Q4 | 2016 | In this issue
Efficiency
I minimize wasted efforts and expense
Efficiency: Working Smarter for a More Productive Day
Moments after completing the “Time Management Essentials: Powered by 5 Choices to Extraordinary
Productivity” webinar from Franklin Covey, Kate Tusow called me and said, “You’re up, we need
someone from the Communications Team to write the article for the next Arvig Advocate. The topic
is Efficiency, I minimize wasted effort.” Well, I took this as a sign, seeing as I just completed a 4-hour
webinar on time management—I must be an expert now. (wink wink!)
I can tell you that I am indeed
NOT an expert, but I also know
where I need to improve. I
often do things in a way that’s
comfortable for me, and that
Erin Stumbo,
doesn’t always mean I’m being
tions
Employee Rela
efficient. Sometimes we can all
al
Profession
get into ruts where something
is done the same way all the time, so we wonder “why change
it?” Well, why not? I’m challenging everyone to find one thing
within their work day that they have done that way since the
beginning of their job because someone told them to, and try
to make that one thing more efficient. This might inspire you
to ask more questions and create more efficiencies. Think of
all the time and money we could save as a company by being
proactive, efficient planners!
Start by planning out your day. Plans can (and will) change and
being flexible is important, but plan the big things and leave
room for the little things. If you aren’t a planner, I assure you,
you can become one! Take time to plan as well—plan to plan!
 Set aside 15 minutes at the end of your day to prepare for
the next day. After a month of doing this, you will be a welloiled machine of productivity.
You may be rolling your eyes and saying, “Yes, Erin, I’ve
heard this all before.” And you know what? You probably
have, but have you ever stepped back and thought about
being your most efficient self? I think our Arvig Advantage
Communication Team is a great example of efficiency. We meet
once a month with a plan in place. Every quarter we have tasks
that we are all assigned and each task includes a process to
follow for completion.
Think about the things that you do each day and how you
can lay out a process to follow. Then, ask: If you were to leave
tomorrow would someone be able to step into your place and
still be efficient? With a plan and a process, it’s all right there for
the next time you need to tackle a task or project—you won’t
waste time trying to remember what you did last week, last
month or last quarter.
Making some small changes will alleviate stress for you, your
team and anyone else who is impacted by the work you do.
Not to mention, efficiency can help make you a happier and
more productive employee!
Erin Stumbo
On behalf of the Arvig Advantage Communications Team
fun facts!
Wasting time on the job costs
US employers $1.1B per week
Source: ibtimes.com
Tuesday from 9-11am.
This is the most productive time of your week!
Source: salary.com
The most unproductive time of year
is March Madness
Source: salary.com
Location Spotlight: Ada
The Ada service area was previously part of the Loretel
Systems service area. In 2006, Arvig partnered with Blue
Earth Valley Communications and New Ulm Telecom to
purchase Hector Communications, which owned Loretel
Systems, Eagle Valley Telephone, Felton Telephone and
Arrowhead Telephone. Then, in January 2013, Arvig officially
purchased these companies. Ada, which was founded in
1876, has a population of about 1,700 and is located about
45 miles northeast of Fargo-Moorhead.
Terry Matheson
has been with Arvig for 44 years,
working as a combination technician
for phone, CATV, and Internet. His
favorite part of the job is getting
to be outside. Terry’s free time is
spent gardening.
Julie Roesch
has been with Arvig for 28 years.
She is a Plant Records Administrator
and her duties entail Status 2 and
7 service orders, record keeping
of outside plant facilities, building
addresses, updating addresses with
available plans, some switch work,
and assisting techs and CCRs with
questions. She enjoys being able
to get to know her co-workers on a
personal level as well as professional.
Julie is involved with the Norman
County DAC family advocacy
coalition. Outside of work she can
be found spending time with family,
being outdoors, going to the lake,
gardening and crocheting.
Peter Fettig
has been a combination technician
installing and repairing customers’
services for 28 years. Peter enjoys
his coworkers and doing good work
for our customers. He spends his
free time watching his six boys play
sports and can also be found fishing.
Peter also is involved in the Boy
Scouts of America.
13 4th Ave E | Ada, MN 56510
| 218.784.5151
Richard Voight
is a Central Office Tech who has been
with Arvig for 30 years. He works on
Central Office switching and transport
equipment, as well as service orders.
Richard enjoys being able to help
customers solve problems. Outside of
the office he can be found watching TV
or pursuing his many hobbies.
Wayne Sourdif
has been a Combination Technician and
in Outside Plant Ops for 29 years. Wayne
likes that the job is never boring and that
there is always something to challenge
him. When he’s not working, Wayne can
be found outdoors. He enjoys camping,
hunting, fishing and four-wheeling.
Leane Trautman
has been with Arvig for 37 years and is
a Customer Care Representative. She
assists customers with the services we
provide by taking new applications,
processing changes and disconnects,
answering customer questions,
and assisting them with payments.
Her favorite part of the job is when
customers come into the office,
especially the “cute little old ladies” that
have been coming in since she started
and “it seems like they aren’t any older!”
She serves her community as the Parent
Advisor to the Youth Group in her church.
Leane spends her free time relaxing and
with her family.
Arvig Advantage: Program Submissions
You Make A Difference:
233 submissions to date
Continuous
Improvement
New submissions:.................................................................... 11
Submissions recognized and implemented:.................... 1
Submissions referred to other departments:.................. 3
Q1-77
Q2-80
Q3-76
Total submissions in progress: ......................................... 14
300
To learn more about the Continuous Improvement
process or submit your idea, visit
Insider > Arvig Advantage > Continuous Improvement.
We’re inching our way closer to the 300 goal!
Recognize your coworkers on Insider.
Manager Minute:
What Efficiency Means to Me: Jason Huus
After finding some time to sit down and write this article, I turned to Google to do a little
research on efficiency. Every link I opened had a different definition. One that particularly
stood out to me came from dictionary.com. They define efficiency as:
efficiency
[ih-fish-uh n-see]
1. Accomplishment of or ability to accomplish a job with a minimum expenditure of
time and effort.
2. The state or quality of being efficient, or able to accomplish something with the
least waste of time and effort; competency in performance.
Jason Huus,
sing
rv
Supe isor, Purcha
After looking at these
definitions and thinking for a
while, I noticed how the two
parts are different. The first part of the definition refers
to something tangible—money—and the second part
of the definition refers to something intangible, our
effort. I also see this when I look at our quality standard
statement, “Efficiency: I minimize wasted effort and
expense.” The tangible is the expense (money) and the
intangible is effort. As employee owners, it is our goal
to try to maximize both of these parts and I see that
effort continuously throughout our departments in our
company every day.
When looking further into the first part of the definition,
I see efficiency in action every day at work. We as
employee owners want to benefit from the ESOP and
profit sharing so we work hard to accomplish jobs
with the least expenditure, time, and effort to make
the jobs more profitable. Some examples I have seen
include: working to decrease our garbage and electricity
expenses by increasing our recycling and turning off our
computers or lights at our numerous locations. Working
on solving customer issues via the help desk on the
phone instead of having a technician driving out to the
customer’s location. Working on purchasing materials
at the lowest price and at the best value. And working
on improving technical and procedural efficiencies that
make our jobs easier and faster to complete.
When looking further into the second part of the
definition I realized that as I am putting in effort writing
this article I am trying to be efficient. I am trying to
complete this article with the least waste of time and
effort. I am trying to get this task completed right
the first time so I don’t have to keep revisiting it and
spending more time on it. I turned to Google for my
research because instantly I got the results and it took
less time researching through Google than going to the
library and looking for a book.
As employee owners, this is probably the same for you.
We have many responsibilities expected of us and we
try to complete every new task as quickly, efficiently,
and accurately as we can. As we continue to grow as
a company and more responsibilities are added to our
work load, we try to be as efficient as we can and I believe
as a whole, our company is on the right track with our
efficiency quality standard.
Views from the Ops Team
What Efficiency Means to Me: Lisa Greene
Being the introspective person
that I tend to be, I think it’s
interesting that this quarter’s
focus: “Efficiency—I minimize
wasted effort and expense” is
the topic chosen to follow last
quarter’s topic: Knowledge—I
know my company.
When I was thinking about how
to address the quality standard
of Efficiency, I started connecting
,
Lisa Greene
the dots between the two
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g
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n
a
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r
and realized that a big part of
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being efficient is having the
information (knowledge) required to create a successful plan
for whatever it is you are trying to accomplish—whether a
major project or regular daily task.
When we spend some time planning on the front end of just
about any project, we will save time and money at the back
end. Being efficient means taking the time to think about
the project:
• What is the scope?
• How does it impact today’s operations?
• Who needs to be involved?
• What materials are needed?
When you’ve answered these questions and created your
plan, you know you’ll be as efficient as possible when it’s time
to execute. There won’t be delays because someone isn’t
available—after all, you booked their time in advance and let
them know what their role would be. Your project will come
in on budget and on time because you’ll already have the
materials you need. There are no budget-breaking RUSH fees
for planners!
Even if you don’t routinely undertake major projects that
require support from across the company, you’ll still want to
be sure to plan before doing to ensure you are as efficient
as possible. Take communication for example. At Arvig,
communication is important, but communicating without
thought or plan often ends up wasting time.
For example, an email that was dashed off with poor
instructions or that comes across as offensive to the recipient
can end up adding a lot of unnecessary hours sorting out
the fallout—explaining what you meant or apologizing for
something you didn’t intend.
Instead, the best communicators are planners. They think
about what they are trying to accomplish before getting on
the phone or writing the email. Then they craft their message
with purpose and deliver it with success.
Ultimately the kind of efficiency that minimizes wasted effort
and expense simply requires planning. As Benjamin Franklin
said, “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” Thinking through the
details beforehand will nearly always yield success.
Congrats!
Noteworthy
Employee News
Gone to the Chapel:
Huy Lam, married on 7/22
Tyler Anderson (Twin Valley), married on 7/13
Kami Wegner, now Kami Benke, married 8/20
April Purrier, now April Hanson, married 8/27
Loren Krause, married 8/27
Ed Schweigart, married 9/10
newest arrivals:
Stewart Amundson: Baby boy – Tristan Duane, born 7/13
Mike Ronnie: Baby girl – Esmae Lillian, born 7/15
Cole Mathues: Baby girl – Ella Rose, born 7/27
Lance Sherman: Baby girl – Baylee Quinn, born 9/7
Want your noteworthy news in the next newsletter?
Send details to: [email protected].
An email probably would have been fine…
Seen Around the Office:
Grill Team Lunches
The popular Arvig Grill Team made their rounds this summer, providing
delicious treats for all employees to enjoy. Thank you, Arvig Grill Team,
for your time and miles to bring us all lunch... it’s greatly appreciated!
Check out the photos below from some of these events.
Grill Masters in South Dakota
Rosholt, SD
Time Communications - White Bear Lake, MN
Walker, MN
Bigfork, MN
The Untold Stories of Arvig
There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes at Arvig. In this new section
of the Arvig Advantage Advocate, we’ll share details on the real lives of
our employees—whether it’s something that’s happened on the job or
someone’s interesting back story. These are the untold stories of Arvig.
Saving a life
Karlene Gilster,
Switchboard
Representative
A woman I recently met asked me what kind of work I do at Arvig.
I replied that I work in the switchboard department, and I answer
the phone. She told me that 10 years ago, I saved her life. She was
having a heart attack (she didn’t know it at the time) and pressed
re-dial on her phone. I worked in the message center department
at that time, and I answered her call. She asked me to call her
husband for her since she didn’t want to call 911. All these years
later she remembered my name, and asked me if I would have
been the Karlene who answered the phone that day. You never
know when you will make a difference in someone’s life.
Submitted by:
Karlene Glister,
Arvig Switchboard
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Have you ever thought “Wow! That was interesting” and you wanted to tell people
about your experience? Well, here you can!
Please share ANYTHING that has either caught your attention or has actually
happened to you while you were working. We at Arvig would love to hear
all the stories that have not been recognized by a fellow employee through the
YMD program, or simply demonstrate how unique a day at work can be. Anybody can share any event
that has happened. Please send an email to [email protected], on behalf of the Arvig Advantage
Communications Team, and see your story featured in a future Arvig Advantage Advocate or Team Talk.
!
EXTRA, EXTRA: Melrose Recognized as Smart Rural Community
For the second year in a row, Arvig has been selected for the Smart Rural Community
Showcase Award, and Melrose, Minn., will be nationally recognized as a Smart Rural
Community by NTCA – The Rural Broadband Association! Melrose joins our first-year
nominee, Perham, on this exclusive list of winners.
It is an honor to serve these communities, and we’re thrilled to have played a part in
their recognition.
For more information, please visit Arvig.net/news to see our official statement and video.