Written with Katie Lewis from the University of Central Florida
Oh hey! Welcome to the community.
Crisis management, adaptability, and flexibility are nothing new to Housing and Residence Life. This parabola amplified our need to address our own anxieties and uncertainties, while juggling the support we continue to show for residents and staff who turn to us for answers and comfort. With soft hearts and strong backs, we morphed into virtual reality for 2020-2021. With many colleges and universities displaying strong desires of in-person, we are tasked to reflect, evaluate, and strategize. We have known for years that community, belongingness, and connections are critical to our departmental and institutional foundations. Looking ahead, we ponder, what did we learn this year that will help steer our ship next year?
You are a Changemaker
If no one told you this today, let us say it together loud and clear: you are a resilient changemaker. You have been tasked to stretch your creativity by tossing traditional processes out the metaphorical window. Heck, in some cases, that was long overdue. In other cases, that was nerve-racking. Across the board, many of our departments revamped move-in processes, reconfigured bed spaces, and took out group-process in staff hiring practices. We went from sardine-packing common lounges for game nights to figuring out how Zoom works and hoping a few residents will log on so we could facilitate virtual trivia night.
Work-life paradigms blended even more as staff were asked to work from home. With the academic year 2020-2021 closing its doors, and while we are not out of the woods of this panini just yet, we implore you and your teams to consider what you learned and what you would like to move forward with. Shannon Corey from Georgia State University (GSU) said, “A lesson (as it certainly wasn’t the only one) we learned early on was the need to evaluate what we could let go. This year posed so many challenges that some initiatives and plans had to be postponed, re-designed, or simply canceled. They were hard decisions but necessary ones.”
The KTI Approach
It is time to tidy up our year. Think about what to Keep, what to Toss, and what to Imagineer (KTI) (Disney reference intended). During the early stages of planning this article, we were curious about what departments would put in their time capsule from this past academic year for future generations to unveil. Good ol’ Wikipedia defines a time capsule as “a historic cache of goods or information, usually intended as a deliberate method of communication with future people.” To fill your time capsule, we have a request:
- Connect with your team.
- Set a timer for 15 minutes.
- Open up a word document.
- Press start on the timer.
- Consult and jot down all the things you did this year.
- Do not stop typing until you reach 15 minutes.
As you go through your list, utilize an approach, such as KTI, to process and plan for next year. You might be curious to know what some of those things might be. So, we asked a few colleagues to share some of their insight from this past year. Below are a few themes that surfaced!
Work From Home
While not a possibility for all Housing and Residence Life staff, consider Work From Home as an example you might imagineer. Steve Syoen from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) appreciated getting to know his colleagues on another level. “The glimmers of life outside of the office…children, pets, significant others, personal taste in how they decorate their homes makes people more human.” You may choose to keep a day or two to work from home, allowing staff to showcase other aspects of their lives while maintaining productivity.
“The demands of work don’t always occur between 9 AM – 5 PM, and the demands of life certainly don’t wait until after hours. Remote work – in whatever quantity – has allowed for greater individualization of work/life balance,” added Laura Jo Rieske from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). As you consider the work environment of your staff from the past year, what aspects do you want to keep, toss, and imagineer?
Staff Selection
Staff selection is another process that caused institutions to reinvent processes and let go of traditions for the sake of traditions. In many cases, revamped approaches resulted in more efficient practices that allowed staff and applicants to be more comfortable. Laura Jo shared they may choose to keep the entirely virtual RA interview processes at VCU. “We wanted to keep the spirit and energy of an in-person interview process, so groups of candidates joined a Zoom room to mingle before going to their breakout interview rooms. The online component made candidates more at ease and able to present themselves more authentically than ever before.”
In the past, Housing and Residence Life departments may have shied away from a sole reliance on technology and remained committed to in-person practices. We have clearly demonstrated that staff and candidates can show authenticity and appreciation in powerful ways in virtual settings. As you reflect on your recruitment and selection processes from the past year, what aspects do you want to keep, toss, and imagineer?
Efficient Processes
Shannon, Laura Jo, and Steve all mentioned at least one process that had become more efficient as a result of having to re-roll the dice over and over (and over) again. GSU approached residence hall openings in a totally different way; Shannon reported, “Most feedback has been that it was the smoothest move-in we have ever had. We decided quickly that much of this new approach could be replicated for 2021-2022 and on. Steve and the UTK team saw great success in their virtual banquet. In reflecting on change, Steve shared, “We really got the core of what drives organizational change, and we learned it can be done quickly when it must be.
This also means we learned what has been hindering change in our profession – a true inability to do it or a matter of willingness/personal opinion. We can move into the 21st century!” Fear of change can be an extremely powerful deterrent when it comes to changing processes, so let’s use this window to reevaluate, move forward, and try some new things! As you contemplate the many processes and protocols your team follows, what aspects do you want to keep, toss, and imagineer?
The SCAMPER Method
It is simple to say that we need to reevaluate processes. When global paprika pressures are driving the change, and all our peers, colleagues, and peer institutions are looking at one another for advice and guidance, it can be hard to figure out where to start and the paths to take. We urge you to be playful and scamper around with the list you created with the KTI technique!
The SCAMPER Method is a practical and easy-to-use technique to generate innovation and improvement. Before you totally toss a thing or start to reimagine, we invite you to take this method for a spin. Get messy, curious, and scamper-y. There are seven components of this method. You can omit components, go in order, be-bop around, or use the same component over and over again. Take a thing and use one component, use all the components, use all the components over and over again until it is an entirely new thing. This is your scamper.
This method for evaluating will put critical and creative thinking into automatic overdrive and help you articulate your rationale for creating a new or modified initiative.
Michael Masters explained the SCAMPER Method really well in this YouTube video. We would also like to give you an example! Let us take virtual intentional interactions/conversations. Like before, set a timer to do some uninterrupted deep dives and “what ifs”. Thinking about that strategy…
C: What can you combine that with? Roommate Agreements.
You now have a revamped strategy.
E: What can you get rid of? A question on the staff reporting log.
You now have a revamped strategy of the revamped thing.
M: What if the conversations were 2 5-minute conversations instead of 1 15 minute conversation? Cool! This feels less rigid and more organic to day-to-day conversations.
You now have a revamped strategy to the third degree.
And it can go on and on and on. The goal is for you to be proud of what you discovered!
Keep, Toss, Imagineer
Over a year ago, anxiety and apprehension consumed our day-to-day and our visions for the future; they may certainly still be doing so to this day. There were demands to do the things we do, just in different ways. We started to get to the core of what we needed. We were forced to be critical and creative. With this next year, we hope that you allow yourself and your teammates to be playful with your thoughts and ideas. Toss what is not necessary, stomp on what is hindering success, celebrate the visionary, and capitalize on shimmers of innovation.
Welcome to the community. We’re glad you’re here.
