Atkins Fleming, Assistant Director of Learning Spaces at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas.
In my first demi-decade as a Higher Ed-tech manager, responsible for planning classroom upgrades, completing A/V projects, and purchasing technology, I was accustomed to staying a few months ahead of our installation schedule. For most classroom upgrades that began in May, I would be sure to have my purchase orders ready by April 1. For those beginning in December, those POs went out by the end of October. The contractual language on our project proposals read “please allow 4-6 weeks lead time for procurement of equipment.” The supply chain issues we’re facing today around the globe have altered my organization’s strategic planning, project intake, budgeting, and operational processes more than [arguably] any other singular event ever has. Here’s how we’re adapting to continue providing the best service possible to our university.
First: Work Harder, Not Smarter
Wait, what?! Yeah, you heard me right. The first thing we did when we started to feel the pinch of the supply chain was to work as hard as we possibly could to get weeks and months in front of existing project deliverable dates. Sure, some of our projects were paused during COVID lockdown and that gave us some reprieve, but we also didn’t know the extent of the impact on the supply chain at that time. Once the Play button was pressed again, we had to compress design timelines in order to expand purchasing timelines while still delivering the project on time. We all know how classroom renovations and refreshes work. They’re crammed into the semester breaks, and there’s no buffer on the back end. The rooms must be ready for the first-class day, or else! So we focused our effort on designing all the rooms already on the docket as quickly as possible so we could get POs out the door and begin the long wait. Our typical annual schedule went something like this:
- List of classrooms decided in May
- Design scope set for winter break rooms by September
- Design scope set for summer rooms by March
- Start all over
For the 2022 cycle we adjusted to:
- Design scope set for winter break rooms by August
- Design scope set for summer rooms by November
For the 2023 cycle, our goal is to have the design scope set by June-July for work happening at any point the next year. We had to work hard to get that far ahead from where we were comfortable operating, and we had to bring others (like facilities and campus planning) along with us.
Second: Get Good At Saying I’m Sorry Without Saying I’m Sorry
This is a skill I’ve been perfecting over the last two years. When we began working on designs for classroom refreshes for 2021 and 2022 all at the same time, we put [nearly] everything else off! (Yes, our CIO still squeaked some stuff into our work queue). We had somewhere around 15 not-yet-started project requests in our project queue, and another 30 or so already in some stage of being worked on. All of this was in addition to the classroom refreshes previously discussed, of which there are typically 12-16 per year. We pumped the breaks on all that and began to let our customers know that “classrooms are our priority, and we have to get them done first.” It was painful. Some customers we have great relationships with didn’t get the departmental space upgrade they had planned on; some who had really cool or exciting projects we were looking forward to were put on hold; some took it well, and some got upset. And through all that communication we said repeatedly that “we apologize for the inconvenience” (and we meant it!), but we never took responsibility or allowed others to place blame on us for the circumstance. This was not our fault, it was not due to our poor planning, and it couldn’t have been predicted. It was the result of a supply chain that was strong, flourishing, growing, and then dried up overnight. I had a boss long ago tell me, “Never apologize for something that’s not your fault,” and that message really resonated with me during this time. We should be sympathetic with our customers — partners in their inconvenience — but don’t let them make you out as the cause of their inconvenience. That’s not your burden to carry and it’s counterproductive to your mission.
Third: Get Picky
What happens when you put a bunch of projects on hold for a few months right around the time your campus is coming out of a pandemic, people are returning to “normalcy”, and budgets are being unfrozen? The answer: you get a LOT of project requests! Wow, this one hurt. Not only did we have 40 or so projects somewhere in our project process, but we started getting new requests every week, nearly every day. Some were simple and small: “we need to add video conferencing to our existing conference room.” Some were a little bigger: “we need to add video conferencing to our music rehearsal halls.” Some were huge: “we need to add video conferencing to our football stadium.” (Ok, I’m kidding about that one, but it wouldn’t have surprised me!) Everyone everywhere needed video conferencing, and while we had begun to standardize on some equipment packages for our standard classrooms, all these other spaces were non-standard. We couldn’t just throw a bunch of gear at them and hope they went away. What we learned very quickly is we were going to have to get really picky about what projects we took on, knowing full-well that many would sit in our queue for another 6 months or more. In this time, I felt like wingman extraordinaire Barney Stinson from How I Met Your Mother, constantly asking new customers, “Haaaaaave you met [my favorite integrator] Ted?!” Historically we’ve been a do-it-all shop on our campus, and “outside integrator” is a bad word, but again the supply chain forced us to adapt. We’re just now to the point where some customers are beginning their journey with an outside integrator, so while I can’t speak to the efficacy of this adaptation, I can say it has helped keep our project queue just a little slimmer, which in turn helps me sleep better at night.
“What’s the point of all this adaptation?” you might ask. In my mind, the answer is simple. To provide the best service possible to our institution. Could we have kept doing business as usual? Yes. Would we have lost our jobs? No. Would we be devalued as an organization? No, because the workload was still there. Would it have been easier to just keep our heads down? Yes. But our department’s mission is “to advance student success through the design, build, and support of technology-rich spaces that foster learning, discovery, and collaboration,” and the best way we can do that is by adapting who we are and what our processes are to fit whatever need we find ourselves in. I just hope we remember this lesson when the demand for the next adaptation lands on our doorstep. Until then, plan early, identify and sympathize with your customers, and prioritize the work that matters most!
About the Author:
Atkins Fleming is the Assistant Director of Learning Spaces at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. He’s worked for over a decade in higher education A/V support, preceded by numerous years in acoustical design. He has a degree in Sound Recording Technology from Texas State University and is a lifelong musician, and he uses both skillsets on a regular basis at his church. Atkins has always loved A/V, from before he knew what A/V was, and is so happy to have found a “home” and a “people” in the Higher Ed AV community.