Team Activity

We recommend viewing the video individually prior to the meeting or as a team.  

Reflect on current practices that are working well for you and as a team. 

For areas of improvement: 

• Focus on moving forward and not on the past 

• Offer constructive suggestions for improvement 

• Discuss ideas, not individuals 

• Give everyone the chance to contribute 

This step is a brainstorm session to put as many words as possible that represent workload management. Take 2-3 minutes for the group to share their suggestions and reflections on these three questions:   

• What current practices are working well that support workload management? 
• What current practices do we stop or improve? 
• What does workload management mean to you?      

If you are conducting a virtual meeting, you can use Microsoft Teams to easily create a Word Cloud: 

1. Create a meeting in your Outlook calendar 
2. Go to your Teams Calendar, expand the meeting invite to full screen 
3. Click the + sign, which is located on at top next to Q&A 
4. From there, add the ‘Forms’ app and save 
5. Click on the 'Polls' tab and choose the option ‘New Poll’ 
6. Then select 'Word Cloud' and write in your questions 

Here are some one-word examples to get the team going: priority management, flexibility, planning, efficiency.   

Once the Word Cloud is completed, come up with specific actions that would positively demonstrate each word. Be practical and reasonable. Have at least one action for each word. 

Here are some examples:    

• Priority management: review of tasks / projects and their level of importance
• Flexibility: ability to adjust to changes
• Planning: preparation for peak periods 
• Efficiency: review of a process

When developing your plan, each action should be:   

• Observable: must be able to see or hear it 
• Measurable: to which extent it makes a positive difference 
• Reasonable: managers need to have the time and resources to do it and must be reasonable for staff and faculty
• Relevant: make sense and everyone can adopt it  

Also consider if the ideas need approval form senior leaders, need funding you don’t already have, contravene a collective agreement, policy, or contract.   

First, identify the current practices to continue before moving into action. Once you are ready to move into actions, we recommend thinking critically about these actions. Depending on your group size, we suggest groups of 3-4 to allow small group discussion either at a table or in an online breakout room.    See bottom of page for instructions on setting up breakout rooms.     

Preferred 3 actions:   
1. __________________________ 
2. __________________________  
3. __________________________  

Once those 3 actions have been decided, look for a quick win to start. Have the group vote for the one action you want your manager/team to take. We recommend the criteria be:  

• Be low cost or no cost  
• Is relatively easy for the manager/team to adopt now  
• Doesn’t violate any uOttawa policies or contracts  
• Has the impact you want to have on workload management    

Remember, the other ideas can also be considered later by your manager/team!  

Breakout Room Instructions 

1. Create a meeting in your Outlook calendar 
2. Go to your Teams Calendar, expand the meeting invite to full screen 
3. Go to Breakout rooms and select Create rooms 
4.  From the dropdown, choose how many rooms you'd like to create 
5.  Select Assign participants and choose whether you'd like staff and faculty to be assigned to rooms Automatically or Manually
6. As soon as the meeting starts, you can open the breakout rooms 

What potential challenges to adopting this action and how might we deal with that? Your current task is to brainstorm potential challenges before they arise. Remember to stay away from discussing individuals or personalities. Your task is to come up with constructive and helpful ideas to support the success of the action.  

Start with quick wins and continuously assess workload to prompt ongoing improvement. The reader is invited to consider the issue from three different perspectives: staff and faculty, team, and manager.

Understand the current context: 

• What are the workload concerns and why does this situation exist? What background information could help understand the situation?
• Are the current job demands and expectations clear? Have they evolved over time?
• What other information about the situation would be helpful?
• Who else is impacted by the current situation? Who else could contribute to finding a solution or navigating these barriers?
• What additional resources and support would be useful?
• What could be useful suggestions for improvement?
• Are we set up for success? How often should we re-visit our practices?
• Other: _______

Here are points to consider that may spur action: 

• Are expectations clear?
• Evaluate current priorities. Decide which to continue, which to put on hold, and which to stop:
  • Establish the difference between important tasks and urgent tasks
• Are priorities clear? Which ones should continue, be eliminated, or put on hold?
• Are deadlines reasonable?
• Are there redundant tasks that can be eliminated?
• Are there distractions or disruptions that can be eliminated?
• Is the work distributed equitably?
• Do staff and faculty have some control over assigned tasks? (e.g., decision-making, timelines, permissions, etc.).
• Are the client expectations reasonable?
• Are there opportunities to improve the processes?
• Can peak demand periods be proactively planned?
• Can technology assist to improve communication, tasks, etc.
• Is there a need for equipment or resources to support work effectiveness?
• Can meetings be shortened?
• Consider reviewing email etiquette:
  • Do not reply all
  • Do not send response to accepted meeting
• Consider scheduling uninterrupted times or days to focus on specific work
• Embed workload discussions in annual performance management meetings and review regularly
• Other: _____