Strategic Initiative: Work Smarter

Update: July 2023

Goal 4: An Engine for Change

The key objectives of the Work Smarter Initiative were to look across the myriad of administrative things we do at Olin, identify their pain points, and try to reduce them in order to make our work more efficient.

The team identified four Work Smarter Opportunities (WSOs) based on the following criteria:

• Identify opportunities to impact a cross section of the Olin community (faculty, staff, and students).
• Identify opportunities for solutions that will have a high impact for those using them.
• Identify opportunities that have low-cost implementation solutions.

To date, the team has identified four WSOs that meet those criteria:

• Olin Directory – To create a searchable directory for faculty, staff, and students.
• StAR Reimbursement – To improve the workflow process for student reimbursement.
• Event Planning Resources – To provide a coordinated, searchable system for locating event/party planning supplies.
• Contracts – To create templates for the most frequently used contracts. 

Over the past year, we have created several templates for college use, including a Memo of Understanding and a Service Agreement that can be used for various Olin projects.

This summer, the team will work to move the three remaining WSOs along. Some will involve a pilot phase that members of the community will be asked to participate in. Others involve a certain degree of complexity to solve, and thus work on them will continue for several months.