WorkSmart

Progress to Date

• All Updates

  #65: How are WorkSmart Culture Exemplars spreading the T in TACT (trust)?

  • Our Culture Exemplars are still hard at work to encourage trust across the University, and since the last update in April, some of the ways have included:
    • The Office of Academic Appointments and Office of General Counsel (Legal and Compliance) undertook training with Learning and Organizational Development to build trust as a team. DISC training helped the OAA understand how each member of the team communicates with each other, as part of a 360 feedback exercise, and the OGC completed a new leader assimilation and team development session which had a positive impact on building the sense of trust within the team.
    • Finance, External Relations, and the Integrated Solutions Group host one to two huddles per week to encourage informal discussions and build personal relationships.
    • Campus Safety gave a presentation at the Staff Appreciation Awards in recognition of the security teams.
    • Every supervisor in External Relations must hold a 1:1 with their reports to encourage trust and transparency.

  #64: How are WorkSmart Culture Exemplars spreading the C in TACT (collaboration)?

  • Our Culture Exemplars are still hard at work to encourage collaboration across the University, and since the last update in April, some of the ways have included:
    • All-staff potlucks were hosted by the Office of Research and Staff Council, with an emphasis on connecting with staff that haven’t met before.
    • The Office of Research, Integrated Solutions Group, and some members of the External Relations team started using Slack to increase collaboration between teams, reduce email traffic, and keep information within appropriate channels.
    • Financial Services team held roadshows with Arts and Humanities, the Science division, and a number of labs to share challenges and opportunities.
    • External Relations and Campus Safety collaborated on enhancing the community messaging system for a better experience.
    • The Open Campus Day hosted in March involved collaboration between 15 teams across the university.
    • The Offices of Global Education and Undergraduate Education jointly initiated an Enrollment Management Group bringing together representatives of 11 offices to better understand student numbers and flows across the four-year undergraduate education.
    • External Relations and ISG held a town hall to discuss strategic initiatives and to identify and resolve intersecting projects.

  #63: HR Transition to ServiceNow

  • The initial stage of the NYUAD service catalog implementation is now live. This update has led to our HR department transitioning from the previous ServiceLink system to a new HR-focused ServiceNow environment. As well as an improved HR agent experience, you will see improvements in the upcoming months when you create new HR cases. 
  • Notably, the system now allows users to quickly reopen cases with a single click, among other exciting features set to roll out in the near future. Worksmart, in collaboration with our partners in New York, is transitioning services to a more unified Service Catalog.

  #62: Launch of the NYUAD Service Center

  • The NYUAD Service Center launched on October 16, in the C2 lobby, with representatives from Finance, Student Finance, HR, Financial Aid, Hospitality, Immigration, and Campus Safety on hand to answer questions and resolve issues. Where needed, a member of the Service Center can also provide quick and targeted referrals and there will be a number of centralized instant services, such as ID card printing, and passport photo printing for class-related travel for students and passport photo taking for visa renewal for employees.
  • The services offered will evolve to cater to community needs.

  #61:  How are WorkSmart Culture Exemplars spreading the A in TACT (accountability)?

  • Our Culture Exemplars are still hard at work to encourage accountability across the University, and since the last update in April, some of the ways have included:
    • The Office of the Vice Chancellor admin team outlined cascaded roles and responsibilities, with cross-training sheets, and ensured appropriate out-of-office responses so that team members could fully switch off during vacation.
    • The Office of Legal and Compliance developed a leave calendar to ensure general team alignment and respect for team members’ vacation leave periods.
    • HR included Worksmart context and behaviors in the Leadership Development Program, which was expanded to all supervisors, and the Leading in Hybrid module, and conducted 5 new goal-setting workshops based on TACT principles.
    • Office of Global Education reviewed their internal mechanisms to explore better alignment as a department.
    • HR and the Office of the Vice Chancellor included WorkSmart-related activities and TACT behaviors in the performance review process.
    • External Relations team members who demonstrate TACT behavior are recognized and commended during office staff meetings.

  #60: Student Immigration to join NYUAD Service Center; Additional Student Services to join in January (October 2023) | IN PROGRESS

  • Additional student services will join the NYUAD Service Center in January, including the Registrar’s Office, ARC, and key offices from Student Affairs. Aligning their presence ensures that all three departments are sufficiently represented within the space while being best able to meet community needs.
  • Meanwhile, the space will be utilized to have a separate desk for student immigration services, separate from employee immigration services, to better serve both populations.

  #59: How are WorkSmart Culture Exemplars spreading the T in TACT (transparency)? (September 2023) | ONGOING

  • Our Culture Exemplars are still hard at work to encourage transparency across the University, and since the last update in April, some of the ways have included:
    • HR conducted a transparency-focused exercise in their monthly HR Connect meeting.
    • Campus Safety are hosting monthly drop in sessions related to Emergency Management.
    • Student Finance and the Office of Legal and Compliance are being onboarded onto Monday.com; many offices have made it part of their day-to-day operations for increased transparency and efficacy
    • To nurture transparency, promote collaboration, build trust and enhance accountability, the Office of External Relations leadership has an open-door policy for team members to discuss successes and challenges; supervisors hold regular 1:1 with each person; and weekly content meetings are open to all team members.
    • Global Education and Staff Council Academic Committee leaders met to better understand the contributions and needs of program instructors who support regional academic seminars.
    • Campus Planning and Projects implemented the EMS Room Booking System for increased transparency on campus space availability and usage, with continuous improvements including QR codes on conference rooms for immediate booking via the app
    • .

  #58: WorkSmart Win: Automated Workflows for an Improved AV Experience (September 2023) | COMPLETED AND ONGOING

  • The Audio Visual team has created and implemented an automated workflow system for Campus TV installations. Residents can instantly choose and book an appointment at their convenience, and installations are completed efficiently and seamlessly according to the automated schedule. 
  • This operational adjustment has resulted in savings of over 210 working hours for the team since February, granting them additional time to cater to the AV requirements of the broader community.  

  #57: Student Enquiries Management Project Workshops (September 2023) | IN PROGRESS

  • User Journey has led workshops with the Health Center, Global Education, Financial Aid, Student Life Operations, and the Office of the Registrar to begin the process of developing and implementing a standardized framework for receiving, managing, and responding to student enquiries.

  #56: Culture Survey Update (September 2023) | IN PROGRESS

  • All staff, and faculty with administrative responsibilities, received a follow up culture survey to assess the progress made to date on spreading transparency, accountability, collaboration, and trust (TACT) across the university. The survey was sent on September 21, one year after the original survey, and a summary of the findings will be shared in due course.

  #55: Quick Win: Back-Dated Newsletters are available on the Intranet and Student Portal (September 2023) | COMPLETED

  • Newsletters will now be added to the intranet so that staff and faculty can browse back-dated issues to find relevant information, with dedicated pages for Al Sho’la, the Faculty Gazette, and the Student Newsletter. This Quick Win was developed between WorkSmart and the External Relations team following feedback provided within the User Journeys focus groups.

  #54: NYUAD Service Center Space Outfitting Underway (September 2023) | IN PROGRESS

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    e

    NYUAD Service Center (the project formerly named StudentLink and the Employee Service Center) is currently being outfitted ahead of its opening later this fall. 

  • The space in C2 will house expert staff who will support faculty, staff, and students directly with any administrative queries, including hands on representatives from HR, Student Finance, Immigration, and Campus Safety, and can provide quick and targeted referrals if the query is unable to be resolved on the spot.

  #53: User Journey 1 Student Enquiries Management Project Deliverables Approved and Framework Finalized (September 2023) | COMPLETED

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    he

    project kick off meeting conducted with the identified stakeholders and the deliverables for Work Package 1 are approved by the project sponsor.

  #52: Workshops held with Key NYUAD Service Center Representatives (August 2023) | IN PROGRESS

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    rkshops and meetings have been held with NYUAD Service Center Representatives to introduce them to the Service Center requirements. Departments with representatives within the Service Center include Immigration, HR, the Registrar’s Office, Hospitality, and Campus Safety.

  #51: User Journey 2 Procurement RFP Project (July 2023) | COMPLETED

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    r

    oject Charter and Scope signed off by Project Sponsor. 

  #50: Immigration Services Mapped Out (July 2023) | COMPLETED

  • Wo

    rkshop held to map out Immigration services requirements for employees and dependants. 

  #49: Service Center Space Identified (June 2023) | COMPLETED 

  • The space for the Service Center has been identified in C2, and a walk through was conducted with the designer.

  #48: WorkSmart Win | Lunch & Learns Demonstrated Tangible Uses of Project Management Software to Promote TACT (May 2023) | COMPLETED

  • Two Lunch and Learns were held by Culture Exemplars for new and existing users, to demonstrate how departments across campus are using Monday.com to spread TACT. Just some of the methods being used include:
    • Transparency: Visible tracking of approvals, aliases, shared projects, etc.
    • Accountability: Tracking priorities, due dates, and updates via shared boards
    • Collaboration: Shared Monday.com documents to create standardized agendas or collaborative notes, with the ability to create assigned action items.
    • Trust: Empowering colleagues through clearly assigned tasks and easily accessible information so that they can make necessary decisions.

  #47: Quick Win | Improvements to HR Contact Pages (May 2023) | COMPLETED

  • The HR team has reviewed and edited all intranet contact pages to ensure that they are accurate and easy to navigate, meaning that service requests will go to the correct first response teams.

  #46: Culture Success Stories (April 2023) | COMPLETED

  • Since January, the Culture Exemplars have been hard at work employing spreading mechanisms to disseminate Transparency, Accountability, Collaboration, and Trust (TACT) across campus. Some recent successes include:
  • Building collaborative relationships between departments:
    • Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) and Campus Safety ran a Lunch and Learn session for community members
    • Two Curiosity Coffees held between Global Education and External Relations
    • Facilities ran interdepartmental karak chai sessions
    • Finance and ISG hold informal lunch sessions and quarterly meetings to break down silos and explore ways of collaborating more effectively
    • EHS is holding Health and Safety roadshows across campus
    • The Academic Resource Center holds regular engagement sessions
    • The Academic Divisions and Research hosted potluck lunches inviting colleagues to bring food from their home country
    • Accounts Payable held a roadshow for the Academic Divisions

  • Establishing trusting relationships between teams:
    • Finance has built in more personal elements as part of the agenda between the Executive Director, Finance and Budget, and direct reports
    • Campus Safety and EHS held appreciation events for Business Continuity Champions, Fire Wardens, and contracted colleagues
    • Research is encouraging more walking meetings for less than three attendees

  • Enabling transparency and cascading updates:
    • Academic Admin Development and Planning created a shared calendar for transparent updates and shared visibility
    • Campus Safety holds open hours between the Associate Vice Chancellor, Global Campus Safety, Security Systems, and Operational Continuity, and all security personnel

  • Ensuring accountability:
    • Admissions are documenting responsibilities to support job transitions
    • The All Staff Meeting co-hosted by the Vice Chancellor’s Office and Staff Council are piloting new formats to better facilitate transparency and updates

  • Reducing workload burdens on teams and community members:
    • The Academic Divisions and the Vice Chancellor’s Office are cross-training team members to take on work while colleagues are on vacation
    • Campus Safety and EHS are collaborating on surveys to source actionable feedback while reducing burden on community members
    • The Office of the Provost, Admissions, and ISG use Slack to significantly reduce work-related WhatsApp messages, and the Academic Resource Center are developing best practice guidelines

  • Recognizing individuals who embody these key values:
    • HR added ‘Collaboration’ as one of the recognition factors into the Annual Service Excellence Awards for 2023
    • Legal factored in a focus on TACT behaviors when hiring their new Chief Compliance Officer

  #45: WorkSmart Win | Visible Signage in Buildings (April 2023) | IN PROGRESS

  • In response to community feedback, Campus Planning and Projects are installing visible signage on buildings and meeting rooms across campus to make it easier for new and existing community members to find their way around.

  #44: Services Gathering Workshops (March 2023) | IN PROGRESS

  • Workshops for Student Finance, Global Education, Human Resources, and Campus Safety are being undertaken by the Employee Service Center & StudentLink and Service Catalog and Quick Wins teams. 
  • These workshops will guide what services are supported within the Service Catalog and how they will be supported by the service centers.

  #43: WorkSmart Win | Flex Pods (March 2023) | COMPLETED
  

  • In response to community needs around hybrid working, Campus Planning, and Projects is deploying a number of "Flex Pods" in A2, A3, A4 (level one), and C2 (level three). Users can dial into conference calls with privacy and minimize disruption.

  #42: Transparency and Awareness around WorkSmart and its Impact (March 2023) | COMPLETED

  • The project managers and co-chairs of WorkSmart gathered in Sexton Square on March 6 to answer questions about WorkSmart and showcase some of the ways it will address community needs and frustrations with administrative services.  

  #41:  WorkSmart Win | Email and Custom Communications Capability Building for Key Departments (March 2023) | COMPLETED AND ONGOING
  

  • The Office of Learning & Organizational Development (L&OD) has customized and executed training with key departments on tools and language for faster and more accurate email responses, including the Immigration department and the Offices of the Vice Chancellor and Provost. This quick win is already helping your queries to be responded to more quickly and creating transparency in the teams to enable efficiency.
  • If you would like to organize similar training or other customized development workshops that will support your team, please email nyuad.learning@nyu.edu.
    

  #40: Students Onboarded to StudentLink Project (February 2023) | COMPLETED

  • The StudentLink and Employee Service Center project onboarded two students onto the project team. The students will play a vital role in providing guidance on the services shortlisted for the Center, through participating in workshops and collaborating with service providers and the project team.
  • There is already student representation on the User Journey Student Finance project, and a dedicated student assistant is supporting the work of the core WorkSmart team.

  #39: Work Culture Project Exemplars: Phase III & IV (February 2023) | COMPLETED AND ONGOING

  • The final phase of exemplar roll outs began the week beginning February 27. 
  • As a reminder, their spreading mechanism suggestions lead to the creation of the community guide which was sent to all employees to introduce TACT in their work and teams.

  #38: TACT Onboarding of all NYU Abu Dhabi Leadership (January 2023) | COMPLETED
  

  • NYU Abu Dhabi leadership, composed of 40+ senior leaders from across the Offices of the Vice Chancellor, Provost, and Chief Administrative and Business Operations (CABO) were given an intensive overview of the TACT handbook and how it relates to their areas. This is a key step towards ensuring that the Culture Project is disseminated from the top down as well as the bottom up, and leaders are expected to both hold themselves and their teams accountable for enacting the four critical behaviors.

  #37: Distribution of the Culture Project TACT Handbook (January 2023) | COMPLETED
  

  • A handbook with tangible suggestions for spreading the critical few behaviors to build an effective and inclusive work culture has been distributed to staff and faculty.
  • While the WorkSmart exemplars continue to be critical in building a culture that supports everyone to thrive, all community members contribute to this success by role-modeling these behaviors within their teams and between colleagues.

  #36: User Journey Process Mapping (January 2023) | COMPLETED 

  • The Process Maps for the three User Journey projects (Procurement Request For Proposal (RFP) process, Student Finance, and Onboarding)  have been completed. This means that the teams have mapped out the current processes, documented the gaps, and have outlined recommendations for improving these processes. The next step will be to start the projects to begin implementing some changes in the coming months.

  #35: Quick Wins Prioritization and Validation (December 2022) | IN PROGRESS 

  • 23 potential quick wins were identified from community feedback and the team is evaluating the suggestions with the relevant departments to establish methods of implementation. Where feasible, these quick wins will be implemented in the spring and we will keep you updated on their progress. 

  #34: Work Culture Project Phase II (November 2022) | COMPLETED AND ONGOING

  • Phase one exemplars from Finance and the Integrated Solutions Group (ISG) are actively working with their teams and colleagues on spreading mechanisms to foster the identified critical behaviors.
  • Exemplars from Human Resources, Global Education, Campus Facilities & Projects, Campus Safety & Services, and External Relations have been identified for phase two and will commence training at the end of November.
  • In the meantime, all employees are encouraged to think of ways that they can further the four critical behaviors in their own work.
    

  33: Key Decisions and Approach for StudentLink and Employee Service Center (November 2022) | IN PROGRESS 

  • The key decisions and approach document in support of the operating model, space availability, and expansion of the project team is under consideration by the Portfolio leads and WorkSmart core team. This document will help to determine a number of key elements of the Service Center.
    

  #32: User Journey To Be and End User Sessions (November 2022) | COMPLETED

  • "To be" workshops for the Student Finance and Procurement User Journey projects are in progress. These workshops help the respective departments to determine how to address the pain points in each area to improve user experience.
  • 1:1 End User Sessions for Onboarding have begun to address where challenges exist. The next step will be a "to be" workshop. 

  #31: Transition in Portfolio Leads for Service Catalog and Quick Wins (November 2022) | COMPLETED 

  • Katica Kiss, Director, Strategy and Partner Relations, joined the Service Catalog and Quick Wins portfolio as a lead, replacing Lily Burns-Hernandez who is leaving NYUAD.

  #30: Work Culture Project Implementation (October 2022) | IN PROGRESS

  • Based on the results of the work culture survey, the first Work Culture Project exemplars have been identified! The exemplars in the first stage are from the Integrated Solutions Group (ISG) and Finance, and they have received initial training from Strategy& on how to help foster the four critical behaviors across campus. As a reminder, the critical behaviors are Transparency, Accountability, Collaboration, and Trust (TACT):
    
    • Transparency: Make your expectations and rationale behind decisions clear
      Accountability: Cascade priorities and updates down through your team
      Collaboration: Collaborate seamlessly across organizational boundaries to achieve shared goals of customer-centricity
      Trust: Trust and empower your people to make decisions
  • The first group of exemplars were identified for the initial roll-out, and the program will eventually be expanded to include additional exemplars in all administrative areas. In the meantime, all employees are encouraged to think of ways that they can further the four critical behaviors in their own work.

  #29: User Journey Projects (October 2022) | IN PROGRESS

  • Following your feedback in the focus groups, we have identified three key project areas. The Student Finance, Procurement, and HR Onboarding teams are collaborating with WorkSmart to map user journeys, address pain points, and improve processes for more effective service delivery. We will keep the community posted on the status of these projects as they progress.
    

  #28: Service Delivery Framework (October 2022) | COMPLETED

  • In support of the Service Catalog and the Service Center as well as ensuring we continue to align current and future service delivery in line with WorkSmart Principles, a new Service Delivery Framework is currently being developed, including the introduction a new Service Owner role, this exciting new change to the way services will be rolled out and operated will ensure our community and service providers build a more collaborative and continuous improvement culture. We look forward to sharing this framework with the community in due course.

  #27: StudentLink & Employee Service Center Design Document (October 2022) | COMPLETED

  • The Service Center Design document is underway and has been shared with the Leads for review and feedback. Feedback and input, including significant input and support from New York colleagues in the StudentLink and PeopleLink team, are being analyzed as part of the development of the Design document.

  #26: Launch of CABO Alias on ServiceLink for General Inquiries (September 2022) | COMPLETED

  • The CABO alias (nyuad.cabo@nyu.edu) has been transitioned to ServiceLink to provide a faster response time, make requests easier to track and provide a channel for feedback.
  • The CABO alias is an avenue for you to have general CABO-related questions and concerns answered. In being able to quickly route inquiries to the relevant department, this transition serves as a precursor to the Service Catalog and Service Centers.
  • #25: Culture Survey (September 2022) | COMPLETED
    A brief survey was sent by our Culture partner Strategy& to employees to assess our culture and identify exemplars who are already practicing the cultural behaviors we prize within our community. These behaviors are:
    • Transparency: Make your expectations and rationale behind decisions clear
    • Trust: Trust and empower your people to take decisions
    • Accountability: Cascade priorities and updates down through your team
    • Collaboration: Collaborate seamlessly across organizational boundaries to achieve shared goals of customer-centricit
    •  
    •  
    • y

  These exemplars will be trained to become a key part of cultivating the identified behaviors within our community, empowering teams to work together even more effectively. More updates about the exemplars and next steps will be shared during the fall semester.

  #24: Website Relaunch (August 2022) | COMPLETED
  

  • The WorkSmart website was redesigned to include more detailed information, an explainer video, and updates for increased transparency about the WorkSmart process.

  #23: Culture Project Diagnostic Report (July 2022) | COMPLETED
  

  • Strategy& presented diagnostic report to senior leadership and WorkSmart Steering Committee.

  #22: Program Communication Plan (July 2022) | COMPLETED AND ONGOING
  

  • Development of communications plan to ensure transparency to community, including expansion of WorkSmart webpage.

  #21: Culture Project Focus Groups (jUNE 2022) | COMPLETED
  

  • Strategy& met with 48 community members across nine focus groups, representing key supervisors and frontline staff from the Offices of the Vice Chancellor, Provost, and CABO, as well as the staff and faculty council steering committees.
  • They also ran a “validation session” to a selection of the aforementioned community members to present and receive feedback on the themes identified from the focus groups.

  #20: Prioritization of Projects  (June 2022) | COMPLETED

  • Based on feedback from the focus groups and instant feedback, we are developing key projects to address pain points.
  • Ensuring alignment between expectation of the User Journey prioritized outcomes with the Service Catalog and Quick Wins project.

  #19: User Journeys Key Themes  (June 2022) | COMPLETED

  • Approved by Steering Committee

  #18: Co-Located Governance Model (June 2022) | COMPLETED

  • Co-located governance model for StudentLink and Employee Service Center approved by Steering Committee.
  • Consideration is given to ensuring privacy between community members while benefiting from the efficiencies of a co-located space.

  #17: Program Plans (May 2022) | COMPLETED AND ONGOING

  • Development of program plans with accurate timelines (see the above timeline overview); program plans will be adjusted if they encounter delays due to external dependencies.

  #16: Culture Project Team Onboarding (May 2022) | COMPLETED

  • Onboarding of Strategy& to execute cultural analysis

  #15: Focus Group Feedback: Initial Analysis (May 2022) | COMPLETED

  • Feedback coded under themes to demonstrate common paint points.

  #14: Service Catalog and Quick Wins Project Charter/Scope (May 2022) | COMPLETED

  • Signed off

  #13: User Journeys Focus Groups (April 2022) | COMPLETED

  • 55 focus groups conducted with 430 community members.
  • 77 instant feedback responses (and ongoing).

  #12: Quick Wins Definition (April 2022) | COMPLETED

  • Quick wins defined as “changes that provide a visible improvement with immediate benefits.”

  #11: Development of Service Centers Governance (April 2022) | ONGOING

  • Development of service center(s) governance to ensure the efficient and effective implementation and execution of the StudentLink and Employee Service Center

  #10: WorkSmart Branding (March 2022) | COMPLETED

  • Logo designed and approved; branding created.

  #9: WorkSmart Webpage (March 2022) | COMPLETED

  • Launch of public webpage to provide information and avenue of feedback to community members.

  #8: WorkSmart Week (March 2022) | COMPLETED

  • Active engagement with community members via twice-daily tabling to seek instant feedback.

  #7: Culture Project Experts Hired (March 2022) | COMPLETED

  • Strategy& hired to provide diagnostics and culture support.

  #6: WorkSmart Presented to Staff and Faculty (February 2022) | COMPLETED

  • An overview of WorkSmart was presented to staff during the All Staff Meeting and Faculty during Faculty Council.

  #5: CABO Alias Platform (February 2022) | COMPLETED

  • Steering Committee approved use of ServiceNow (ServiceLink) for CABO alias, to provide trackable tickets and quicker response times. The transition of the CABO alias to ServiceNow (ServiceLink) represents the earliest iteration of the Service Catalog.

  #4: Recruitment of Volunteers (February 2022) | COMPLETED

  • 44 volunteers recruited and trained to support projects.

  #3: StudentLink Project Charter/Scope (February 2022) | COMPLETED

  • Signed off

  #2: User Journeys Project Charter/Scope (January 2022) | COMPLETED

  • Signed off

  #1: Culture Project Charter/Scope (December 2021) | COMPLETED

  • Signed off