A Guide for Working in ISR's "Collaborative Work Environment

Information Services & Resources has defined an organizational culture that we call "Our Collaborative Work Environment." Developed from the best cultural elements that exist in our organization, our Collaborative Work Environment defines our way of working together based on ISR's shared values.

Our interactions with each other and with our customers are based on honesty, mutual respect and integrity. Our work environment nurturing and caring; one where we are expected to take responsibility and are given room to grow, make mistakes, and learn. Leadership takes the form of facilitating, coaching, mentoring, supporting and helping. In this environment, everyone actively contributes to ISR and everyone has an opportunity to lead in appropriate ways. We all have a growing set of tools and skills that allow us to be full and active participants in the success of the organization. We celebrate our accomplishments and each other. We refuse to let each other fail.

We Focus on Customer Service as the Big Picture

Our customers drive everything we do. We develop and deliver high quality customer service based upon the needs and expectations of the campus. We take pride in the way we deliver those services, and we serve as an example when we do so in a collaborative way. In order to provide exceptional service, we have worked with our customers to jointly develop our Service Model that defines the service values we hold as an organization.

We Do "The Right Thing"

ISR empowers staff to make reasonable decisions and take appropriate actions to meet the needs of our customers. Empowerment implies action. Action involves risk. Within our collaborative work environment, we ask a simple question to help sort through such situations, "What is the right thing for Bucknell?" This simple question has enormous power. It helps to sort out how important it is to act now, or if it is more important to take the time to consult others. It helps to uncover possible consequences to action or to inaction. It helps to identify other individuals who might need to be consulted before reaching a conclusion. It helps to understand the full range of consequences of our decisions and actions. We learn from our decisions and continually try to make better decisions based on customer feedback. If we have asked the question "What is the right thing for Bucknell?" and we have honestly processed the answers in a way that allows us to feel confident, the organization will find it easy to support our choices. In the long run, the customer has a better experience and the university is better served.

We Base Our Relationships on Trust

We support our colleagues and trust they are making the right decisions. We operate in an environment that is free from fear. We have no qualms about taking risks and asking for help. As individuals, we all take on a shared responsibility for the success of the group and the organization. We are free to raise our concerns and then work to resolve them openly. We hold one another and ourselves accountable in order to maintain our highest standards of behavior, performance and service.

We Thrive on Communication

Our collaborative work environment relies on open, honest communication and the sharing of knowledge and information in all directions. We share what we know with others in the organization and take advantage of the opportunities to learn about the aspects of ISR services and resources beyond our own work groups. We use a wide range of communications mechanisms through which to do our work. We believe in the added value of personal, face-to-face interaction. To ensure that we are supporting our colleagues and our customers, we also firmly commit to our standard communications mechanisms such as e-mail, Heat, Meeting Maker, and voicemail.

We Get the Right People Together at the Right Time

We value adaptability, fluidity and flexibility. Our groups are neither hierarchical nor permanent in nature. We are constantly changing in order to best use our resources, skills and abilities to address the issues at hand. Diversity of opinions, approaches and ideas is critical to our success. When working on an issue, we ask, "Who needs to be involved?" and then include them as much as possible. We strive to have well run meetings with stated agendas where all attendees are prepared and actively engaged.

We Believe that Collaboration Is Built on Appropriate Involvement

Collaboration is built around a fundamental principle of people working together. We strive to involve stakeholders (both internal and external) in the development of our services and in solving the problems we face. At all times, we must consider the balance of the number of individuals directly involved and the ability for the group to resolve the issue efficiently. Significant issues of a broad nature may require the creative energy and commitment of the whole. More often, a smaller, more focused group that has the most appropriate responsibility, skills and knowledge will be defined to provide the best resolution. Not everyone affected may be able to directly participate at all stages of resolving an issue; however, the people responsible for resolving an issue are expected to seek input from interested parties at appropriate times and to communicate their plans openly. Working together provides the opportunity for better ideas and solutions; together we are smarter than any one of us individually.

We Make Decisions by Consensus

As people work together collaboratively, they must make decisions as a group. In the majority of cases, we use consensus as the means of making those decisions, by finding a solution, a direction or a path with which we can all live. Consensus does not necessarily mean that everyone agrees with the outcome, nor does it require that we compromise toward mediocrity. Consensus builds decisions on the wisdom of the group and defines an answer we can all support. Such collaboration requires that individuals work through their differences, building a new level of understanding and awareness of one another's legitimate concerns as we address them. The guiding principle of consensus is to create the best solution for any given situation based upon the vision, values and mission of the organization.

We Encourage Development and Growth

Our work to support the campus-wide information environment is necessarily fast-paced and dynamic. The changing needs of the campus, as well as developments in technologies and resources available to address those needs require that each of us attend regularly to our own skills and capabilities. As an organization, we focus on professional development in areas of customer service, technology, library, people skills, organizational skills and leadership skills.

In our collaborative work environment, we expect individuals to identify their own professional development needs, and also rely heavily on giving feedback, sharing skills, coaching and mentoring each other.

We Are All Leaders

We all take on a shared responsibility for the success of our groups and the organization. We hold each other and ourselves accountable in order to maintain our highest standards of performance and service. Ongoing learning and development is necessary for the success of our organization. As leaders, we actively seek to learn new things, keep our skills fresh and explore new ideas. We encourage others in the development of their leadership skills and perspective. To support a shared sense of leadership, ISR is developing its own unique Leadership System based on shared values and common expectations for leadership development.

We Recognize Accomplishments

We all have the need to feel recognized for the things we accomplish. We understand that effective recognition comes from everyone in the organization, not just from a given person or persons. We recognize each other's accomplishments; we celebrate completed tasks and projects, as well as intangibles such as growth, learning, and risk-taking. We celebrate successes at the individual, group and organizational level. We encourage and support our colleagues' growth and development while taking responsibility for our own.

We Lead by Example

We recognize that ISR is a role model for the campus in defining the principles and practices of a leading edge, 21st century service organization. We pursue activities that help us learn from others and we place a premium on learning together. We find creative and effective ways to engage each other in thoughtful collaboration. We bring these principles and practices to the campus community by living them every day at Bucknell. In this way, we help pass what we have learned to those who want to join us in this journey, and we extend the collaborative work environment into the community we support.