Thoughts on:
Change By Chuck Morris
Change – either you love it or you do not. I am not talking about pocket change, though most of the change I will be speaking to could cost plenty of pocket change. We live in a world of change and for very good reason. Take a look around you, whether in the office or outside one of your buildings. How do things look? If you are looking with a sincere critical eye and are being honest to yourself, you will almost instantly see what I am talking about, especially if your facility is a few decades old or older. Something I heard a long time ago and I prescribe to it is, “If you are doing something the same way you were doing it 20 years ago, you are doing it wrong.” I have found that to be true the majority of time. Let’s face it: processes and technology have come a long way in the past 20plus years. Why not change? Look at one process being used by administrative staff and think about how it could be improved. Are they handling too much paper? What have you got left to do that would benefit from automation? During these past number of COVID-19 months, we have been forced to change many things that were ‘normal’. Has anyone heard of Zoom? Are you more conscious of what others touch and go out of your way to not touch it or wipe it down before you touch it? These are changes, albeit forced changes, but the outcome is you are doing things differently now. 6
Ontario School Plant Manager | Summer 2020
Why not change? Look at one process being used by administrative staff and think about how it could be improved. Are these changes for the good? One should think so. It can keep you safe. How many of you have schools using dust collectors in wood shops that are 20 or more years old? Have they been maintained properly? As soon as something is added to the extraction ducting, the entire collection system is now challenged. Time to change! One school in Ann Arbor, Michigan (Tappan Junior High School) wanted to do something different to learn more about the present conditions of the state – not from books but through actual experience. They wanted to study the simple life of the past, to learn pioneering. Over a period of time, the school and parents raised enough money to buy a number of acres in an undeveloped area out of town. Over the course of developing a ‘camp’ and learning about the land and animals, they began to develop a sense of what goes on around them in the wilderness. On their return to classes, art classes attempted to reproduce what they have seen, science classes discussed differences and problems of Michigan’s various regions. This may not be a change of processes
in an operating facility, but it shows someone was thinking of the current method of doing things and came up with a change that proved to be better than the norm. The best thing about this was it took place in 1937. We advance, and so should the way we do things. It saves tedious hours of work, helps the staff who carry out that work by making the job less tedious and not as hard on the body, or the mind – you get the picture. Always think about change. It is not the enemy. It shows you care about the school district, its employees and the outcomes. It does not take long to realize this. Join me as I continue to look for change in the work place. There is still a lot to do!
About Chuck has been in facility management for over 30 years. Having worked in five public school districts, he has a wealth of knowledge and experience. He currently is the director of facilities for the Greater Victoria School District on Vancouver Island and is the incoming president of the Educational Facility Managers Association of BC (EFMA). ¦
