1. Making Light(er) Work Multiple Managers with Multiple Student Workers
Nicole Sanderson
Senior Instructional Designer
Before start, reset Qualtrics survey

2. What We’ll Cover Our situation Your situation Our challenges
Boston University Office of Distance Education
12/8/2018
What We’ll Cover
Our situation
Your situation
Our challenges
Your challenges
Our solution
Project/task assignment
Communication
Training
Recruiting
Our new challenges
Your Solutions

3. Our Student Workers Boston University Office of Distance Education
12/8/2018
Our Student Workers
Our student workers, Rohil, Cay, Julie, and Shraddha. Rohil and Shraddha work with the Instructional Designers, Cay and Julie with media.

4. Our Student Workers Overall department = 31
Boston University Office of Distance Education
12/8/2018
Our Student Workers
Overall department = 31
2 Media Producers  2 Student Workers
12 Instructional Designers  2-4 Student Workers
Moving on to poll: Survey will ask the question in two ways so we can get both a comparison and an average

5. Poll *Same questions will be asked in two ways
Boston University Office of Distance Education
12/8/2018
Poll
Survey will ask the question in two ways so we can get both a comparison and an average
*Same questions will be asked in two ways

6. Poll bit.ly/nercomp2018 Boston University Office of Distance Education
12/8/2018
Poll
bit.ly/nercomp2018
Why do we have student workers?

7. Our Story Boston University Office of Distance Education 12/8/2018
Why do we have student workers?

8. Challenges How do we track progress? How do we prioritize tasks?
Boston University Office of Distance Education
12/8/2018
Challenges
How do we track progress?
How do we prioritize tasks?
How are they trained?
In general, these were the challenges we were facing having multiple managers
If there were a system where the IDs could be more in contact with the student workers directly

9. Your Challenges Boston University Office of Distance Education
12/8/2018
Your Challenges
Hear more about your challenges, both having multiple managers and student workers in general.
How many have used Padlet?

10. Your Challenges bit.ly/nercomp-padlet
Boston University Office of Distance Education
12/8/2018
Your Challenges
bit.ly/nercomp-padlet

11. Boston University Office of Distance Education
12/8/2018
Our Solution

12. Plan A Boston University Office of Distance Education 12/8/2018
BACKGROUND – why we have student workers
Media had student workers – what they did
Our situation/What I wanted student workers to do
I asked for student workers
I got four
Everything got channeled through me
I made assignments
I decided priorities
I got copied on all s to ID they were working with
I did the training
I had no free time

13. A great virtue of programming… and student worker management
Boston University Office of Distance Education
12/8/2018
Laziness:
A great virtue of programming… and student worker management
BACKGROUND – why we have student workers

14. Boston University Office of Distance Education
12/8/2018
Plan B

15. Our Solution: Project Tracking
Boston University Office of Distance Education
12/8/2018
Our Solution: Project Tracking
Google doc with columns for…
Each student worker has a tab
Their schedules are at the top

16. Our Solution: Task Tracking
Boston University Office of Distance Education
12/8/2018
Our Solution: Task Tracking
5pm
Tracks where students are in course setup

17. Our Solution: Communication
Boston University Office of Distance Education
12/8/2018
Our Solution: Communication
5pm
Tracks where students are

18. Media Team’s Solution: Project/Task Tracking
Boston University Office of Distance Education
12/8/2018
Media Team’s Solution: Project/Task Tracking
Media used to use Assana in a similar way

19. Media Team’s Solution: Project/Task Tracking
Boston University Office of Distance Education
12/8/2018
Media Team’s Solution: Project/Task Tracking
They now use Trello. It’s more visual and allows them to categorize tasks

20. Media Team’s Solution: Communication
Boston University Office of Distance Education
12/8/2018
Media Team’s Solution: Communication
They also communicate through it, where we mostly communicate through the “Notes” field and over

21. Boston University Office of Distance Education
12/8/2018
Testimonial - Manager
“The best thing about working with multiples is that training is less of a burden – we can share it among us and even have the ‘senior’ student worker handle much of the training.”
– Fawn, Instructional Designer

22. Our Solution - Training
Boston University Office of Distance Education
12/8/2018
Our Solution - Training
Archana started this training manual that we’ve used ever since. Part of training is having them edit the training manual so it reflects changes in software, blackboard, procedures. This has worked so well I’ve started to use it to train new IDs as well

23. Testimonial – Student Worker
Boston University Office of Distance Education
12/8/2018
Testimonial – Student Worker
“I thought it was a great way to prepare myself for the workforce post-university. …I also really enjoyed the way students were treated in the office. … I felt like I was a necessary part of the ODE machine and people were happy I was there from the very beginning.”
We try to make student workers feel like they’re a part of the team
Two have returned as full-time employees, one as a media producer and one as an instructional designer
--Summer, Former Student Worker (& Current Colleague!)

24. Our Solution - Recruiting
Boston University Office of Distance Education
12/8/2018
Our Solution - Recruiting
Friends make the best co-workers, and student workers!

25. Our New Challenges Managers want to know: How many tasks per row?
Boston University Office of Distance Education
12/8/2018
Our New Challenges
Managers want to know:
How many tasks per row?
How do we determine emergency level?
How do we know about changes in schedule?
Students want to know:
Can there be a feedback column?
Opportunity for more creative work?
Even with our new system, we’re still running into challenges
We might meet to standardize how we refer to tasks of even create drop-down lists that say things like “clear discussion boards” or “replace with new video player code”
Don’t know schedule ahead of time (some people thought they’d be there on spring break), aren’t informed when they’re sick or out for other reasons

26. Plan C Keep online tracking Return of the Point Person!
Boston University Office of Distance Education
12/8/2018
Plan C
Keep online tracking
Return of the Point Person!
Continue to evaluate system

27. Solutions? Boston University Office of Distance Education 12/8/2018
Split up into groups, try to have someone from a different institution or at least a different department in your group for a different perspective. Once you’ve come up with some ideas, put them on on the Solutions padlet, and we’ll discuss some of your ideas.

28. bit.ly/nercomp-padlet2
Boston University Office of Distance Education
12/8/2018
Solutions
bit.ly/nercomp-padlet2

29. Boston University Office of Distance Education
12/8/2018
Questions?

30. Please take a moment to evaluate this session There are two ways to access the session and presenter evaluations: 1 2
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