wished our former colleague the best in whatever endeavors he had in the future. All emotions aside, he is still a human being and has great intrinsic value (Romans 12:13-21) but this place just wasn't the right place for him.
_____


If I have an employee who is a "go-getter," someone who puts a lot of initiative, time and love into what they do and then I have someone who either doesn't seem to get it or doesn't seem to want to get it, I will always reward rather than punish loyalty and devotion. Keep the good and remove the bad.
_____


It is important to remove your distractions quickly before they leave an infectious mark on your department. A mark that could remain a distraction you may not be able to remove long after the employee is gone.
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Life lesson: Sometimes the best favor you can do for someone is to fire them. This may be the wake-up call they needed. So what do you think could be the worse thing you can do for that same someone? Yep, just keep them around.

It is a great way to encourage and intensify their disruptive behavior which sooner than later becomes a distraction and difficulty for everyone.

Please don't forget friends- There are no problems, just challenges and opportunities for greatness.

-J

Companies do what the Boss does....

I love this statement from Jeffrey J. Fox's book How to become a great boss. If you have been a manager for quite some time you would probably agree with his statement from experiences both good and challenging...





Companies do what the boss does-


People take their cues from their boss. The boss sets the tone and the standards. the boss sets the example... If the boss is polite, rude people don't last. If the boss accepts mediocrity, mediocrity is what she gets.

If the boss is innovative and inventive, the company looks for opportunities. If the boss does everyone's job, the employees will let him. If the boss gives everyone in the organization a World Series ring, then everyone wants to win the World Series (p. 6-7).

Personally, I have always had a personal policy in regards to proper behavior towards employees when it comes to chastisement. I certainly would not appreciate an employee raising their voice at me in public or private. I would expect my employees to have enough respect for me to request a private meeting in regards to any personal concerns they might have instead of doing it in public. And I would certainly hope that my staff would give me the benefit of the doubt in regards to possible misinformation they have received or witnessed.

So I feel that as a supervisor I need to set the example. I would not wish this sort of behavior on my staff and thus I certainly do not wish to make my staff feel the way I would if someone working for me did these things to me. They are valuable investments and human beings with inherent value.

Now of course since I do not make it a policy to behave this way towards my staff I certainly will not tolerate such behavior from them towards myself (and I have had to pull staff members aside once or twice to address this a time or two...). I believe though that I must be a teacher first before becoming some disciplinarian, a Team Leader before becoming a "Boss".

Some people just need to be kindly (though sternly) reminded once. We are all human...

Please don't forget friends- There are no problems, just challenges and opportunities for greatness.
-J