ILASFAA:

2014

Doing More With Less

Presented by: Tina Baskin

Director of College Aid

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AGENDA

What is SuccessfulSet Realistic GoalsAnalyze WorkloadUtilize Current ResourcesIdentify Strategy

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QUESTION

If you had the resources to get anything you wanted, what would you do to make your current office successful?

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Great Customer Service Short Processing Times Clean Audits Short Waiting Times Satisfying Senior Leadership

at your Institution

What defines a successful office?

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Compliance Customer Service

The Keys to a Successful Office

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Analyze Utilize

ANALYZE

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ANALYZE Determine Work Volume

How many staff members do you have that can contribute to the work volume

How many students receive financial aid at your institution (i.e. 6,000 students)

Calls, e-mails, and walk-in’s When is volume high (what time of day

and what time of year) How many calls, e-mails, and walk-ins

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ANALYZE Determine reasonable time spans for

completing tasks How soon will you respond to e-mails

and voicemails Acceptable wait times on the phone

and walk-ins Turn around times for processing files

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ANALYZE Determine reasonable time spans for

completing tasks How soon will you respond to e-mails

and voicemails Acceptable wait times on the phone

and walk-ins Turn around times for processing files

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ANALYZE

Evaluate staffing compared to the workload

Do you have enough staff members to respond to students in the amount of time that you expect?

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SO WHAT DO YOU DO WITH THE DATA YOU’VE GATHERED?

Utilize what you do have Organize Training Quality Assurance

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UTILIZE Organize and determine who’s going

to do what How many staff members will you have

to answer calls, e-mails and see students

How many staff members do you need to ensure a week processing time (i.e. verification file)

Who will perform Quality Assurance to ensure compliance.

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UTILIZE Organizational Structures

Open Ended Everyone does everything

Team structure Customer Service Team Processing Team Staff members are functional on either

team

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UTILIZE Customer Service and Processing

Select staff members only do customer service

Select staff members only process files Staff members are not cross trained

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UTILIZE Training

Make time to train staff One of the best ways to utilize resources

is to utilize all staff members Cross training

There is flexibility with cross training Makes it easier to function during

turnover

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UTILIZE Quality Assurance

Create a process to review the work that you have completed

Helps to identify areas where training is needed

Helps to identify areas where staff excel Helps to identify if additional resources

are needed Ensures compliance

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UTILIZE Quality Assurance

Create a process to review the work that you have completed

Helps to identify areas where training is needed

Helps to identify areas where staff excel Helps to identify if additional resources

are needed Ensures compliance

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PICK A STRATGEY Tips

Big schools with high volumes usually benefit from organizing in teams that are also cross trained

Make training a priority! What’s the best way to eat an elephant? One bite at a time. The more staff that are trained the smaller the elephant gets

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PICK A STRATGEY Small schools really need to analyze

volume Don’t fall into the trap of letting a select

few do everything. Try not to silo processes

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QUESTIONS