What changed in your set up from cycle 1 to cycle 2?
Some new and exciting developments have been going on in my work environment that has caused me to take a different approach for cycle 2. Management is becoming more and more aware of some needed improvements in the area of the Change of Enrollment department and after reviewing a proposal written by a colleague, and myself wanted more research. I have been able to expand on the wiki that was created in cycle 1 to a comprehensive database via wiki tools that will allow me to demonstrate circumstances that are causing the department to work less efficiently.
2. What’s happening that you didn’t expect?
I found that it was difficult to get all team members on board from using the usual One Note to track meeting notes and new policies to a new forum. The feedback that I received was that they were having to do double work and were just too busy with their daily activities to re-write the policy or situation to clearwiki and felt it was already on a forum viewable to all of us. The problem with this is that One Note had no real search tool unless you knew exactly what week the information was reviewed. For a new member of a team to try to locate an update on policy could take hours. Not efficient at all. I needed to try a different approach and the department proposal being worked on was the perfect platform for this.
3. How are you tracking data differently?
We are not gathering information that we are using for our proposal and adding to a web 2.0 tools throughout the process. This way it allows us to look at the department from the ground up and start building processes that will be implemented after all is said and done. Some of this is a result of situations that arise for the first time and some is from and update on how our processes are working. Instead of forcing a new system on the employees out of the blue, we can build the system from step one for new members to use while training or just to get additional training from existing members.
4. How has FPE contributed to your Action Research?
I have not yet been able to use the tools from FPE in cycle 2 but am very excited about using what I have learned in training videos for the future. Getting comfortable with the camera, on camera, and with my voiceover will be a huge help in this area. I also am excited about documenting the process of implementing change in video for those who are interested in doing so in their own department.
