Dispatchers, Field Agents, and Depot Technicians, OH MY!

Introducing an improvement on the services provided from our Device Support teams.

The project was known as IKEA: At the Elbow support improvements. Now, DSA's have a new way of performing their work using new roles and defined competencies.

We are introducing the roles of Dispatcher, Field Agent, and Depot Technician, initially at MedCampus.

• Dispatcher is a rotating role that allows better communication between service teams, and to coordinate a response to issues such as work stoppages.
• Field Agents truly the definition of "At the elbow" support. Our Field Agents build relationships with the end users, and are out in the field most of their time, efficiently resolving issues. Dispatcher to Field Agent communications are key to the success of this role.
• Depot Technicians are the behind-the-scenes team that builds devices, backs up data, and process tickets to enable consistent performance and reliability.

The key to improvements in Ikea were to develop a set of core competencies that defined skills across all roles and teams for DSA's. These competencies set expectations and provided a path for development and growth. Quarterly reviews are combined with annual goals and measurement to help prompt growth. Out of these competencies and efforts came the DSA Handbook which will provide consistency and a source of information for all teams moving forward.

What's Next?

DSA teams are still adjusting to his new work flow, and the initial effort will be monitored so that we can learn and adjust as we go, while challenging our assumptions. We are also working with MCIT teams to understand how their DSA work flows, too. We would like to expand to the NCRC and utilize the model for the remaining DSA teams, carefully considering the right way to learn and grow.

Some recent examples of success using this new model have shown promise. In one case, a Field Agent was in Brehm, when the Dispatcher was able to reach out, and route work directly over, thus improving the end user's experience in an efficient manner.

We wanted to thank all those who had involvement in developing Project Ikea from the inception to fruition.  Special thanks to Tom Biancalana for insights into the MCIT DSA roles and definitions, and to Mike Yockey for his efforts providing guidance and feedback on the competencies.  Finally, this could not have been possible without support and leadership of Bon Thomas, Jonathan Komorowski, and JD Jordan's tireless efforts to bring these improvements to the DSA teams.  Thank you.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)

By Jermaine “JD” Jordan

What is DEI?

Many times a week I travel from the Medical School to the University’s hospitals and clinics. If you’ve made this trek, the most visible aspect of this journey is the class photos of the previous years’ Medical School graduates. What’s not as evident, but just as visible, is who the graduates are. The graduates all appear to be white males. It’s not until the mid-‘70s, when you begin to see more diverse graduating classes. And, the class that is truly representative of our country and our world has yet to be mounted on the wall.

Moving the Health System and University closer to being a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive institution is a priority of U-M President, Mark Schlissel, who says:

“The University of Michigan cannot be excellent without being diverse in the broadest sense of that word. We also must ensure that our community allows all individuals an equal opportunity to thrive.”

Last September, President Schlissel launched the Strategic Planning Process for the entire University. The goals are to engage students, faculty, and staff to create unit-focused strategic plans that address the following areas.

• Recruitment, retention and development
• Education and scholarship
• An equitable, inclusive environment
• Service

What does it mean for us?

Plans across the Health System are being coordinated through the Office of Health Equity and Inclusion (OHEI). Ted Hanss, associate CIO for the Health System, has put together a representative group from that will lead conversations and activities with all of you.

The members of your DEI planning team are:

Michael Collins		Fusen Li
Hong Da		Michael McKenzie
Stephanie Dascola		Brian Rafferty
James Estill		Marissa Rivas
Ryan Henyard		Amitava Shee
Jermaine “JD” Jordan		Gracie Trinidad
Molly Kleinman		Mariama Weaver

Your DEI planning team has been meeting over the last few weeks, and we’ve put together several options we hope you’ll like.

Reading Program

To increase awareness and spark discussion, we have gathered articles that focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion. For example, one of the articles talks about implicit bias and how that affects day-to-day work. If we receive enough interest, we can host lunch-n-learn discussions to talk about the articles.

Affinity Wall Week

The OHEI has requested us to consider several questions, including ways diversity, equity, and inclusion can improve UMHS; and what one thing would you like UMHS to commit to in order to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion. In an effort to be creative and engaging, we decided to host an affinity wall. Starting July 11, each day there will be questions, and responses will be posted on the B200 windows. Employees not located at NCRC will have an alternative way to submit their answers (we’ll let you know more soon!).

I welcome and encourage everyone to participate in as many activities as possible. OHEI will also offer events that will help us continue to move toward a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive department, UMHS, and University of Michigan. Go Blue!  

For more information, to make suggestions, or join our local DEI team, please contact us: msis-dei-team@umich.edu. Learn more about the strategic plan, research, how to join the conversation, and much more on the University’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion website.

How well is MSIS serving you?

-- Gray Carper (gcarper@med.umich.edu) 

Performance & Improvement Management has launched the latest round of MSIS' quarterly customer and staff survey and we want to hear what you think. Tell us by following this link...

http://msis.med.umich.edu/feedback

Only the first question is required, so if that’s all you fill out, it’ll take just a few seconds. Any additional questions you see are optional and should take about five minutes if you choose to tackle them. What you share with us here drives our own improvement efforts, and we see how well those are going by reissuing this survey from time to time. If you’re curious, feel free to read about why and how we do this or browse previous results reports.

Please take a moment to make yourself heard and, if you have any questions, just send a note to msis-pim-questions@umich.edu.

Moving from mind-numbing to engaging meetings

Submitted by: Cindy Leavitt

London Liberating Structure User Group-www.meetup.com/LondonLS-User-Group/

How many mind-numbing meetings have you attended in the last week? I can say that I have attended a lot over my career and am guilty of leading many of them. Not all of the meetings I attend or lead are mind-numbing. I have tried many different techniques to bring life to meetings and had some limited success. However, consistently holding engaging meetings has been a challenge for me and so I am always looking for new ideas.

Last week, I was fortunate enough to attend a workshop on Liberating Structures that introduced me to a several new ways to approach meetings and create an empowering culture. Liberating structures are thirty-five simple structured methods to stimulate conversation and thought and unleash the potential of any group or organization.

The workshop was different than I expected and rather confusing at first because there were not a lot of explicit instruction. Instead, the facilitators used many of the liberating structures to teach the group how to use them. As the group gave feedback on what would be helpful, the facilitators modified their approach and added more context about how they had successfully used the liberating structure they were introducing.

(Note: I am going to refer to the names of the liberating structures in quotes throughout the rest of this blog, not to be confusing, but to allow you to look up more information about them if you are interested.)

The most profound series of exercises for me was “drawing together” using five symbols to draw our personal purpose. This was different than other drawing exercises that I have done because it was structured with very easy symbols, which made it less intimidating. Then we used “impromptu networking” to allow people we didn’t know describe our pictures back to us. It was fascinating to me and the feedback helped me clarify my thinking and identify how I could better communicate. This insight came without me talking at all about what I was trying to express with my picture.

The potential of what I learned has been growing in my mind since the workshop. I have been thinking a lot about how I could use these liberating structures more and talking with others who attended to see how they were using them. One colleague told me how she used these structures the day after the workshop to have an energetic and truthful conversation around inclusion and equity. She used “1-2-4-All” combined with “Triz” to have a large group describe how they could create a strategic plan for equity and inclusion that would NEVER be enacted. This allowed the group to have a truthful and brave conversation about the barriers that exist to improving equity and inclusion on campus.

If this blog has sparked any interest, go check out the website (http://www.liberatingstructures.com/) and see if any of the methods might help with your next meeting.