Spotlight: IU Real Estate

To begin addressing their My Voice at IU engagement scores surrounding question 12 (Q12), the IU Real Estate service staff team first had to reflect on what it meant to be part of a larger team. See how a seemingly simple “TEAM building activity” brought them together in a shared purpose and helped them set the stage for growth and development below.


Photo of employees
The IU Real Estate service staff team show off their inspirational TEAM sign. Photo provided by the IU Real Estate service staff team. View larger photo

My Voice at IU Engagement Question:

This last year, I have had opportunities to learn and grow.

It’s my responsibility as a supervisor to recognize the good we do, but we—as a team—also need to continue to improve, grow and develop. We don’t want to be satisfied with good, we want to reach for that next level of service.”
- Kyle Blackwell, General Supervisor, IU Real Estate

Background

In discussing their engagement survey results, the IU Real Estate unit as a whole determined that focusing on learning and growth—Q12—was most important to them.

Actions

The IU Real Estate team broke into smaller representative work teams to discuss what opportunities to learn and grow meant to them and develop a plan to share with the larger IU Real Estate team.

“At first, the service team and I were a little unsure of how to get started,” said Kyle Blackwell, General Supervisor, IU Real Estate. “Once we realized the importance and had a couple of brainstorming sessions, they began to really contribute.” Ideas shared focused on the following themes and became the basis for their ongoing action plans:

  • Give opportunities to do a wide range and variety of work.
  • Share knowledge and experiences with others on the team.
  • Be engaged and a part of decision making within the team.
  • Provide additional training opportunities that align with employee interests.
  • Create a clearer communication of responsibilities by using consistent communication channels.
  • Improve team communication.

 

TEAM plaque hanging
Photo provided by Chris Meyer at IU Communications.
View larger

While creating their action plans, the team had an idea to create something they could display in the office that represented what they stood for as a department while reminding themselves of their importance to the larger IU Real Estate unit. “We brainstormed and worked together to create a TEAM acronym and painted it on a salvaged piece of trim from an IU property.” The sign is hung in their meeting room as a permanent reminder of the importance of their efforts. “It represents our service staff team perfectly,” said Blackwell: Together • Every • Action • Matters.

Impact

“When my team presented the TEAM sign at the unit meeting the response was over and above what we expected,” said Blackwell. “We all want to live this acronym and our team has done an outstanding job of bringing it to life.”

The team holds regular meetings—with their TEAM sign in sight—to discuss and continue working on action plans related to growth and development. “Through these discussions, it became clear that our team working well together was critical to our success,” said Blackwell. “We all had to be good team members, and the sign helps remind us of the importance of our actions.”