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Workplace Success Stories - Best Practices 2002
Recognition Strategies for a Diverse Workforce

 

Practice Name: Design Alliance Department: University Relations Contact Person: Michelle Frey-Shutters, Prin. Designer Phone: (510) 642-6132 Email: mfs@dev.urel.berkeley.edu Web: http://www.urel.berkeley.edu/urel/dev_ and_campaign/devcomm.html and http://givetocal.berkeley.edu Dept/Unit Head: Mary Keegan, Dir Control Unit: UR

Workplace Issues Addressed: Communication & Info Sharing, Continuous Improvement, Customer Service, Organizational Culture Category: Organizational Improvement/Effectiveness

Description of the practice
This volunteer group of individuals from many campus groups & departments gathers monthly to develop design standards for UC Berkeley. The Roundtable provides an arena to discuss current design issues, mentor younger designers, and share current projects they are involved in on campus. The accessibility to resources and communication between different campus constituencies eliminates redundant work and results in higher quality designs and communication for the campus. Members feel recognized as professionals whose voice, achievements, and expertise are valued in an inclusive campus community. They also feel validated by the good work they are doing and the creation of change that has a campus-wide impact.

Benefits of adopting the practice
Result of the roundtable discussions, along with implementation of the design guidelines, is eliminating redundant work for the campus staff designers. They use more templated materials and organize and categorize their workload more efficiently and effectively in every way. They also create a better relationship between materials produced by their designers and those used by their clients and donors. This practice meets the needs of a diverse workforce in the following ways: There is employee input (many age groups, cultural backgrounds, skill levels). It is inclusive with diverse representation of volunteers from many campus departments.

How this practice works
To replicate this practice, With management support, the concept of bringing diverse representatives together from various campus groups/departments to tackle problems/discuss issues/share info/implement change can be replicated. This group comes together on their own time (outside of normal work hours).

What you need in place to replicate this practice
To replicate this practice, you need management support,a need for efficiency of standards, or problems/issues to tackle.

Tangible improvements to the department as a result of adopting this practice
Results of the roundtable discussions, along with implementation of the design guidelines, is eliminating redundant work for campus staff designers. Through this grassroots effort and the willing participation of many they are creating and disseminating useful information across campus. At the same time they are strengthening Berkeley's identity within a decentralized environment. In addition to strengthening Berkeley's public image, this group thinks that the style guidelines will eventually create budgetary savings through resource coordination and by centralization of web-based editorial and design resource.

Why this practice was so successful and is worth replicating
This practice was successful because of the guiding principles developed out of Development Communications' need for the efficiency of graphic standards for a small staff; and out of a desire for quality in the work which visually represents the quality of the research and education Berkeley provides. Vice Chancellor of University Relations, Don McQuade has supported the move to bring campus graphic standards to new levels of excellence.