{"657217":{"#nid":"657217","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Kimberly Stanley Wins Leadership in Action Award ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECongratulations to Kimberly Stanley who has won the CoS Leadership in Action Award for her innovative and strategic leadership in the school.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003ELeadership in Action and Excellence in Leadership Staff Awards:\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOne $1,500 cash award and one or more $500 cash awards for exceptional contributions in\u0026nbsp;one or more of the following areas:\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cul\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EInnovative and Strategic Leadership\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EChange Management\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EBusiness Process \/ Continuous Improvement\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003ESpecial Project Leadership\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003ESimilar Accomplishment to above\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\u003C\/ul\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003EAn Interview with Kimberly Stanley on Winning the Leadership in Action Staff Award\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EEdited by Cheng Mao and April McCruel\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn 2013, I accepted the position as Administrative Manager in the School of Mathematics and within a year, I was promoted to Assistant Director of Business Operations. \u0026nbsp;My decision to accept this position has proven to be very meaningful to me both personally and professionally. \u0026nbsp;Throughout my time in the School of Math, I have had the opportunity to work with wonderful and dedicated faculty and staff. \u0026nbsp;It is truly the people in the School of Mathematics that have enabled us to grow and thrive in spite of the many challenges we faced (and continue to face) during a global pandemic and its after effects.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs the Assistant Director of Business Operations, I am responsible for the day to day business and administrative functions in the School of Mathematics. \u0026nbsp;I oversee the financial, payroll, hiring and HR components within the School of Mathematics. \u0026nbsp;I supervise a staff of 11 motivated professionals whose commitment to the school inspires me daily. \u0026nbsp;During the global pandemic, it was very apparent that business operations within the School of Mathematics would undergo major changes. \u0026nbsp;Starting in 2020, the staff transitioned to a mostly remote working platform: however, the demands and obligations of the department were mostly unchanged. \u0026nbsp;Financial reconciliation and tracking were still required, payroll was still being processed bi-weekly and monthly and HR transactions were still occurring daily. \u0026nbsp;I needed an innovative plan in order to meet the needs of our faculty, keep up with the demands of the department and ensure that the staff could thrive in a remote and virtual environment. \u0026nbsp;I decided to enact a three-pronged approach: communication, accessibility and flexibility.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECommunication was definitely the foundation of my three-pronged approach. \u0026nbsp;One of the challenges of moving to a mostly remote working environment is that it increases the chances that people will feel cut off and isolated. \u0026nbsp;Communication was key to connectivity. \u0026nbsp;For the past two years, I have met with each staff member weekly to check in with them, listen to their concerns, and make sure that weekly goals were realistic and manageable.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAccessibility was also a key component to my approach during the pandemic. \u0026nbsp;I have always believed in an open door policy and being accessible during the pandemic was more important than ever. \u0026nbsp;For the past two years, I have been accessible to faculty and staff via Microsoft Teams, Bluejeans, Zoom and cell phone. \u0026nbsp;Even though I did not have many face to face meetings during the pandemic, I made sure that faculty and staff knew that I was (and continue to be) ready and available to address any business related issue.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFlexibility has also been essential to the success of our team during this challenging time. \u0026nbsp;During the past two years, my staff and I have been very flexiable and open to new ideas, suggestions and ways of conducting business. \u0026nbsp;Change can be difficult but it\u0026rsquo;s oftentimes flexibility that can change one\u0026rsquo;s perspective and enable us to embrace change.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Leadership in Action Staff Award is a College of Sciences recognition awarded to individuals who have shown innovation and strategic leadership. \u0026nbsp;Receiving this award and the recognition at the annual College of Sciences Spring Sciences Celebration was an honor and one of the highlights of my career at Georgia Tech. \u0026nbsp;I would like to thank Dr. Rachel Kuske and Dr. Michael Lacey for their unwavering support over the years and especially during the pandemic. \u0026nbsp;I would also like to thank my staff for their dedication and willingness to work with me to ensure that the School of Mathematics thrived during challenging conditions. \u0026nbsp;Without teamwork and dedication, our successes would not have been possible. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EKimberly Stanley has won the CoS Leadership in Action Award for her excellent and innovative contributions to SoM.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Kimberly Stanley has won the CoS Leadership in Action Award for her excellent and innovative contributions to SoM."}],"uid":"34518","created_gmt":"2022-04-12 16:26:24","changed_gmt":"2022-06-14 19:21:18","author":"sbarone7","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2022-04-12T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2022-04-12T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"657216":{"id":"657216","type":"image","title":"Kimberly Stanley","body":null,"created":"1649780494","gmt_created":"2022-04-12 16:21:34","changed":"1649780494","gmt_changed":"2022-04-12 16:21:34","alt":"","file":{"fid":"249084","name":"headshot_kimberly_stanley.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/headshot_kimberly_stanley.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/headshot_kimberly_stanley.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":124790,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/headshot_kimberly_stanley.jpeg?itok=2B0Jga5E"}}},"media_ids":["657216"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/staff-awards","title":"CoS Staff Awards"}],"groups":[{"id":"1279","name":"School of Mathematics"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"173647","name":"_for_math_site_"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:comm@math.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESal Barone\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}