As organizations grow, especially as they grow fast, it’s common for teams to evolve their own ways of handling these functions. That decentralized model works, for the most part, until it doesn’t. Our own Everett Ross has shown me a plethora of examples of how shared services translate to major savings in human pain, time, and cost. Not every organization needs shared services (and just like everything, the choice comes with some trade-offs). But enough companies, state agencies, and higher education systems find shared services more than worth it for the benefits that Everett has a career full of successful implementations to speak to.

So, we’re sending Everett—along with Co-CEO Tony Batista and Managing Director Josh Krenz—to New Orleans to do just that. He’ll be co-presenting at the Community College Business Officers (CCBO) conference in September with Donna VanCleave, who was the Vice Chancellor of the Virginia Community College System (VCCS), on their experiences implementing shared services. The talk will speak directly to higher ed administrators who face serious pressure around lower enrollment, increased administrative complexity, and tech overload, showing them how shared services at VCCS gave everyone some much needed breathing room.

Over the coming months, we’ll have some video to share that speaks more about Steyer’s shared services implementation and org design offerings. I’m really excited about this work because— at least the way Everett and his teams approach it— it’s people-positive. The best ideas for how to transform an organization almost always come from within. What we do is walk teams through excavating and testing those ideas, documenting a new way of operating, and getting organization-wide buy-in so the change sticks. It’s collaborative, honest, and actually works.

Hope your summer has been full of warmth and unwinding!

Thanks,
Katelyn

Photo: Tony, Josh, and Everett together a few weeks ago on-site at San Jose State University, one of our org design clients. What a crew!