One of the most common concepts that contributes to a team's success is to have clear objectives. Clear objectives provide direction and framework for how to proceed in your work. These objectives can be precise, such as increasing the tree canopy or completing your mowing route in "x" number of days. Or they can be broad so as to create context for where your grounds operation will move toward. Here at Drury we have come up with five objectives to guide our work as we strive to fulfill our organizational duties.

Functional

Functional in this context means we come alongside the strategic imperatives for Drury University. This primarily means our campus landscaping, and the Grounds team, supports the academics on campus. We have designed several outdoor class areas that students can use instead of staying inside. Students are included in our DU Landscape Advisory Committee, as are faculty. In order to obtain recertification each year as an ArborDay Foundation Tree Campus, we must include students in a program to educate our campus about trees. Our functional objective also includes grounds integrating into the strategic efforts of the university such as enrollment, community involvement, and staff morale.

Aesthetic

The aesthetic of the campus has to do with the way the landscape looks to our community. Perhaps more importantly, aesthetics also strongly influences how our community feels when they are here. The aesthetic of a place leaves a lasting impression. On one hand, landscape design is a hugely diverse arena, with as many preferences as there are people. But fortunately there is also a center design perspective which the majority of people resonate with in a positive way. Most of our campus reflects this center. A visitor will not be shocked by most of what they see, but will understand and appreciate our look. A smaller facet that we also want to appeal to is the outlying perspectives. Drury Grounds seeks to create many spaces, however small, that anyone who visits campus might call their own.

Financial

Of course no discussion of organizational objectives would be complete with discussing finances. Taking care of a college campus, even a small to midsize one (Drury is 100 acres m/l) can cost a lot of money. There is also usually a clear relationship between budget and quality. While it can make sense to try to get more money for our landscaping, it is not simply a question of funding. Drury Grounds seeks to manage its budget through value, flexibility and cost containment. Value means that we are constantly looking to make wise purchases, protecting long term assets, and expanding in-house capabilities. Flexibility means that we seek to bring our money alongside other departments and efforts in order to achieve a multiplier effect. Cost containment means we shop competitively, only purchase what is necessary, and monitor our budget closely. We also understand that some other areas of campus warrant bigger budget and support these areas efforts too.

Sustainability and Environmentalism

The landscaping paradigm is changing. I have seen it firsthand in the nearly 30 years I have been involved in it. Here at Drury this means taking a sustainable approach. We look to improve the ecologic/environmental services our campus contributes for our on campus population, and the Springfield community. As green space diminishes, green areas left become ever more important. Pervious surfaces contribute to water quality. Plants and trees support pollution control and habitat. Increasing species diversity of all organisms delivers ecosystem stability. These sustainability efforts provide a matrix which weaves around our other objectives. The amazing thing about sustainability is that it can underpin and support any landscape objective and can multiply their effects in positive ways.

Native plant rain garden on campus captures all much roof water from low volume rain events.

Outreach and Marketing

Our organizations are highly competitive both externally (customers, competitors) and internally (other departments, alternative strategic priorities). Not everyone in our organizations thinks the Grounds is vitally important. Through implementing our first 4 strategic objectives we seek to justify our existence. But we must also share news of our contributions eagerly. Sometimes people may not be aware of all we do, or they simply never get to certain parts of campus to see for themselves. Drury Grounds enthusiastically participates in many campus efforts from Freshmen First Day, Commencement, to Staff Advisory Council. We seek to support efforts throughout campus based on what our community needs rather than on only what is best for us. We utilize communication, including social media, to get our word out. This is not bragging, but simply sharing the good word. It is crucially important that we be good ambassadors for ourselves.

https://www.facebook.com/DruryGrounds/

https://twitter.com/DruryGrounds

https://www.instagram.com/drury_grounds/

Taking Action

Creating objectives isn't the only step to successfully managing your grounds. Objectives give you the destination, but not the road map to get there. But you can have a map and no destination. Neither alone will get you where you are going. These objectives are also not etched in stone either. Our grounds organizations must be flexible enough to be influenced by legitimate outside considerations. We don't work on an island. The next step is likely to create benchmarks and criteria that will allow us to determine our achievements. And achievement is what the objectives are all about.