As we plan to welcome back staff groups this summer in anticipated pilot phases, Stanford Redwood City Operations would like to highlight some of the progress made in preparing for a return, including assessing various challenges as they’ve come up in cross-organizational work groups and committees.
SRWC Operations hosts bimonthly Stakeholder Advisory Group (SAG) meetings in which all groups on campus are represented to broadly share ideas and feedback on campus operations. During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, subgroups were additionally formed to exclusively focus on returning to work and to address complexities around capacity, hoteling, dining options, etc.
As most staff continue to telecommute this spring, some business units have surveyed or will survey their staff about returning to work. The survey findings will allow unit leadership groups and SRWC Operations to learn, be agile and assess challenges.
The summer pilots will help clarify to SRWC Operations the possibility of sharing space on campus and how amenable this cultural shift would be to employees. In addition, summer pilots will allow employees themselves to gauge their efficiencies, bandwidth and ergonomic factors while working from home compared to being back on campus.
What’s still to be determined is finding a balance between maximizing campus capacity and outcomes from flexible work initiatives and any capacity restrictions still in place in the fall. The summer pilot testing ground will lead the way in determining a new way of working for some staff in the fall. Also, the summer period will help Operations modify priorities and plans, such as communication strategies and training modules, to help support bringing more staff back.
We encourage you to provide feedback so that SRWC Operations can continue to advance a safe workplace and meet your business needs.
