Job Challenge Plus Fluid Environment Equals Incredible Support Staff

Basically, this is my simple take on continuous process improvement. As a organizational unit, we really never arrive. We must always, constantly, every day look for ways to do what we are doing better. Our rules and our roles are fluid. We will not maintain excellence if we rest on the laurels of yesterday and today. Every day I must make decisions, but rarely are these set in stone. Circumstances, opportunities, threats, and our own perceptions may change. Staff should not expect that what they are doing today is what they will be doing this time next year (or maybe even two months from now). Every year, I like to work with my own staff to re-evaluate their primary job responsibilities and shift these around a bit. In doing so, we consider how our organizational needs have changed, what areas need new blood or ideas, and what are the interests of each staff member. On a day-to-day basis, we are in constant learning mode, and never in a climate that sits by quietly focusing on the pre-determined tasks, but rather constantly challenging ourselves and one another, and listening very, very carefully to those faculty and students with whom we come in contact - for they are not necessarily saying the same things that they did last year. Sounds tiring? Well, not really. What is tiring is boredom and complacency.