I am an advocating mediator. My entire life, I have found myself in the middle of relationships, situations, or interdepartmental challenges as the person who sees both sides and advocates for a solution.
- Question: Should we open calendars for late appointments?
- Answer: Yes
- Advocating-mediator: Agreed 100%, let me talk to the leadership team about were we can move everyone’s next day’s appointment prep time so that mistakes aren’t made and our customers aren’t angry about same day cancelations.
- Leadership team, we need to ensure our teams have adequate time to review student records and resolve transcript, hold, schedule errors, etc., while also making sure that the last appointment of the day is reserved for high school seniors needing advising after school.
- Collaborative discussion about the functions and features of the advising platform and effective solution of setting new availabilities for that last appointment slot to be only for the incoming cohort. Continued discussions on where best to move next day appointment prep so that team members can focus on the task while avoiding overtime. Some teams want to leave it up to individuals, and others want to standardize it. Observations were made about leadership teams’ allotted work time, which is also currently at the end of the day. Continued discussions of equity across the unit and the need for uniformity due to stakeholder meetings across campus left the final decision about where to move next-day prep and team lead work time.
My whole life, I have examined situations from multiple perspectives and genuinely tried to understand everyone’s perspective on the issue at hand.
For most of my professional life, this min-max, efficiency expert, admittedly type A professional personality type of always striving for more and for better, has been made to make me feel bad for being who I am.
I recognize that I push myself too hard, but I don’t push others too hard. I listen to those around me. I collaborate very well and am always willing to modify solutions that take all parties into consideration.
I admit that I am not willing to settle. I don’t think that is a bad thing. I have done so much research in my quest for knowledge about this amazingly beautiful human condition that makes us want to leave an impact.
For someone like myself who has so much personal emotional baggage, striving to do more, be more, and give more is a testament, not a detriment.
I don’t know how to make people realize they can trust me. I work so very hard to be kind, caring, and giving. I tell all team members and leaders how much I see and appreciate their strengths and hard work. They are the most caring bunch of people I have ever known. I have some strong personalities to balance, and every single one is just absolutely passionate about the work they do and the impact we have on students’ lives. I respect that and fight for them all daily.
I know I’m not alone. Every middle manager is trying to meet the administration’s demands while hearing and addressing the needs of front-line workers.
I believe I have proven that I am always striving for solutions that allow both goals and initiatives to be met with that 80/20 mindset of doing everything by the established policies 80% of the time, recognizing that at that final push finish line, hopefully, only 20% of the population will require so much extra effort across the whole campus.
The turnover rate and team morale plummet when they have to rework the same schedules repeatedly, as new information is gathered after the fact.
We were asked to find proactive ways to increase enrollment and provide valuable advising. We spent months discussing ways to do more outreach to these populations and connect them with the advising office.
We were asked to reduce backdated drops/refunds due to additional information sent by students well after enrollment (and often well after the semester start date). We determined that meeting with students in various formats (in-person, virtual, email) would allow students to alert advisors to pending/potential coursework, thereby allowing a first-semester schedule that avoided those course areas until additional transcripts, score reports, etc., could be received and processed by the admissions office.
We established a campaign with a built-in communication plan through the use of reminder nudges. Utilizing the advising platform’s appoint campaign feature, we can welcome incoming students to the institution by either routing them to a specialist to complete assessment requirements and then to advise or directly to advise when those requirements are satisfied.
Not wanting to miss any incoming contacts with our parent/student populations contacting the front desk until these campaigns get sent in one week, a call list was requested so that leadership could confirm and ensure students were added to advising invitations.
A. I just don’t know how to earn/establish trust both upline and downline.
B. I don’t want to keep apologizing for who I am because I believe I have proven my initiatives effective.
Where do I go from here? Are there advocating mediator positions in the world where all my personality characteristics and skills can be utilized and valued?
I have located one company that is 100% powered by the concept of Simon Sinek’s Why. I recently attended a professional conference and found a whole community college founded and functioning from it. I have been trying to build and establish this why culture by bringing choice, ownership, and voice to the advising unit, but I am really feeling overwhelmed at the moment by the amount of apathy and defeat surrounding me.
I can’t just mark time.
I won’t just march forward to my grave.
I have a life to live and blessings to give. I really hope that I can find ways to give them where I am, but I am willing to find other ways to utilize my gifts. I know in my heart of heart, given the right supportive environment, I can help bring positive change to workplace culture and efficiency.
The Advisor That Cares 