Making it Okay Not to Know
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If there is anything the last year has taught us, it is that knotty and novel problems have no easy or obvious solutions. This has been an especially hard lesson for leaders, consultants and change agents who often pride themselves on using their past experience and research savvy to chart the path forward. The idea of not knowing can feel uncomfortable and disorienting. It leads us to question our professional identity and status and worry about our career trajectories. Not knowing can also make us feel afraid.
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But what if we could make it comfortable and even joyful not to know? What if we reimagined uncertainty and lack of clarity as an opportunity for deep learning? How would our work feel if we focused more on questions and less on answers? And, importantly, how can we build inclusive cultures that thrive on testing possibilities rather than getting things exactly right? During this session, we will use the foundation of neuroscience as a tool to address the paralysis and fear that often accompany the need to try something new or navigate through profound uncertainty.
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Presenters:
Catherine Lilly, Senior Consultant - Higher Education, Segal
Allison Vaillancourt, Vice President & Senior Consultant, Organizational Effectiveness - Segal
When: September 9, 2021, 1:00 p.m to 2:15 p.m.
Details: Zoom access information will be provided to registrants prior to event.
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UVA Sets Participation Record at NCCI Annual Conference for 2nd Year in a Row
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Fifty-eight participants from 16 areas across Grounds, including 5 schools and 11 administrative offices, engaged in the Network for Change and Continuous Innovation (NCCI) 2021 Annual Conference on July 21-22. UVA also delivered two educational sessions. Overall, more than 1600 higher education professionals gathered to share and learn together.
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Conference highlights:
- Opening keynote: A well-respected leadership expert, Merge Gupta-Sunderji hosted a fast-paced and highly relevant keynote to get insights into how you, and others, instinctively operate in rapid change, and specific tools so that you can leverage strengths and overcome weaknesses to lead, flex and thrive in the “different ordinary.”
- Closing keynote: During this presidential panel keynote moderated by Dr. Ralph Gigliotti, Presidents Leah Barrett and Lynn Perry Wooten explored trends across the higher education landscape and ways of moving forward with purpose and pride. Panelists were invited to offer reflections on the future of higher education, strategies for cultivating cultures of inclusivity and innovation, and approaches for rebuilding higher education for a post-pandemic future.
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Two conference keynotes and 40 educational session recordings and materials are now available via NCCI Connect in the Conference Library to NCCI members and conference registrants.
UVA has an institutional membership to NCCI. This membership makes NCCI resources available to all faculty and staff all year long. Participate in a Community of Practice, sign-up for a webinar, and build your network. Take advantage of NCCI offerings by creating an individual NCCI membership account. Have questions about the registration process? Contact Tim Kelley at tek2jk@virginia.edu.
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Liberating Structures: Unleashing the Power of Groups for Better Results
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Learn how to use the tools of Liberating Structures to advance the work of any group. These approaches promote engagement, inclusion, and collaboration to achieve your meeting purpose and organizational goals. This session is designed for those new to LS as well as those familiar who desire a refresh.
Presenters: Mary Brackett and Sarah Collie, Organizational Excellence
When: October 8, 2021, 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Where: Newcomb Hall, South Meeting Room
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Organizational Excellence 2020-21 Annual Report
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While academic year 2020-21 was different, OE effectively delivered all programs and services in a virtual format. Amid the adaptations, the University collaborations and commitment to improvement, innovation, and change remained strong.
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Highlights include:
- 44 OE partnership initiatives with 900+ community members
- 430+ participants in OE learning programs
Learn more about how OE can support your goals and priorities and read the full Annual Report.
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Enhancing UVA and Local and SWaM Business Partnerships
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Procurement and Supplier Diversity Services (PSDS) and Organizational Excellence (OE) teamed to solicit insights and ideas from local businesses to improve processes for thriving supplier partnerships. OE designed and facilitated four Community Conversations that addressed different aspects of procuring business from awareness of opportunities to the steps in the process and elicited actionable solutions to challenges.
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OE partnered with the Library’s Information Services and Spaces team at their recent planning retreat. This was the first time the entire group had been together in person, so it was important that team members gained understanding of their various work styles in a fun, creative, and visual way. Using the collaboration tool “How We Roll”, the team charted preferences along eight dimensions, including ‘early bird/night owl’, ‘go off alone and think/work on it together’, and ‘tell me the backstory/cut to the chase.’ The tool was even adapted to include social distancing preferences – ‘hugs ok/please social distance.’
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The result was a visual map of work styles that fosters better understanding between team members as they begin working on Grounds helping Library patrons this fall.
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RESOURCES
“An organization’s results are determined through webs of human commitments, born in webs of human conversations.” - Fernando Flores
Communications professionals have new opportunities to follow an intentional change management model to help our institutions continue to transform. To learn more, read The Evolving Role of the Communications Professional (CASE) |
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