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Remote-work arrangement requests for staff in the Office of Advancement and some faculties have been reviewed and approved.  
 
For staff who worked in Summerhill and Old Meds, 60% have requested a hybrid work arrangement and 40% have requested to work 100% remotely. No Office of Advancement staff have requested to return to the office full-time. All these requests are now with Karen for final review and approvals – which will be completed this week. 
 
In the next phase of Building a Better Workplace, we will decide what our physical space will look like as we test our hybrid model. We will be submitting a Planning and Renovation request to work with a university planner to assess our space and determine a layout for our hybrid model.  This will be a process that will involve input from various groups across Advancement.  
 
Everyone will continue to work remotely – except for previously identified staff already working on campus – for the foreseeable future.  To align the Office of Advancement with the university intention to achieve our new normal of on-campus operations by winter 2022, we hope to have our new hybrid working arrangements fully in place before Jan. 1. 
 
We will keep you up to date as we progress. 
 

Remote-friendly vs remote-first

Now that the world is accustomed to working remotely, experts are re-thinking what it means to integrate remote workers into the workplace culture. 

In , a best-practice model for hybrid teams, the authors say the biggest mistake a workplace can make is to be “remote-friendly,” rather than “remote- first.”

What’s the difference?

Where remote-friendly workplaces simply allow employees to work at home, remote-first workplaces empower them. 
 
Remote-friendly workplaces

Sure, remote-friendly workplaces allow remote work, but they don’t fully integrate remote workers, and they still prioritize those who are physically in the office. The result is that remote workers often get left behind when it comes to resources for key projects, promotions, and recognition.

Remote-first workplaces

Remote-first workplaces, on the other hand, go out of their way to optimize for remote work.

They create tools and processes to include remote employees equally, keep meetings to a minimum and schedule them to include all time zones, record meetings so that everyone can access them, discuss all key decisions online so everyone can be included, and do everything possible to ensure remote workers and office workers have an equal voice, equal access, and equal treatment.

As the Remote-ish report says, “Remote-first is the gold standard for how remote-ish workplaces should operate. Without this operational framework, distributed workplaces simply have offices with isolated and distanced employees working invisibly from home. Not a good way to retain top remote talent.”
 

ALT Q&A Session

The Advancement Leadership (ALT) Team will host the next ALT Q&A session Thursday, Sept. 9 at 10:30 am.

The rules for these open Q&A sessions are as follows: 
•    Attendance is optional.
•    Anyone is able to ask any member of ALT any question, on any topic.
•    There will be no pre-set agendas so the Q&A session will last as long as attendees have questions. (The optional Zoom meeting already in your calendar is booked for up to 50 minutes.) 

We understand that some people may not be comfortable asking questions out loud in front of the group. If you would prefer to submit your question(s) via an anonymous survey, we are happy to add that option for you. Kate Bearse will manage these anonymous questions. Submitters will not be identified to Kate through the , and she will ask them on your behalf at the ALT Q&A.

The option to personally pose your question(s) at the meeting still exists.

Please consider questions you have had over the summer that you would like ALT to answer. Members of the ALT look forward to the discussion, and we will do our best to answer your questions Sept. 9.

Tough Conversations in Donor Relations

Lynne Wester, also known as the Donor Relations Guru, is hosting , a webinar series in which she tackles equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) related issues (or diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), as it’s called in the U.S.) for fundraising and donor-relations professionals. As Lynne says, “These are important issues that we need to discuss as an industry. This series will be part content, part conversation—and you'll walk away with a better understanding around how to have difficult conversations with your leadership, staff, and donors. These are the questions we need to ask, and quite simply, this is the work we need to do.”

To register for the webinars, contact Marnie Girard.
 

Employee Spotlight

The Employee Spotlight celebrates the arrival of our new staff and current staff by profiling responses they share through a fun and informal survey that will help us get to know them better. Be sure to review these profiles and use these fun facts and tidbits to find commonalities, embrace differences and spark a conversation. 

This week, we're featuring Tania Carfa. Learn more about Tania and what she can't live without!

Jobs with Advancement

We need your recruitment help. Know great talent that would be a good addition to our team? If so, please promote the vacancies below with your networks and let’s find some amazing new team members.

Applications (including a cover letter and résumé) must be submitted through CareerQ. For additional information on this posting, please reach out to either Carla Ferreira Rodrigues or the hiring manager for the position you are interested in.

Apply for available positions