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A multicultural future

October 19, 2011

Valerie Lee, vice provost for Diversity and Inclusion, says diversity and eminence go hand-in-hand.

The Ohio State University recognizes that diversity enriches the educational experience. A diverse learning environment prepares students to be active participants in an increasingly complex, global society.

The Office of Diversity and Inclusion promotes the recruitment, retention and success of students, faculty and staff who enhance the diversity of the intellectual community at Ohio State. We work to open pathways, strengthen pipelines and build partnerships in order to make education an accessible goal for all communities.

Undergirding all of ODI’s programmatic efforts is the knowledge that we want to make the shift from a satisfaction with simply having numerous diversity-related activities to an emphasis on impact and outcome. At the end of the day, ODI understands diversity and excellence to be complementary, not antithetical, goals. The Office of Diversity and Inclusion seeks excellence through diversity.

Diversity is at the core of the environment we are creating for the university. In fact, an appreciation for diversity is at the heart of the One University principle. Our success depends on not leaving any talent on the table - this means recruiting and retaining the best students, faculty and staff, as well as listening to every idea and viewpoint in order to arrive at fair, equitable and effective solutions.

When I look at the concepts covered in the culture retreats - be curious, respect difference and be aware of one’s filters - it is clear that diversity is the common thread. In order to remain curious, one must value people who bring different points of view. In order to respect difference, one must be willing to engage others who have different perspectives than one’s own. Recognizing that we all have filters helps open us to see the value of others’ unique contributions.

It is important to deepen our understanding of what it means to be inclusive. Diversity is not narrow; it is made up of all of the parts that create the whole person, such as race, national origin, socioeconomic status, able-bodiedness, gender and sexual orientation, educational background and family structure. Each of us has a different story; there are chapters that resonate with and overlap others’ stories, like a multi-layered, highly textured novel.

We all must see diversity as a dividend, not a deficit. Some ways to expand an appreciation for diversity include:

• Read more about other cultures.
• Interact with people from various walks of life.
• Travel to other locales, regions and countries.
• Listen to voices not your own.

Above all else, think of diversity as a verb, as something that one does, as something that requires action, purpose and intentionality. By doing diversity, Ohio State is positioning itself for a multicultural future.

Building momentum

September 21, 2011

As we continue along the path from Excellence to Eminence, it’s understandable that there will be some reluctance and a bit of resistance. The College of Social Work is an area where one might expect some of that resistance; the concepts are based on theories and practices that we teach and, in many cases, our faculty know more about these concepts than the facilitators who lead the culture retreats. But from the beginning we have been clear that our culture transformation and the retreats aren’t about learning something new — they are about finding new ways of interacting with each other, because how we work together matters.

As we started on the process of culture transformation, the first point I made to faculty and staff was that we’re not trying to fix anything. We are not broken; rather, it was about what we want to become, and what we want to be seen as in the larger community. This shift in thinking was important because when you focus upon your weaknesses, you lock yourself into right now. When you approach culture change as a conversation about what you can become, you can develop your future together.

The beauty of our approach was that we could adjust our activities to better reflect our needs. I felt the first retreat was too corporate and slick. For subsequent retreats, we’ve buffed the sheen off so it felt more genuine and thoughtful to our faculty and staff. But the underlying concepts and language remained the same, offering ways to work together across the university.

That common language was one of the benefits of these efforts. People want to talk but don’t always know how to, and coming together around culture change retreats gave people the common language and skills necessary to have a good conversation. This greater sense of community is integral to our success; if we become more than just a bunch of individuals sharing a building, we can accomplish a lot together.

We’ve seen how applying these concepts can create positive momentum. As we revamped our curriculum for semester conversion, we took a different approach than we might have in the past, and our approach, based on some of the culture transformation concepts, made this a positive, successful experience.

First, we were forward-looking and positive. Rather than focusing on the past and critiquing the current curriculum, which puts those who own it on the defensive, we focused on the future. This gave us the ability to have meaningful, challenging conversations.

Second, we gave permission to disagree — which is a good thing, as there is passion and commitment in disagreement. The only parameters we asked for were to be respectful and creative and not to compromise, but instead to create something better by listening carefully to each other.

Third, we embraced inclusiveness. We thought as a group about what we wanted to create, and we shared ideas. We sought out our colleagues and asked for their input. It also was important to talk with students and the practice community to ensure we were meeting everyone’s needs.

These steps enabled us to create a positive atmosphere in which we could develop a curriculum that maintains and builds on the strengths of one of the oldest accredited colleges, both on campus and across the country. Now other universities have asked us for insight on how to replicate our successful process.

While these steps seem simple, they aren’t always in line with the way we operate in higher education. We are grounded in critical thinking and encourage autonomy. For example, faculty rewards are often based on individual behavior. But to succeed, it often takes a team effort.  Building a team here is a unique challenge, but creating a collaborative work climate among such a talented group yields endless potential.

The leap to eminence occurs collaboratively; doing things together that we can’t do alone. If we approach our work and the changes we’re facing with enthusiasm, not fear, we can surpass our goals.

One (statewide) Ohio State

August 10, 2011

President Gee’s One University vision is founded in our ability and our willingness to collaborate — across disciplines, across units and administrative offices, and, yes, across distances. The unification of Ohio State’s campuses at Lima, Mansfield, Marion and Lima into the Regional Campus Cluster (RCC) has led to a new shared commitment that makes these campuses a model of the president’s vision.

These campuses provide access to higher education in general, and to Ohio State specifically, for Ohioans who might otherwise not have access to the university. They also serve as entryways to the university for those who want the Ohio State experience in a small-campus setting. In addition, the regional campuses establish a geographical presence for the university outside Columbus. They enhance economic development, and they strengthen learning and cultural opportunities within their communities.

Students who enroll at a regional campus may be the first in their family to seek higher education, they may prefer to live close to home or they may be place-bound and of a non-traditional college-going age. Our regional campuses offer high-quality courses taught by first-rate faculty who emphasize student development and academic success.

Because of these campuses’ importance in meeting community needs, they are exploring the development of special campus foci based on regional or curricular emphases. These might include, for example, a focus in the health sciences, teacher preparation or social services, among others.

In discharging their responsibilities to their students and the state, the four regional campuses are collaborating as never before. They also are integrated with the Columbus campus in new and important ways. This new era of partnership was launched last year with the formation of two leadership groups.

The Regional Campus Cluster Advisory Council was created to examine and discuss high-level regional campus issues, opportunities and challenges. It is made up of a board member from each of the campuses, plus the regional campus deans along with faculty, staff and student participants. In its two meetings during AY2011, the council considered how we can most effectively implement the regional campus cluster concept.

The Regional Campus Cluster Support Team was formed to consider such local issues as student housing, enrollment patterns and strategic planning. This group consists of the regional campus deans and leaders of Columbus campus units important to the success of the RCC, including academic advising and undergraduate education, the arts and sciences, the CIO, Diversity and Inclusion, public safety, institutional research and planning and so on.

Perhaps the most tangible affirmation of the RCC’s commitment to collaboration came just last month with the launching of a planning effort that will result in the regional campuses’ first-ever integrated strategic plan. Some 50 faculty, staff, students, board members, administrators and community representatives came together to craft a plan containing overarching cross-campus goals that align with Ohio State’s institutional goals. The plan will include strategies and specific steps to guide the individual campuses in achieving these goals. The meeting, according to the collective memory of the group, was historic; no such gathering of regional campus and Columbus campus representatives had ever been assembled — and especially not for the purpose of working as One University on a shared vision.

Trickle-down improvement

July 13, 2011

In our culture-shaping sessions and materials, we have emphasized the value of openness and trust in our relationships with colleagues. I’d like to extend the discussion to our interactions with students. In my role as vice president for Student Life, I have the privilege of seeing our students at their very best and worst, and all the points between. Whether I am congratulating them on a high honor, counseling them through a crisis or chatting about campus life, I find that students respond positively to open, honest, authentic communication.

Just as our coworkers appreciate it when we share needed information, assume best intentions and keep an open mind, students also react favorably and mirror the attitude we present to them. A trusting environment leads to constructive conversation, shared responsibility and ultimately to achievement of goals. Of course, there is information that cannot be shared for good reasons (FERPA and HIPAA violations among them), but our first instinct should be to be open. Often, that means closing our mouth and opening our ears.  Listening — really listening — is all that is needed in more cases than you would expect.

This applies to individuals, specific groups and the student body as a whole. The more students feel that we, the faculty and staff, are hearing their concerns and being honest, forthright and considerate with them, the more effectively we can work together. It’s hardly surprising that positivity begets positivity, but openness does not always come naturally or easily, so consider these questions:

• Am I presenting an attitude that invites students to approach me with questions and concerns?
• Do I respond in a timely manner to inquiries?
• Do I listen for understanding, gather the information needed and respond appropriately — whether that is simply “I hear you” or a referral to a resource for assistance?
• Is the information students need from my department kept up to date and easily accessible?
• Do my words and actions indicate that I think positively about our students and expect them to perform to a high standard?

That last point, I think, may be the most important one. When you make it clear that you respect students’ ability to weigh various factors and make good choices, you are rarely disappointed. When you set high expectations, you are likely to get good results. I see this in our students’ enthusiastic support of programs such as Buckeyethon ($222,518 raised for Nationwide Children’s Hospital this year) and BuckIServ (between-quarters trips to do community service), as well as the remarkable academic achievements showcased at the Denman and Hayes forums.

I also see it in less lofty arenas, such as our expectation that students will treat the facilities and furnishings of the new Ohio Union with care.  Despite constant use, very little damage has occurred. It does not hurt that the staff speak respectfully, but firmly to those who appear to be on the verge of careless or harmful actions. Being open and trusting does not mean overlooking or excusing poor student behavior — in the classroom, in our recreation facilities or in the off-campus neighborhoods. It does mean communicating clear expectations, sharing the information needed to make good decisions, responding to questions, being open to feedback and assuming positive intent wherever possible.

Responsibility and leadership

June 2, 2011

I recently gave the keynote address at an Association of Staff and Faculty Women event, and the program leader who introduced me noted that as chief strategy officer I helped take the Medical Center from a $500 million organization to a $2.2 billion healthcare enterprise. As I reflected on that statistic, I realized that, while it’s gratifying to say I played a key role in strategically growing the Medical Center, it’s not the accomplishment of which I’m most proud.

When I look back over my career, what gives me the greatest sense of accomplishment is the small role I have played in helping other people. I’m not saving lives in the intensive care unit or performing lifesaving transplants, but I hope that my legacy will be about helping others surpass their goals. At one point in our careers or another, we are very focused on our own success. But as a leader, I am not only accountable to this organization for results but to the people around me, and helping them achieve their professional and life goals is the essence of being a strong leader.

I like to talk about what I refer to as the “ladder of life,” climbing toward our goals. If someone above you pulls you up, you will achieve success that much more quickly. It’s easy to identify those who have helped or hindered your climb, but how often have you turned around to pull people up with you? It’s a responsibility, not a choice.

Studies show that 80 percent of satisfaction and engagement at work has to do with the relationship with your supervisor. When you hear that statistic, you naturally begin thinking about your relationship with your boss, but I would challenge you to spend more time thinking about your relationship with the people you lead, both formally and informally.

Here are several things I’ve found helpful in building strong relationships and being a better leader.

Understand that you yourself are a work in progress. Understand that you will never have it ALL figured out, and focus on how you can improve.  Remember that it’s not about being a great leader; it’s about being a great person. If you focus on growing to become a better person with strong values and integrity, you will be a better leader.

Demonstrate empathy. Understand the needs of those around you and help meet those needs. Put yourself in the shoes of the faculty member, the patient, the medical student, the researcher working in the lab in the middle of the night. Help a colleague have meaningful balance.

Make many connections. Take the initiative yourself to broaden your network. Don’t wait for it to happen. A great “door opener” is to ask others for advice. I encourage you to make the “uncomfortable” connections; it’s easy to ask friends and close colleagues for advice, but reach out beyond the people you currently know. You’ll be surprised at what you learn and the connections you can make.

Take care of yourself. Creating a healthy workplace starts with taking care of your own physical and mental well being. Work on your mind, body and soul.  Schedule time to exercise, build friendships, read and reflect. Eliminate unhealthy habits. If you are healthy you are a positive role model and at your best.

It took me some time to learn these lessons. But with these insights, I’m better at what I do. I’ve not faltered in my performance expectations  — I’m well known for being a stickler for results — but I know that, while we might be getting great results, I am not doing my job if I’m not helping the people around me meet their goals.

Excellence to Eminence: Surveys show change is happening, slowly but surely

May 4, 2011

Changes are more apparent, data show, where leaders take more interest in the culture process

By Jeff McCallister

Ohio State University has more than one might think in common with an aircraft carrier. Both are nearly self-contained cities unto themselves, providing those who work there with many of the same services and a similar sense of community that they find in their own hometowns.

They’re also both notoriously slow to turn once headed on a particular course.

And that’s why no one had the illusion that culture change here would be an overnight success. But the results of the most recent faculty and staff surveys, when compared with a nearly identical survey administered in 2008, show some encouraging signs that positive change is indeed happening.

Continue reading ‘Excellence to Eminence: Surveys show change is happening, slowly but surely’

Change with a purpose

May 4, 2011

Throughout the last five years as dean of the College of Dentistry, I’ve learned valuable lessons about change. When I assumed my current role, someone said to me, “You have about two months to make big changes.” But long-lasting changes don’t occur in a revolutionary way. It’s a more subtle process than that. You have to be cautious and intentional as you make decisive changes backed by solid rationale.

We all know change is hard and it takes a lot of work. The college’s faculty, staff and students have shared in the years of hard work and change that have strengthened us as a community and an institution, and the results of our collective efforts are impressive.

We began with the goal of creating a “high-performance culture” in the college, and we defined high performance as being the difference between achieving genuine excellence and just getting the job done. Although high performance varies with individuals’ roles, some common themes include being accountable for one’s own actions, serving the needs of our students and patients, striving for constant improvement, getting results and acting with integrity in all we do. We measure these expectations through patient satisfaction surveys, meetings with students to ask for feedback, using a robust performance management process and monitoring our measures of success.

Creating a high-performance culture also required making changes in our organizational structure, our compensation guidelines, our staffing, performance evaluations and performance reports. Some of these changes weren’t easy, and my job was to lead the way and explain the rationale behind these changes. It’s not that people don’t want to change. It’s more often the case that we don’t know how to change unless we’re given specific guidelines and clearly stated goals and expectations.

One way we’ve facilitated change has been opening the lines of communication and encouraging honest dialogue at all levels. We’ve seen that frequent, frank communication increases understanding and it decreases confusion and delays. With that in mind, we’ve hosted town hall meetings for students and for faculty and staff members. We’ve also committed our best efforts to finding sensible solutions to problems that are presented in those gatherings.

All these efforts — and others — have laid the foundation for long-term plans that will move the college from excellence to eminence. With that goal in mind, we’ve implemented an ambitious strategic plan for the college, and we’ve forged ahead with much-needed building improvements. We also added to our staff and faculty expertise by appointing several key positions, including four new division chairs, a DDS program director and a director of community education.

The cumulative effect of all these efforts have led to strong results, including:

• An ambitious strategic plan for the college.
• Increased diversity of our first-year class of dental students, which now stands at 14 percent; the national mean is 13 percent.
• Accreditation of our new dental anesthesia training program.
• Increased fundraising that yielded $1 million in gifts to our building fund and $3 million in gifts for scholarships.

An important element of real change is that it must be ongoing. Though we’ve seen marked improvements throughout our college, we still have areas that need work. We don’t expect to achieve success overnight, but the work we’ve done together will help the college and the university to continue to grow and become even more dynamic.

Excellence requires hard work, and real success can only be achieved with great effort. As leaders, it’s important that we pave the way for positive changes, that we strive for continual improvement and that we take responsibility for our role in making Ohio State great.

Old-fashioned honesty

March 2, 2011

This university’s genuine, daily determination to live up to its values truly hits home with me. I grew up in a blue-collar steel town and was raised by my parents to embrace some pretty basic, “old-fashioned” values from a young age: Work hard, be honest, look a person in the eyes when you shake their hand and always do what you say you’re going to do. Those early lessons stuck with me, served me well at each of the universities for which I’ve worked and remained relevant through my transition from basketball coach to enrollment services professional.

When I look at how the values my parents taught me complement the university’s values, the underlying foundation in both cases is openness and trust. While it seems like a simple, easy-to-follow concept, creating and maintaining openness and trust takes conscious effort, and it’s something I work on every day.

Here are three ways I do so.

Create opportunities for openness

As simple as it sounds, we have to be mindful about building openness. People have good intentions and don’t plan to withhold information; they generally are so busy they forget to share. To help me create that openness with my team, I host “Drinks with Dolan” every Thursday morning. I spend an hour over coffee with 8-10 people on my team so they can ask questions, tell me what is and isn’t working and share ideas. It’s an open, honest conversation, which is much easier in a smaller group.

At first, people were a bit nervous and felt like they were being called to the principal’s office. But as word got out from those who participated that I was open to ideas and feedback, people became excited to attend. Today, these sessions are a source of inspiration and energy, and we’ve implemented several great ideas as a result — for example, a new photo directory to connect people who work in different locations is in the works and we’ve introduced a forum to gather student feedback at all-staff meetings. These are not ideas that I would have thought of myself!

Be open to giving and receiving coaching and feedback

As a former college basketball coach, this comes pretty naturally to me. Coaching should occur every day, not just when there is a problem to confront. As others have said, you don’t have to be sick to get better. We each need the different viewpoints and improvements that coaching offers to become even more effective. That’s what the university’s Excellence to Eminence movement is about; we are a great institution, but we are working on becoming the nation’s preeminent institution. I constantly ask my team for coaching and am implementing programs that formalize the coaching and mentoring process for others.

Some people are uncomfortable offering coaching, but it isn’t something that has to be difficult or time consuming. When you offer coaching in a positive, constructive way, people are open to it — who doesn’t want to get better? Put yourself in the right frame of mind, and you can offer valuable coaching. When we have positive intentions, we can always help someone look at something in a new way.

Listen better

With everything that bombards us these days — text messages, the Internet, e-mail, radio and television — we don’t always listen to what people are saying. Truly listening to someone lets them know that you are willing to focus on them and that what they have to say is important. That builds openness and trust.

It sounds simple, but think about it: If someone doesn’t pay attention when you come to them, are you likely to share information with them in the future? Do you trust that they have your best interests in mind?

This is even more important when you receive coaching: Look for what’s behind the coaching and take time to process it so you can see the benefit of the coaching. I take steps to ensure I’m listening to my staff, including small group meetings, and paying close attention to Pulse Survey results.

It’s important to act on what you learn when you listen. If you ask for feedback and then don’t act on it, others will be much less likely to share it in the future. My unit told me they struggled with inconsistent performance management processes and wanted to receive more coaching and growth opportunities. Based on that, we are implementing a consistent performance management process, and we have increased our coaching and mentoring activities.

I believe that my group will continue to share candid feedback because they know I listen.

As we head into challenging economic times, building and maintaining openness and trust will help us navigate the rough waters that lie ahead. Working together, sharing information and trusting that people are acting in the best interests of others will allow us to respond quickly to changing needs. We are all very fortunate to work at a values-driven place like Ohio State and I am personally grateful for the opportunity to get better every day.

The One University advantage

February 2, 2011

Caroline Whitacre, vice president for Research, explains how collaboration is more than just a trendy catch-phrase.

How many times have you heard the phrase “Ohio State is one of the most comprehensive research universities in the United States?”

We tend to gloss over those words that frequently come in the first few sentences of any story about the university. But those words have an important meaning and underscore one of our greatest strengths. I would like to share my thoughts on the value of collaborating as One University.

First, the comprehensiveness of OSU provides a large array of opportunities for students to pursue research projects. As I strolled through the rows of posters at the 2010 Denman Undergraduate Research Forum, I could not help but be impressed at the universe of topics represented.

In the area of art there was “Interpersonal Relationships Through the Eyes of Crows,” and in engineering: “Development of an E85 Engine for the EcoCAR Hybrid Vehicle Competition.” In humanities there was “Experience of the AIDS Orphan in the Central and Eastern Regions of Ghana,” and in the health professions category I saw “Characterization of a Novel HSPB3 Mutation Causing a Motor Neuron Disease.”

Students have unlimited opportunities to pursue their passion and even to try a number of research projects throughout their time at OSU. A particularly visible articulation of collaborating as One University was the Solar Decathlon project in 2009. A group of students decided to enter this US Department of Energy competition, which focuses on the planning and building of a self-sustainable solar house. More than 60 students representing 20 different disciplines worked together on the OSU Solar House, which placed 10th in the world.

It was with a huge sense of pride that I stood in front of the OSU Solar House as it was displayed on the National Mall in Washington, DC, and felt the sense of togetherness exemplified by our student team. What made this project even more important was that students from engineering, communications, political science, architecture, design and other disciplines came together to address global problems centering on energy and the environment. It took an unprecedented collaborative effort to provide all of the various disciplines necessary for the project. The competition, which is held every other year, is gearing up for 2011 and Ohio State has been invited to apply.

When we collaborate as One University, we become much more competitive for major grant opportunities. One only has to look at our present grant portfolio to appreciate this fact. OSU is one of the few universities in the country that can claim both a National Science Foundation Materials Research Science and Engineering Center and a Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center. These are large collaborative grants that typically involve faculty from different disciplines with the goal of advancing research in specific fields and passing that new knowledge along to students. Other examples include the Comprehensive Cancer Center Core grant, which has been in place at OSU since 1976, the Center for Clinical and Translational Science awarded in 2008, the Reading Recovery Program in place at OSU for the past 25 years and the recently awarded Population Health Initiative. All of these support far-reaching programs in biomedical research, engineering, education or population science.

Collaboration as One University, however, is about much more than securing large amounts of grant money. It means that we can tackle the world’s toughest problems with a multi-pronged approach, creative minds and state-of-the-art facilities. For example, the world’s food supply will need to increase by 40 percent over the next 15 years in order to meet the demand of the globe’s increasing population, which will go from 6 billion people today to a projected 8 billion people by 2025, leading to unprecedented needs for food production, food security and water. This is exactly the focus of one of the new OSU Centers of Innovation, which involves 80 faculty from 12 colleges. This group is undertaking such tough questions as, “How do you increase crop yields from a single acre of land?” and “How do you make today’s crops more disease resistant using approaches that can be applied in the third world?”

This is just one example of collaborating as One University; there are many — in alternative energy, personalized health care, overcoming poverty, complex systems and artistic design, to name a few.
I learn every day about new initiatives taking place at this great university and am astounded at the creativity and collaborative spirit of its citizens.

The View from the Top is a regular feature that appears monthly in onCampus.

No time like the present

January 5, 2011

When I was asked to share my thoughts around coaching and feedback, it was a little hard to think about the steps I take to offer and receive feedback. My philosophy is that feedback, more specifically performance feedback, should happen automatically, virtually every day.

In my group, it’s easy to offer, “Great job!” “Can you do it this way next time?” and so on. This happens among all of us because we have created an environment where we are approachable, and we are routinely expected to offer and receive praise, feedback and constructive criticism.

That’s the idea of the culture we’re creating — coaching and feedback needs to become part of what we do every day. When we continuously offer suggestions on how our colleagues can be more effective, the stigma around “feedback” disappears and it leads to more feedback being offered and received.

It helps us maintain a positive frame of mind: Rather than worrying about your review tomorrow, you tell yourself, “I’m going to work, and people are going to tell me that I am generally doing a good job and will help me with how I can do better.”

I set high expectations when I give or receive feedback. I believe that, when you provide feedback, it has to be something important enough to require action. In the right environment — where there’s open, honest communication — the process of offering feedback and responding to it just happens. I also expect that feedback occurs at all levels — manager to employee, employee to manager and peer to peer.

As with many things, it’s easy to come up with a list of reasons why it’s better to not offer coaching and feedback.

• “I don’t have time.”
• “I don’t know enough about that project.”
• “I’m not sure how it will be received.”

Offering feedback only takes a few minutes, and it can have many benefits. We all have different perspectives; looking at things in a new way can help us achieve more. There also are resources on the Excellence to Eminence website that can improve coaching skills. My rule is, if you are physically (or electronically, although in person or by real voice is my preference) near the people you work with, offering feedback can happen all the time.

Here’s an example of both giving and receiving feedback. Several months ago, I was riding my bicycle home and saw a bumper sticker, “Wag more. Bark less.” As a newly appointed cultural strategist in the College of Optometry, I raced home and sent an inspirational e-mail on this theme to my college’s faculty and staff. Okay, so that wasn’t specific feedback, but it represented generic reinforcement of issues related to a change in the university’s culture. A few weeks later, I, quite simply, misbehaved in a meeting. I was aggressive, argumentative and just plain rude. Later in the day, one of the people in the meeting took a minute to remind me of my wagging/barking e-mail and it stopped me cold. I apologized for my unprofessional behavior and vowed to do better next time. Immediate, frank, friendly feedback from a colleague defused a rough moment in the workplace.

While coaching and feedback should occur continuously in an informal way, we do have more formal opportunities to do so. One is the performance management process. In this process, several times a year the employee has a conversation about what he or she has achieved, how he or she can be even more effective and identifies what support he or she needs to achieve set goals. It’s an opportunity for supervisors to share feedback with employees and vice versa.

It’s important to remember that formal performance management processes aren’t a substitute for regular, appropriate interaction. Performance coaching shouldn’t be constrained to 30 minutes once a quarter or an hour once a year. When it is, there can be surprises and misalignment between self-review and the boss’ review. When you have ongoing conversations, those types of disconnects don’t happen.

Remember, don’t wait for someone to offer coaching. Ask others for feedback; it might come as a surprise to see how a different viewpoint can lead to a new, better approach.

The View from the Top is a regular feature that appears monthly in onCampus.

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