Saturday, July 20, 2013

#414 leveling

I wrote yesterday that I took my staff on tour at the Lock and Dam.  The lessons that we learned from the tour were unexpected.

The reason I took them originally was that I wanted them to consider how our division functions as sort of a lock and dam system for the university:

> Like the locks, we align expectations with reality for our prospective students.  We help them know what to expect before coming so that it is easier to navigate the waters once they get here.

> We also serve as a leveling agent regarding affordability.  Through our financial aid processes, we are able to help families come to a balanced level of what they owe in conjunction with what they can pay -- even though the gap may have seemed too big to traverse in the beginning.

> We also serve to balance perceptions and reality vs. our messaging.  Our communication efforts function like the dam system to control the flow of messaging, and act like the locks to help align various levels of perceptions into a balanced state instead of undercurrents and rapids.

The lock and dam system is an intentional set of systems and structures that make navigation possible.  The admission process also contains systems and structures that control the flow of qualified students into the university.

What functions in your organization parallel the locks and dams?  Are you allowing your "river" to flow freely, or do you have sophisticated, intentional systems in place to balance disparate entities?  Help the navigation of your information and products flow more smoothly with processes that control the flow.

-- beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com

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