Day two a great day of sessions and connections. The morning started off busy, and that never subsided. There was so much good content I wanted to see.
Here are my big takeaways from the day’s conversations:
We Have to Reclaim the Narrative
Most of what we put out in terms of communication doesn’t always translate to the public good. We focus too much on internal words and phrases. Including jargon-focused words make it difficult for the public to fully understand the public good of higher education and why it is of importance. As marketing leaders, we must be able to break away from the jargon and terminology to tell stories in a way that are easier for the public to follow and understand how institutions do great work. A great way to do this is to focus on the ”why” of our work and how it ties to academic and social mobility. That should be happening every time we communicate. When we do that, students see value and so does the community.
Success is Critical
As we think about diversity, equity, and inclusion, sometimes we get so focused on the words itself and the language that is used we miss opportunities. There is much work that can be done to create inclusive environments for our students and staff, whether or not we use the words. The reality is that no one wants students to fail. We all want students to succeed, and focusing on that is a strong strategy to have conversations related to DEI work. The more we can engage students in telling the work, the stronger our work will be in this place. Telling real stories of students having success because of specific programs and specific initiatives helps humanize the work. It truly is more action and people focused and less on specific words and phrases.
Find a Way to Focus on the Strategic
As leaders, we must find a way to keep our team focused on the strategic tasks. The urgent things will always be there, but how can we make sure that we’re doing the important strategic work and that leadership knows this work is happening. A possible way to do this is chart the team’s weekly progress. When done correctly it takes about 15 minutes but highlights the wins that are happening in a micro scale. It helps ensure everyone is focused on strategic work, as opposed to just answering emails. It also creates a way this can be reviewed in the future to celebrate the team. But most importantly, it creatives an environment where we can communicate that to leadership and to the campus community to showcase the work we’re doing.
Value in a Marketing Maturity Matrix
The role of the leader involves more than just vision to address challenges and opportunities. We also need to have a plan to do that work. Our leaders are looking to us to develop a plan that works within the budgetary constraints we have. A marketing maturity model matrix can provide a framework to help your team make improvements in a non-confrontational way. By collaboratively developing such a model to guide operations, the team can grow in a way that helps them support strategic and enrollment goals. This type of model also allows the leader to speak about challenges that exist, share successes along the way, but also project the vision that is happening.
Listening Has Value
I sat in a roundtable among senior marketing leaders, and the conversation centered for a bit on listening. A member of the table was talking about her decentralized environment and the challenges that it presented. She shared that she was inviting deans to come to her marketing meetings to learn more ways they could collaborate. That led to a larger conversation on the value of listening. We were talking about how better listening could build external collaborations, support our teams as we transitioned to new roles, or help our leaders navigate their new roles. As I’ve reflected some on the conversations, I think this is an area we can all continue improving on. As leaders, it’s important that we pause and listen – to our teams, to leaders, to collaborators. I know for me developing a continued listening plan will be something that I can take back to the office and continue growing after the conference
My Roundtable Group
What Are You Hearing?
I’m curious what topics and conversations you were hearing after the day. Are the themes similar? Anything I’ve missed? Let’s connect and discuss!
And Carrie On 