Summertime in education (but not the good kind where you get summer off) presents many opportunities during the break. Although the campus might be quieter during these months, it also poses a challenge in deciding how best to use our time. Should we rest and recuperate from the academic year’s demands, or should we plan and strategize for the year ahead? What about the tasks or goals that must get done?
Other Posts in This Series: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
Identifying Tasks and Projects
It sometimes feels like there’s no great time to take time off (don’t convince yourself that, use your PTO), but summer seems to be where most of my time off requests land. To further complicate things, my colleagues feel similarly so we have about 5-6 days total that we are all in the office. Coordinated planning is critical, especially when you may not see the team together again for some time. If you aren’t sure which tasks and projects need to be completed, try this…
Start by setting up poster boards or areas in a room, each dedicated to a specific type of project—Individual Projects, Small Group or Team Projects, and Department/Unit Projects. Make sure you have plenty of sticky notes and markers in each area. Give everyone a few minutes—say 3 to 4—at each area to write down any tasks and projects that come to mind under each category. It’s a quick sprint, so encourage your team to jot down whatever ideas pop up, big or small. After the first round, have everyone move to the next area and add their thoughts there. It’s like a little dance around the room, keeping the energy up and the ideas flowing. Do this rotation a couple of times so that every board gets a mix of insights from the whole team. Once you’ve filled the boards, pull everyone together to talk about what’s there. Go through the sticky notes one by one and discuss how important each task feels. This isn’t just about sorting priorities; it’s about understanding what needs to be done and how different tasks might impact each other. As you discuss the sticky notes, start to group the tasks into priority levels—think simple categories like high, medium, and low. This way, you can see which tasks may need immediate attention and which ones can wait a bit. For individual tasks, encourage everyone to create their own timeline and milestones. For group or department tasks, discuss what a realistic timeline for it would be. Assign each task to a person, a pair, or working group, and for larger working groups, identify a lead.
Setting The Timeline
For me, summer oftentimes feels like a void where we just exist and before I know it, the fall semester is here. I’ve found it to be particularly helpful to create benchmarks or milestones for larger projects so that I can stay on track. Depending on the project’s nature, it might make the most sense to forward plan by creating milestones over summer or more sense to backwards plan by focusing on due dates and benchmarks. Regardless of which approach you choose, remember that the most important part of any good plan is flexibility. Unexpected things can and likely will happen, so by building in buffers and keeping this in mind, you and your team should be set up for the best possible success.
Conclusion
By setting clear goals, prioritizing tasks, and utilizing effective strategies for both individual and team projects, maximizing productivity over summer can be a breeze. Throughout all of the planning and preparing, just make sure you’re taking time to rest and recover too.
In the next part of this series, I will share about my experience using Appreciative Inquiry over the summer with key stakeholders and how it can be used to gather feedback and inform decision making for the future.
