Prof LDM Lebeloane, Lumka Masynya, Lynette Ramango, Eunice Ledwaba and Prof KP Dzvimbo, Executive Dean of CEDU
In order to facilitate and stimulate the co-operation and communication, the secretaries of the new CoD’s, were privileged to go on a “Reach for your Goals” bosberaad held on 29 and 30 November. They went to Roodevalley Conference Centre where the Executive Dean of the College, Prof. KP Dzvimbo welcomed them and some of the other support staff members of the Deanery. He emphasized that we all have a role to play in the smooth functioning of the College: “It is like the termites inside the termite mound, all working together to keep the group going. We want to be known at the College of Education (CEDU) for our efficiency, the quality of our work and the service that others receive when they interact with us”. This can only be achieved when we as a team form conversation circles and work together efficiently. The Executive Dean noted that “according to the Japanese principle of KIAZEN, we have to be involved in continuous improvement or our service standards so that we satisfy the needs of our internal and external stakeholders”. He emphasised that there is always room for improvement if we are to be a high performing College as advocated for by the Vice Chancellor Prof. MS Makhanya.
The “Reach for your Goals” team says thanks to the College of Education Management Team for a lovely learning opportunity
Prof. Oupa Lebeloane spoke to the team next and emphasized that the secretaries manage the diaries of their managers and that he would like to advise a daily meeting between each CoD and their secretary to facilitate and enable the support which the secretaries can provide to their managers. Each secretary needs to keep informed with what is happening in CEDU and he also warned them not to bite off more than they can chew, to keep their sunny sides up, to provide advice to the teams they service and to strive to improve their ways of doing things on an ongoing basis.
Others who addressed the group were: Antoinette Hoberg who introduced the various HR policies and procedures and shared where they can be found on the intranet. Given Moloto, a Unisa HR specialists spoke about IPMS procedures and what that all involves. Mantshego Selepe spoke about training and development opportunities. Mpho Entle Modise in her presentation on Workflow matters likened the secretaries to the wheels of the car – without wheels you can’t drive the car. She reminded everyone of the importance of having good time management and that everyone should make very sure they know what is expected of them before they start doing a particular task. They must plan and be proactive, start earlier on the monthly report and make sure they keep their templates up to date. Correct telephone etiquette should also be followed. Sam Kekana spoke about Client service excellence and he updated the team on the latest information regarding the student registration process. Registration is open from 26 Nov to 21 December and again from 2 January to 25 January. On 7 Jan and 19 Jan the Unisa regional offices will also be open to assist students who wish to register for their next modules.
How can we all turn around without letting go of our hands?
We did it!
On both days some team building exercises were built into the programme. They worked well in teaching the participants that if just some members are able to solve a problem or do a particular task, does not mean that they were working efficiently as a team or had empowered each other with knowledge. All members of the team should be able to do the tasks and the team needs to support one another in sharing their knowledge and solutions so that best practises can be developed. A team is as strong as its weakest link so we need to work on making the whole chain stronger, especially the weakest links.
Tshepho explains how to work together better as a team to solve the problem he posed
The secretarial group was very grateful for the opportunity that was afforded them and they would like to say THANK YOU to the CEDU management team who gave them this sterling opportunity to bond and learn from each other.
Ms Bongeka Mbuqe, Mrs Magda Botha and Mrs Lizette van Rensburg
