Teamwork, service excellence, innovation, and continuous improvement. These underlying principles of the Service Center of Excellence (SCE) are also guiding the configuration of space for the approximately 100 staff members who will work in the new center.
The SCE will launch Oct. 3, and a few weeks later, center staff will be able to move into the Roberson Building, located at 400 Roberson St. in Carrboro. The entire building is not only getting fresh paint, new carpet and brand-new furniture, it also is getting a makeover to create ways for the SCE teams to solve problems collaboratively.
The focus is how to provide the best customer service possible instead of arranging workspaces according to a hierarchy within Finance and Administration, said Collette Wilshire, director of business innovation and continuous improvement and interim managing director for the SCE
When people move into the new SCE space, they will find:
- All open workspaces, without doors, that accommodate at least two people per space;
- Ample meeting space, including conference rooms of various sizes, all equipped with technology and large TV screens;
- Several copy/print rooms;
- Telephone rooms where people can step out to make a phone call in private;
- A kitchen and break area;
- A reception area at the main entrance with tables and seating for guests; and
- An outdoor patio with seating.
The open-office concept is intended to nurture collaboration among and between teams, with the members of a given team all working near one another. The executive director for each focus area (human resources, information technology, communications and finance) will configure the workspaces for his or her teams in a way that will help them do the jobs at hand most efficiently and with the necessary support.
“Throughout the building, the focus is fostering teamwork and providing top customer service, while helping people find ways to back one another up,” Wilshire said. In fact, the executive directors of the four main focus areas will work together in one space – like an operational hub with the various teams as interconnected spokes.
Both staff and visitors will have free parking just outside the building, and local restaurants are within a short walk. One work team is looking into transportation issues for people who bike or take public transportation to work, to make sure they can get to and from campus easily whenever necessary.
“The SCE is really a living, changing entity, and the overall driver is to provide customer service to the various Division departments and support for one another,” Wilshire said. “Everyone is an important part of the broader team and has a say in how we do business, so if something isn’t working as well as it could, administrators are open to listening and making adjustments.”
In addition to the Roberson Building as its base, the SCE will establish satellite locations so staff can provide service near central campus operations. One location will be at the Giles Horney Building, with others to be determined.