Practice Safe Six
Joe Way, PhD, CTS
Stay six feet away. Wear a mask. Cover your nose and mouth. Stay home. Social distance. Essential employees only.
These six phrases have defined our past twelve months. They also redefined our classroom procurement practices.
Money came in fast and got spent even faster. In the mad panic to upgrade our spaces for hybrid learning, we were forced as a vertical to integrate technologies we were probably weren’t ready for. The AV industry was ready and waiting for our new normal, but we had to still figure out what this meant for us. As we exit our COVID reaction and response, here is the new “safe six” to practice moving forward.
1. Be thankful, but vet better next time.
We were all thankful to finally upgrade all the spaces that kept getting cut from the budget year after year, however much of our response was reactionary and not properly vetted for long-term success. Many institutions bandaid’d their new technology for the “two weeks to flatten the curve” to find out that a permanent solution would be required for long-term success. Moving forward, even in times where we are forced to act fast, we will always be appreciated for saving money and finding the most prudent solution the first time. This means making some people uncomfortable with how long it is taking to properly vet the solution, but it will pay dividends for years to come.
2. HR is our friend.
Make no mistake. HR and technology refreshments are very interlinked. When we upgrade to new emerging technologies, it means our staff needs to learn new skills. Sometimes it might mean having to either “level up” through training or letsome people go in order to bring in a different skillset. This is very much the case as we move from legacy AV systems to more IT-based and cloud-based platforms. Be prepared to work with HR to account for time/money for your team to have the proper skills before you need them. Or, plan to hire for the new needs before the installation is complete. Making friends with HR and being honest about your org structure–while being willing to make the tough choices, even if it means letting go of people you like–might be what needs to happen. Hopefully, though, it just means you get more headcount!
3. Manufacturers really do want to help as much as they want to sell.
Don’t underestimate the power of strategic partnerships with your key manufacturers. Sure, they want you to stay in their ecosystem, but more than that, they want you praising their brand as a solution that truly solves a problem. If you don’t have every one of your brand reps on speed-dial, get them on there soon. They have more access to information and use cases because of all their touch-points. While the higher ed vertical is a great community to bounce ideas off of, it is the manufacturer who can help make your installations and procurement go much smoother because they know the supply chain and have the ability to manage your resellers and integrators from the backend.
4. Money’s no object when you have none.
Never again do we need to worry about asking our leadership for money. We proved our worth. We proved the value of integrating new and emerging technologies into our classrooms. Those institutions and spaces that were well-equipped already–or at least had an upgrade plan/path–were able to pivot quickly. Those that weren’t took more investment and/or CARES Act funds. Let’s not be left in that position again. We cannot let excuses like “we don’t have the money” or “we are a small school” be ok. Be brave, and use the pandemic as the reason we must always provide the best technology to our students, regardless of the size, demographic, etc., of our school.
5. It takes two to Tango.
The pandemic demonstrated how quickly red tape could be cut. This is because the red tape only existed in the first place as a bureaucracy buffer. It existed as a way to say no and hold a checks-and-balances against other university spending. But it was our spending that was proved useful. It will take two to Tango in the future to let the red tape be restrung. Don’t let it be. Be sure to invite those financial folks to a cup of coffee once the pandemic is over in order to say “thanks.” The door is not always open unless we let it close. Don’t do the dance anymore. Know that everything can be approved if you show the right business case for it. Make finance your friend, and remind them of your importance. Oh, and be sure to get them coffee. Like, really good coffee.
6. Buy a boat.
The best thing that ever happened to me this pandemic (and post-house fire) was buying my boat. It brings peace. It brings me the opportunity to simply have time away from everything else going on. Now, you don’t really need to buy a boat, but you do need to find your peace. The pandemic has meant that work-life balance is no balance. It always swings toward work. It alwaysswings toward your physical and mental well-being be taxed beyond repair. While we feel the need to always deliver, our families don’t deserve getting what’s left of us. Buy a boat. Find your peace.
These tips are how you “practice safe six” as we move forward. Remember that we are in control of university finances, our institutions rely on us, and your well-being matters.
About the Column
The higher ed AV vertical is over a five-billion-dollar sector of the commercial AV integrations industry. Add in the live events, and higher ed accounts for over ten-billion-dollars annually. That’s significant, and why tech managers in our vertical must treat our departments like big business. Every month, Joe Way, PhD, CTS, explores important aspects of business operations, sales, negotiation, finance, and strategy based on over 25 years’ experience in business development, founding and managing several multimillion-dollar companies in the entertainment industry.
The Author: Joe Way, PhD, CTS
Joe Way, PhD, CTS, is the Director of Learning Environments at the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles, CA and AV Nation 2019 AV Professional of the Year. He is the host of the Higher Ed AV podcast and co-founder of the Higher Education Technology Managers Alliance (HETMA.org), aimed at connecting the higher ed tech manager community and advocating for their common audiovisual needs. He is the author of the bestselling book, Producing Worship: A Theology of Church Technical Arts, is a regular contributor to leading AV-industry media outlets and podcasts, and serves on the AVIXA Tech Managers and Diversity Councils. Joe is an Orange County, CA, native with over 25 years’ experience in education, technical production and the arts, and organizational leadership and management. Over his career, Dr. Way has received diverse awards in the areas of education, the arts, and business, and is a regular keynote speaker and writer for AV-industry and higher ed conferences and media outlets.