The 60-minute breakout sessions throughout the day focused on best practices, tools, and other topics relevant to process or program improvement—offered by those with experience and expertise to share. Summaries and presentations (as available) from this year’s sessions are listed below.
10:30-11:30 a.m. Sessions
Using an Indigenous Medicine Wheel to Facilitate Organizational Improvement
Presented by Annie Jones, professor & organization development and tribal nations specialist, Division of Extension
The medicine wheel has been used for centuries by Indigenous peoples as a method of organizing thinking to help effectively bring about desired change. This session explored how a medicine wheel, cultural teachings, and other Indigenous methodologies can be used to facilitate organizational development, change, planning, and evaluation efforts. Attendees experienced the medicine wheel in action and left with a personal action plan and a PATI (purpose, assessment, tactics, and implementation) framework to adapt for their own work.
Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) on Campus: Adding Value with Centralized Information
Presented by Kyla Farroll, associate director, and Marcus Machacek, CRM administrator & business analyst, Enterprise CRM & Engagement Solutions, Division of Information Technology (DoIT)
In this session, the team from Enterprise CRM explored how constituent relationship management has evolved at UW–Madison. Attendees heard about the challenges they’ve faced as use of the university’s CRM system—to initiate, track, and support interactions and communications with constituents—has expanded. The CRM team shared campus use cases and discussed the OneBadger vision, a way for learners, faculty, staff, and external community partners across the university to interact with each other using accurate, reliable, and timely information.
Uncovering Project Stakeholders’ True Needs
Presented by Grace Kilpatrick, senior project manager, Office of Strategic Consulting
In this session, participants learned how to effectively work with project stakeholders to help them identify and articulate their true objectives from a project. They had the opportunity to share knowledge and experiences with other participants in a group exercise, small-group breakouts, and a final large-group share-out.
1:30-2:30 p.m. Sessions
The Power of Belonging: Embedding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Organizational Development
Presented by Deborah Biddle, founder and chief consultant, The People Company; Lisa Chambers, administrative director, Morgridge Center for Public Services; Susan Tran Degrand, interim director for equity, inclusion and employee well-being, Office of Human Resources; and Kate Kingery (moderator), director of consulting, Office of Strategic Consulting
In this session, panelists shared examples of their efforts to embed diversity, equity, and inclusion in their organizational culture and how that has helped their groups and teams feel a greater sense of belonging. Some topics that were explored include uncovering unconscious biases; using assessments to surface individual and group experiences; developing shared values and aligning values to work processes; applying design approaches that facilitate belonging and engagement; and how to shift and re-engage as work teams evolve, grow, and change.
Office Space in a Hybrid World: What Does Our Future State Look Like and How Will We Get There?
Presented by Jesse Luckey Winters, space management interim director, Space Management Office, Facilities Planning & Management
In this session, attendees engaged in a conversation about their experiences with remote-hybrid work and how they use and manage office space in their unit. Participants learned about campus examples and broader trends related to distributed work and space management, talked about potential opportunities to support flexibility and improve workspace efficiency for UW–Madison, and discussed how space, people, and change management overlap.
When It Comes to Project Success, Team Relationships Matter
Presented by Diana Allen, enterprise business analyst, Division of Continuing Studies; Lauranne Bailey, IT project manager, Interdisciplinary Professional Programs, College of Engineering; Robert Merrill, business systems analyst, Division of Information Technology (DoIT); and Nick Welker, software engineer, DoIT
In this session, participants heard from two divisions and a college who shared their own experience with a project that was stuck. Attendees learned how they were able to finally move forward once a new person with expertise in team dynamics and process improvement helped uncover the roots of their frustration and misunderstandings. The group discussed the importance of understanding and focusing on relationships, in addition to process, in ensuring project success. Attendees also learned about common challenges such as split-obligation teams, remote teams, and siloed teams.
Ready, Set, Relaunch: A Website Success Story
Presented by Ellen Clark, communications specialist, and Mahika Mohan, student services student employee, Office of the Registrar
The Office of the Registrar redesigned and relaunched its website over a period of two and half years during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this session, participants heard how the office was able to use inventories, feedback dashboards, and a unique student perspective to completely transform its website—which received over 1.7 million visits last year—in a fully virtual environment. The presenters, including the student employee of the year for innovation and technology, walked through their experience and shared lessons they learned along the way.
2:45-3:45 p.m. Sessions
Strategic Planning in a Dispersed and Change-Fatigued Organization
Presented by Catherine Neiswender, assistant dean, and Rachael Reis, operations manager, Division of Extension
In this session, attendees heard about Extension’s planning process, as well as the important lessons they learned about conducting planning in a change-fatigued and dispersed organization. Participants learned about the changes that Extension experienced and how those changes influenced their planning.
Emerging Practices in Leadership: A Study in Co-Directorship
Presented by Sarah Davis and Jill Jacklitz, co-directors, Center for Patient Partnerships
In this session, participants heard how the Center for Patient Partnerships chose and implemented co-directorship for a small interdisciplinary center. Attendees learned more about co-leadership fundamentals, explored examples of different models, and left with tools to use for planning, implementation, and assessment.
An Introduction to Process Mapping and Tools
Presented by Elizabeth Fadell and Jim Thompson, internal consultants, Office of Strategic Consulting
In this session, participants learned about the reasons for and benefits of process mapping as part of process improvement. They explored common process mapping tools (such as high-level process maps, value stream maps, and workflows) and walked through a practical exercise to better understand the mechanics of process mapping and how to identify and understand workflows.