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In this month's newsletter:
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Hybrid (ˈhīˌbrid, noun): a thing made by combining two different elements; a mixture.
As we begin the fall quarter session, the topic on employees’ minds seems to be the hybrid work schedules that are being initiated. Change is difficult, and we are being asked to move into the next phase of the pandemic, wherein we attempt to develop a new sense of normalcy. Many individuals have commented to me their uneasiness, disappointment, and concern with returning to campus. Others have asked the opposite: why can’t I return full time onsite?
As CAO of three departments in my day job, I have pondered for long how to handle the needs of the department, the wants of the staff, and the requirement to develop a glide path for returning to onsite functionality. Ultimately, it was a colleague who put this into perspective; she said, “The University has been good to us for the past 18 months, allowing us the ability to work at home, care for our families, and has provided furniture and equipment to make our home work easier. Now they are asking for a small concession on our part, to come to the office on a part-time basis to handle onsite needs. Is that really that much to ask?”
Consider hybrid work in your office. What can you do to help develop a shared work environment and what can you do to make sure it succeeds? What can you do to assist students, faculty, and colleagues with their challenges in being onsite? And, how can we create something new, that combines the best of off- and on-site elements, to develop a future successful hybrid model?
The answer begins with this quarter.
Mark Lucas
Chair, Administrative Management Group
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POWER-PACKED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WITH GUEST SPEAKER REJEANA MATHIS
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This interactive session will address how UCLA staff can improve their skills and competency for success in the workplace. Attendees will explore how to ensure alignment between their strengths, development plans, and the University’s evolving needs. CHR Learning & Organizational Development will share an overview of the numerous professional development opportunities available at UCLA and beyond.
Event Details:
Thursday, September 23, 2021
12:00-1:00 PM
REGISTER HERE
RSVP by September 22nd, 12:00 PM
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TIPS & TRICKS FOR MANAGING PRODUCTIVITY
AND WELL-BEING OF HYBRID TEAMS
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Nancy Velasquez
Nancy Velasquez is the Chief Administrative Officer at the UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment. Nancy has worked at UCLA over 20 years, in various administrative roles from Fund Management, Operations, Finance, and Management. She has been involved with AMG for several years, and enjoys collaborating with members to achieve opportunities for professional growth and development.
- Monthly check-in meetings with direct reports. Having one-on-one meetings builds a relationship with my staff, which allows me to gain an understanding of the employees personal and workplace challenges that employees are facing in a hybrid and remote environment. These meetings inform the decisions and practices I then choose to implement. Leading with compassion and understanding is beneficial to the well-being of both your employees and the department.
- Establish practices that are standard across all units and teams within your department. We have forms that are used across the board to make various requests. Establishing structured practices is the foundation to keeping everyone on the same page.
- Sometimes life happens and family emergencies or obligations arise for employees working from home. Allow for flexibility while maintaining open communication and setting clear expectations of the employee’s role and responsibilities.
- To manage productivity for remote teams, we create deadlines for every project. I’m not keen on micromanaging; having built trust and open communication through our monthly check-ins, I give employees autonomy to work at their own pace. If deadlines and expectations are not met, it is the responsibility as a manager to then meet with the employee and understand the situation and help get the employee back on track.
Ennily Chan
Ennily is the CFO for UCLA Radiology Department. Ennily has been with the University for almost 13 years primarily in financial and management roles. Her previous professional experience was in budgeting and financial planning in a Fortune 50 company. She has an undergraduate degree in Psychology with Business Specialization from UCLA and an MBA from the USC Marshall School of Business.
- Zoom training wasn't as effective as in person training for the new employees who began their employment after the quarantine. Now, trainees are informed before the training sessions to create a step-by-step training manual for the tasks they will be trained for. This shifts the focus to a “purpose” learning and promotes interactive learning environments. During the training, the trainer reinforces the trainee’s understanding by asking the trainee to repeat the process as they understood to solidify their learning, this also gives the trainer the opportunity to clarify any confusion
- Set aside a block of “deep work” time to focus to complete tasks/deliverables. During this “focused” time, we are not expected to respond to texts on TEAM/SLACK or emails immediately. However, we are still expected to be readily available if anything urgent comes up and signify such urgency (via text on TEAM or our cellular) if immediate attention is needed.
- We communicated to our team that - if the outage is unexpected, we are expected to find alternatives locally. If the outage is planned or prolonged, then we are encouraged to work onsite to avoid work disruptions.
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Employee Experience, empathy and the new world of hybrid work: An interview with Citrix's Chris Voce
How do we create the conditions for engagement within the workforce? Chris Voce, who is a Customer Engagement Strategist at Citrix shares some insights from a recent study on hybrid work. Voce examines the common set of principles found in workplaces that effectively manage hybrid work: empowering individual progress, deepening empathy, and creating internal partnership.
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Future of Work: Digital Video Series
Future of Work is a three-part PBS broadcast series exploring monumental changes in the workplace and the long-term impact on workers, employers, educators, and communities.
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6 Productivity Tips for Your New Hybrid Work Life
How do you keep up your momentum and productivity when you’re switching locations? How can you stay organized and ensure that everything you need (files, devices and tech accessories, and personal items) is available all the time?
Hybrid work: 6 more ways to enable asynchronous collaboration
This short article shares best practices for asynchronous collaboration in the era of hybrid work.
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MONTHLY THOUGHTS
Comics of the Month:
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FEEDBACK
What do you want to see in future issues of the AMG Newsletter?
Please e-mail us and let us know! amgbruin@ucla.edu
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The UCLA Administrative Management Group (AMG) is devoted to the professional development of managers on campus, and those who aspire to become managers.
AMG is a campus organization whose mission is to:
- Provide opportunities for professional growth and development
- Create a forum for effective communication between academic, administrative and service managers and professionals at UCLA
- Become a sounding board for implementing new processes
- Provide the University with a pool of talented professionals
- Establish a vehicle for discussion of common concerns, challenges,
and solutions; and to share knowledge and expertise
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