Technology Services
Feedback Responses
Posted on 09/30/2019
Dear Technology Team,
It has been a bit of time since I last provided written responses to the anonymous feedback provided through our Change Feedback Group. Thank you for continuing to provide feedback through this forum: highlights about what is going well, what your general sense is about the changes and announcements, and thoughts about how we can improve.
As always, I encourage you to come share any specific feedback with me that you are comfortable with; it is the specific feedback that will be most helpful for me to better understand perspectives and then better know how to effectively communicate or take action, as needed. For all of the feedback that I have personally received, while you may not have heard back directly about action or outcome, as it depends on the type of matter involved, I have followed up or taken appropriate action as necessary.
If you would like to meet with me, please feel free to email Elise.
Sincerely,
Orlando
COMMENT: Response time, look closer at end user needs and less on cool new tech. yes we need to stay up on tech, but not put it ahead of needs now.
RESPONSE: Thank you for sharing your feedback.
COMMENT: I like hearing about other groups progress and accomplishments. I think the level of communication is about right. I would like to see a more standardized method of communication and project creation and reporting, although I hate paperwork so I'm hoping that future changes do not add too much to our reporting duties.
RESPONSE: I appreciate your encouragement regarding communications about technology progress and team and individual highlights. We will continue to find opportunities to recognize and appreciate our people. Our Project Management Office continues to work on continuous process improvement, and our Deputy CIO will continue to assess the effectiveness of our project management practices.
COMMENT: I like the announcements, it keeps the whole department in the loop.
RESPONSE: Thank you for sharing your feedback.
COMMENT: Are we going to experience another shifting of people to other areas or re-org type of scenario in the near future?
Due to budget constraints in the near future, how will it affect our work/projects/people/positions?
There should be some insight on the innovation team, what are some key projects they are working on to steer us in the future of computing/applications?
Hot breakfast was great! Wish there were some bacon left over. All the food seemed to go by sadly quick...
RESPONSE: Great questions. I’ll tie these areas of innovation, resources, and organizational transitions together. All businesses and institutions, including universities, exist to serve a need, ours being education, scholarship, and research. Every industry is in a constantly changing environment, adapting to internal and external pressures, and businesses and institutions, including higher education, must adapt, at the risk of irrelevancy. Higher education institutions are closing around the nation, and while Fresno State is in a special place in the nation and faces different types of pressures, the general questions about the current and future relevancy of higher education still exist.
Technology has risen to be one of the primary strategic driving influencers of higher education. There are many pieces of literature that describes this topic, and I encourage you to read a few. Here’s a good place to start, describing the topic of digital transformation in higher education: https://library.educause.edu/resources/2018/10/7-things-you-should-know-about-digital-transformation:
The term “digital transformation” (Dx) encapsulates the seismic cultural, workforce, and technological shift under way as the diverse digital landscape influences—and changes—almost everything we do. This transformation is having a profound impact across all kinds of enterprises, including higher education. Dx requires college and university leaders to understand the extent of this transformation and initiate change—closely linked to an institution’s business model—to cultivate new practices that reflect today’s technology-enabled and technology-driven world. The rise of Dx greatly accelerates the evolution of IT—from technology provider to service provider to trusted advisor—and creates abundant opportunities for IT to fulfill its potential as a strategic campus partner in advancing the institution’s mission and goals.
We will continue to see shifts in our technology organization structures and roles as we move forward. I urge you to pay attention to, and proactively engage with, the cloud strategy efforts that we have started, as we are shifting toward a cloud-first technology approach to everything we do, and this will affect everything from software to digital infrastructure, networks to end-user computing, wiring to support mechanisms, administrative billing to security.
Our faculty and our students are driving many, many digital scholarship initiatives, and by proactively engaging in digital transformation efforts through our innovation team, we are able to support all of these campus initiatives, but more importantly we are able to partner and influence this work, as it will profoundly affect our future campus technology systems, infrastructure and support mechanisms. We are actively partnering in efforts, such as with OnBase, Salesforce, Google Workflows, eSports, Robotics, Blockchain, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, and more: https://medium.com/fresnostatedx/current-state-of-digital-transformation-efforts-at-fresno-state-db3b8440758b
For a complete list of projects that the Technology organization is working on or has completed, please view the project lists on the Fresno State support webpage:
https://fresnostate.teamdynamix.com/TDClient/Home/?ID=27f7512a-30f3-49a1-aa18-854aa82c6397
Regarding the hot bacon, it seems to be the most popular item. I sometimes don’t see any left by the time I have a chance to go by the food area. We’ll see what we can do.
COMMENT: Good amount of information. Like how information is sent over email. It gives me the time to read it when I am ready to read it, compared to Slack.
To provide better support - when things keep getting added on... it would be helpful to remove the older items that we don't need anymore.
RESPONSE: Thank you for sharing your feedback. We understand that many of us consume and process information in different ways. We will continue to try to share feedback through a variety of channels, and if there is anything that is not clear or may be confusing, I encourage you to discuss with one of our leadership team members.
Regarding workload, I have asked our technology leadership team to prioritize an effort to work with our campus colleagues to find ways to go through business process innovation exercises to look for ways to improve and also to help retire systems that may no longer be needed. Our cloud-first efforts should also lead ways in which we can look at our work in a new manner and potentially help change the way in which we can do our work (in a good way).
COMMENT: The department wide contact list is great. It would also be great if a formatted .csv of all contacts were distributed as well. This would make it very easy for people to mass update there address books on there phones, email, etc..
RESPONSE: Thank you for your feedback and suggestion. I will share this with our Administration team.
COMMENT: From what I am used to I think internal communication is done very well. Kudos to Elise for getting notifications out to the campus.
RESPONSE: Thank you for your feedback!
COMMENT: We need HELP, totally understaffed and people are getting burned out...
RESPONSE: I appreciate you sharing your concern. Our staff headcount (not counting managers) has gone up from 66 (2015) to 90 (2019) and continues to grow over time. We are growing our team based on the most important campus priorities. We are also building awareness of technical debt and trying to explore ways in which we can consistently reduce this technical debt over time.
COMMENT: TS does an excellent job at defining everyones roll and identity. The org chart does a great job and allows us to find the right people for the right job.
TS changes everyday. As a result I am extremely proud to be a part of a team which handles change such as migrating to Gmail or taking on a new TMS!
If we can agree that there is always room for growth and improvement, I would have to suggest that we create more volunteer opportunities that have less pressure. The goal is to get new, and veteran TS co-workers to connect. Volunteer event such as walking for cause, or Kidds day etc.
RESPONSE: Thank you for your feedback. I really appreciate your idea, and if you are willing to help increase awareness of volunteer opportunities and even facilitate some, please come discuss with me.
COMMENT: It seems unaligned and inefficient. I read about the situation in the paper. Does our division do this to colleagues in TS this article
Theres rumors
RESPONSE: I encourage you to look deeper into this story, as I understand that this piece did not present a complete view of the situation.
COMMENT: (what we do well) Providing responsive service, maintaining a large and complex facility and seeking to improve and advance technology in support of student success.
(regarding changes and announcements) I feel well informed about TS issues and initiatives.
RESPONSE: Thank you for sharing your feedback.
COMMENT: (what we do well) Improving standard operating processes. Embracing new technologies. Increasing training opportunities to meet new challenges.
(what we can do more of, better, or differently) Establish mandatory minimum competency standards for established job descriptions. Make training to met these baseline competencies mandatory. If a person cannot or will not meet baseline competency standards they should be re-assigned to less demanding rolls in the department and make room for new/other productive and competent employees.
RESPONSE: I appreciate your feedback. We are always trying to continuously improve and support our campus as needs continue to evolve.
We work with HR and CBA guidelines and with feedback mechanisms, including the important annual performance appraisal and annual goal-setting mechanisms, to help set expectations and to help all of our employees learn and grow. As part of the annual performance appraisal cycle, we review job descriptions and revise, as needed.
COMMENT: (what we do well) Taking care of the customers.
(regarding changes and announcements) Timely and informative.
(what we can do more of, better, or differently) Fire the people who aren't working.
RESPONSE: Thank you for sharing your feedback. We work with HR and CBA guidelines and with feedback mechanisms, including the important annual performance appraisal and annual goal-setting mechanisms, to help set expectations and to help all of our employees learn and grow.
COMMENT: (what we do well) Working within our means with what we are afforded. Service is high and seems to be a priority for most if not all sub departments.
(regarding changes and announcements) The direction we are moving is good and aligns more with current industry standards.
(what we can do move of, better, or differently) Centralized services and support methodologies will improve both internal and external support. Although communication is getting better the department as a whole would benefit from a "marketing" department. We rely on concurrent communication, we should apply preemptive communication so end user expectations can sink in and settle before services are applied and or changed.
RESPONSE: I appreciate your feedback. You have a great point about the importance of effective branding, marketing, and communication. The CSU Chancellor’s Office IT team recently created a communications and marketing position, and it has helped improve their communications within the CSU and external to the higher ed community. In 2015, our Fresno State technology team started to emphasize and prioritize more helpful and effective communication. The communication role is officially part of a job description, though we are not at the point of having a dedicated person, yet. We also incorporated change management, such as ProSci, into how we do things, which puts a priority on frequent and effective communication. We have heard some really positive feedback from the campus community, and we will keep working on effective branding, marketing, and communication. Please share any ideas you may have to keep us moving in these areas.
COMMENT: (what we do well) Transparent communication; embracing change; commitment to students, faculty and staff.
(regarding changes and announcements) I think TS is doing a pretty good job of communicating internally and externally.
RESPONSE: Thank you for your feedback.
COMMENT: (what we do well) Improving tools and communication methodologies
RESPONSE: Thank you for sharing your feedback.
COMMENT: (what we do well) Bringing ideas from outside organizations to the table for discussion. The environment for collaboration and open-mindedness is set and known as a must. There is never a proposed idea that is completely dismissed, it is provided an opportunity for exploration and findings on why it is not a plausible option is presented for the good of the group. Prioritizing projects and allowing stakeholders to understand where the campus stands on certain matters. TeamDynamix has allowed a public view for the campus members to see where we stand on many of the requests submitted by customers. This transparency allows customers to know that there is an effort being contributed to our day-to-day operations.
(regarding changes and announcements) Not enough information being pushed out to members of the team. Even if there are members that are not concerned about another team's efforts or status on projects, there is still a need to know where we all stand on matters that may potentially affect each other's work area.
(what we can do more of, better, or differently) Allow more postings from leadership or working groups to be posted in a collaborative environment within a Google Site or any means that allows all TS to view and comment. The infrequent in-person gatherings are great, but something more frequent is needed to give some individuals more drive or even possibly provide some working groups the much-needed pressure to ensure something is a success. We could possibly call it Orlando's/TS/ corner and have each manager have a page to provide their own input that all of TS can see. It could be a way to know what direction each manager wants to take and what is on their priority list for the week/month/quarter. Updates could be made by individuals within each department and approved by the manager. It would be like slack except without the constant notifications. If someone has the time to few it one day, then they can go on there on their leisure. If not, they are not bothered by it and do not have to mute it.
RESPONSE: I appreciate your comments and suggestions. There are some good ideas in here. I am going to share it with the TS leadership team and see if we can come up with some thoughts to potentially move some form of an information sharing resource forward. I may need some of our TS colleagues to come together to form a working group to make something like this happen. Thank you!
COMMENT: (what we do well) Very active and effective CIO. Great communicator!
(changes and announcements) I want to report rumors of ballot stuffing and manipulation with the High-Five recognition system. I've heard that some people have been voting for themselves repeatedly, directly and indirectly, using known and unknown spoofing and influencing techniques. My only guess as to why, is to win a popularity contest, satisfy insecurity, or gain an inaccurate public reputation for themselves. Without any checks and balances with this recognition system, the validity and value will become worthless because we do not know if these nominations and votes are what people want or feel. It can be used as a tool to promote someone's ego and personal or political agenda.
(what we can do more of, better, or differently) Use direct email addresses so you know where the nominations and votes are coming from. Ensure the person nominating receives a copy or email receipt. Do not Anonymize. What would be the point of a high-five if the person nominating or giving positive kudos does not want to identify themselves? When you give an actual high-five, you normally see and know the person giving you the high-five with your hand so why hide it? Not hiding the identity of the person entering a nomination prevents corruption and misrepresentation because there is accountability. Also, ensure that ballot stuffing is prevented. I think the High-Five or any type of rewarding system needs to be sensitive to any perceived manipulation for inaccurate presentation of facts by being as transparent and aware as possible.
RESPONSE: Thank you for sharing your concern and feedback. I have looked into this matter with our E-Team. Nominations are not anonymous; a name and email address are required to submit a nomination for a High Five recognition. Votes are also reviewed by our E-team to make sure there are no duplicate votes, intentional or unintentional.
COMMENT: (what we do well) A diverse group with different skills and backgrounds. Collaboration tools are encouraged and often explored to be used within the division.
(regarding changes and announcements) Certain setbacks are not being presented to the team that may be leading the charge to implement the change. Announcements on progress can easily be posted on a TS only accessible site. Whether it be on TDX or a google site developed and maintained by one group.
(what we can do more of, better, or differently) Continue to receive input through any means to drive change that is seen as appropriate for the division of the campus as a whole. Push out licenses and access to staff within TS to be able to see what new changes are coming out and receive input on how to implement.
RESPONSE: Thank you for sharing these ideas in your feedback. I am curious to learn more about these potential setbacks and information that may not be getting through to the people who should know. Please share more details, if you are willing.
Regarding feedback mechanisms, we are continuously assessing how we collect feedback and what we do with it. We have quite a few options at the moment, including the TS anonymous feedback, walk-in hours with the CIO, Coffee with the CIO open forums, all-hands meetings, 1-1 meetings with managers, and email. If there is another method of feedback that you think can be helpful and effective, please let us know.
We are also looking into ways to better communicate internally and externally. Please stay tuned, or please come join the effort if you want to help lead or co-lead such an initiative.
COMMENT: (what we do well) Doing well in maintaining, but not for long when projects are dumped on people and their responsibilities become others responsibilities and effective services are hindered. Juggling various projects and duties already, there will be delayed service levels for partners.
(regarding changes and announcements) There are some that are not clearly communicated or just done in the moments time. Neglect from management may cause the issue that affect employees from ever knowing.
(what we can do more of, better, or differently) Perhaps some better communication on who are involved in projects and what not. There have been minimal communication on the team from our area in regards to how things are being handled and by whom. The level of impact should always be accounted for.
RESPONSE: Thank you for sharing this feedback with me. As an organization, we continue to look for ways in which we can improve how we deliver and maintain services, including how we can retire or consolidate systems that make sense to do so. I also continue to advocate for resources every opportunity that I have and am also trying to consider creative ways to garner support from industry.
We are also working on more and more effective communication. Every one of us in the technology organization plays a crucial role in supporting effective internal and external communication, and I hope together we can continue to improve our communication. I will also bring this topic to our leadership team, so that we can take action on some of these specific pain points.
CONCERNS (combined and paraphrased): General concerns about fairness, transparency, consistency of applications of practice and policy between managers and between staff and managers, hiring processes, and feedback mechanisms.
RESPONSE: Team, I value your perspectives and feedback. As I have mentioned over the past years, one of my main goals is to gain better understanding. In many of these cases of concerns, it is not possible for me to help provide clarity or address any of these without very specific details. I will continue to offer to make time to hear from you directly, and while it will be helpful for me to understand your perspective, please keep perspective that my attempt toward understanding does not equate to agreement, though all information will help inform my actions.
Let me start with the topic of transparency. Transparency is a concept. Some feel that in the spirit of “transparency,” everything should be shared openly and completely. While this may work in some contexts and situations, it rarely is effective or helpful, and in many cases it can be harmful and counter-productive. First, I ask you to consider a situation or relationship in your own, personal life when you find this approach to communication, involving careful consideration of what and how to share certain information, such as with communication with a colleague or a friend or a parent or a child, or in cases of communicating information about a change in life or an illness or an accident or a loss or a potential new opportunity. I do not and will not share the exact same information about sensitive topics when discussing with my spouse, my parents, and my children; every day I make decisions to share timely and relevant information, with my best-possible judgment and with every good intent, information that is helpful, based on a large number of factors. While this analogy may not directly apply to the workplace, every context, situation, or matter requires thoughtful reflection and consideration as to the appropriate and relevant information that can be helpful or harmful at any moment in time.
Let’s consider personal relationships for a moment. Among a group of close friends, we know that each person is unique, and when it comes to hearing, listening, and understanding, one spoken sentence can sometimes be interpreted in many different ways depending on each unique individual. Coming back to the workplace, we are all professionals here, yet consistent and effective communication becomes a bigger and bigger challenge as the number of people involved gets larger because we all listen through a unique set of perspectives and experiences.
Transparency is a concept and not a “thing.” No two people will come to the exact same meaning based on a single communication, because no two people share the exact same context. This uncertainty leads to many potential outcomes. This is why communication will always be a challenge and an opportunity in every organization, workplace, team, community, group, family, and relationship. Also, effective and helpful transparency in the workplace does not mean sharing all information all the time. In many cases, sharing certain information could violate policies, laws, confidentiality, privacy, FERPA, HIPAA, etc. Workplace transparency is an intentional approach to empower employees with the information they need to be successful.
Many of these general concerns listed (and perhaps more that are unlisted), stem from aspects of communication. I and my leadership team will always try to be communicative about our decisions and decision-making process, driven from our desire to support Technology Services and the greater good of Fresno State. We also try to be as “transparent” as possible when it comes to decisions and decision-making, yet I guarantee you that some will still not understand, others will not be willing to consider alternative perspectives, and a number will not agree.
Regarding fairness and consistency, I often have a higher bar and higher standards for those whom I know more closely. For my direct reports, both staff and managers, I always aim to apply the same applicable approaches, practices, and policies consistently (keeping in mind that there are actually different policies and practices that apply to staff and to managers).
Regarding hiring practices, all Technology Services position searches are carried out according to HR, CBA, federal, state, and other applicable laws, policies, and agreements. HR and EEOD representatives keep search committees and hiring managers in line according to these laws, policies, and agreements. Regarding temporary and interim positions, while a number of people in temporary and interim positions have received permanent job offers resulting from appropriate position searches over past years, it is not primarily because the person was previously in a temporary or interim role; these candidates still are required to apply and follow the same hiring process as every other job applicant, and all applicants for every job search are considered consistently within the same set of laws, policies, and agreements by the search committee and need to advance through each stage of the search accordingly. Our general practice in Technology Services is that the hiring manager is usually not involved in any of the decisions or selections within the search process until the final stages of the search. After a hiring manager receives a final set of candidates to consider, keeping in mind that a search committee is not a selection committee but primarily charged with presenting those who best fit the requirements of the position based solely on the written materials and the interviews, the hiring manager then follows the same set of laws, policies, and agreements to make a final selection. Some may feel that those who are in temporary or interim positions may have a perceived advantage, yet please keep in mind that many temporary or interim positions have not led to a permanent job offers. It is through these types of temporary or stretch assignments that an organization is able to better understand whether a person is the right fit for a certain role, and in almost all cases, this is how we grow people from within, leading to new roles, new jobs that never existed before, in-range progressions, and in-class progressions.
Regarding feedback, I read each and every feedback that reaches me, and I thoughtfully consider each feedback and take action, when appropriate and when necessary.