[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”off” specialty=”on” _builder_version=”3.17.6″][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ specialty_columns=”4″][et_pb_row_inner admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column_inner type=”4_4″ saved_specialty_column_type=”2_3″][et_pb_post_title _builder_version=”3.17.6″ featured_placement=”above” locked=”off” \/][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.17.6″]<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a rainy morning as I write this; I knew that before I opened the curtains as I checked the weather on my phone and read through the day\u2019s headlines. Technology has changed the way we live and work beyond recognition, particularly in the last 10 years. That got me thinking about how I\u2019ve adapted to change in my personal and work life. Technology helps keep me closer to my family, the kids\u2019 pocket money is digital and in-work reports on detailed statistics can be produced in 30 seconds. What I spend time on each day has changed, and on the whole, I would say for the better \u2013 we can debate the impact of social media another time!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In a work context, change is often seen as separate and additional to our day-to-day operations, as if the two things compete with each other, but actually change is helping make our operations better.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Our current operational and recruitment challenges, as we are seeing across the whole economy,\u00a0are having a significant impact on our colleagues, and we are doing all we can to tackle these immediate challenges. We all want things fixed now, but we do also need to have an eye on the future to make sure we aren’t storing up further problems.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The University is a delightful mix\u00a0of organisational practices and systems that have been adopted and adapted over the years. They were all brought in to make our operations better \u2013 not just for the sake of doing things differently.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n There is a lot of talk about change, and PJ Hemmaway, Director of IT Services, has explained this link between change and operations in a really simple way. In looking at the programme of improvements being delivered in IT he\u2019s said that \u2018change isn\u2019t separate, it is a constant process of rationalising, refreshing and retiring what we do and how we do it. Any investment is about current and future needs, and our programmes start fixing things today as well as fixing them for the future.\u2019\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In IT this means we are taking the approach of incremental delivery that demonstrates outcomes. For example, speeding up the roll out of hybrid working and M365 in response to the pandemic, but taking the time to then ensure it is embedded in our business processes. We are looking for opportunities for the early deployment of new technology, like MS Teams external calling. <\/span>MS Teams external calling<\/span><\/a> has been successfully rolled out to MECD, and we are now planning the delivery across the rest of the university. All this work is being delivered incrementally, but as part of a co-ordinated improvement programme to ensure we have a stable and highly available IT infrastructure.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As demand on our operations has changed, some of those previous improvements now cause us frustrations and that has an impact on our work environment and wellbeing. We know there are better ways of doing things, but we must carefully unpick what we have, to make it easier to change in future and also to make sure any improvement in one area doesn\u2019t cause a problem in another.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n An example where we can see this happening is across P&OD Transformation. The whole programme will span three years and look at the long term needs of the university in relation to P&OD Services, Leadership, Performance, Culture and Wellbeing. But improvements are happening now. A number of areas are already benefitting from <\/span>a new recruitment approvals process<\/span><\/a>, that will soon be rolled out across the whole university. The programme by the end will have looked across and improved the recruitment process from creating a vacancy to shortlisting and interviews and then through to making an offer and staff preparation and introduction to their role.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Operations and change go hand in hand, they aren\u2019t in competition they are pulling us in the same direction. But, to use a sporting analogy, we are trying to rebuild Wembley Stadium whilst we host the FA Cup final. We have to do it that way as we can\u2019t close the university for a year or two whilst we renovate.\u00a0 Any change is best done through successful engagement with all relevant stakeholders to co-create the best solutions for the future. We saw this for the hybrid working pilot and roll-out where, for example, several thousand staff and more than a hundred designated champions helped shape our new framework from the bottom up<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Technology, processes and policy are all part of our operations, and therefore part of any change. So are our staff, and they are hugely important. To meet current and future needs we invest in the development of skills and as change progresses, we consider whether a team\u2019s structure needs to adapt to meet our emerging needs. We can never underestimate the personal impact on our staff of changes to teams, and we never undertake this lightly. SEP, is one such example, which has been a reorganisation on a large scale, and it was needed, but nearly 1500 colleagues\u2019 roles have been touched in some way by these changes. But as we transition to the <\/span>final phase of new structures<\/span><\/a> we also now need to think about smaller, continual and incremental change for the future. Change that means we can continue to host the FA cup whilst focusing on better ways of doing things in the years ahead.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Over the summer we reprioritised the improvement projects\/programmes we are delivering to acknowledge the pull on our teams. It was right to reprioritise, and although some projects have been paused there is still a significant amount of work taking place to make our work life better \u2013 making processes more efficient, providing tools to be able to do our jobs and delivering reliable services.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019ve already mentioned IT and P&OD, but our F<\/span>inance Transformation Programme<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Student Experience Programme<\/span><\/a> also continue to progress, along with our <\/span>Research Lifecyle Programme<\/span><\/a> moving to stage two of its delivery.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The teams working on these projects and programmes are regularly updating colleagues, briefing leadership teams and attending school boards. It can be hard to keep track of everything \u2013 in future we will bring together the progress of these projects and the benefits they are delivering in communications.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n All of these improvements are needed for us to be a place with the right environment and facilities for colleagues and students to be able to deliver their best work.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_post_nav _builder_version=”3.17.6″ prev_text=”Previous” next_text=”Next” in_same_term=”off” locked=”on” \/][et_pb_comments _builder_version=”3.17.6″ custom_button=”on” button_text_color=”#ffffff” locked=”on” \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”Related posts” _builder_version=”3.17.6″ locked=”on”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column_inner][\/et_pb_row_inner][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_sidebar admin_label=”Subscribe” _builder_version=”3.17.6″ area=”et_pb_widget_area_3″ locked=”on” \/][et_pb_sidebar _builder_version=”3.17.6″ area=”sidebar-1″ show_border=”off” locked=”on” \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s a rainy morning as I write this; I knew that before I opened the curtains as I checked the weather on my phone and read through the day\u2019s headlines. Technology has changed the way we live and work beyond recognition, particularly in the last 10 years. That got me thinking about how I\u2019ve adapted […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521,"featured_media":2402,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"[et_pb_section bb_built=\"1\" fullwidth=\"off\" specialty=\"on\" _builder_version=\"3.17.6\"][et_pb_column type=\"2_3\" specialty_columns=\"4\"][et_pb_row_inner admin_label=\"Row\"][et_pb_column_inner type=\"4_4\" saved_specialty_column_type=\"2_3\"][et_pb_post_title _builder_version=\"3.17.6\" featured_placement=\"above\" locked=\"on\" \/][et_pb_text _builder_version=\"3.17.6\"]\r\n\r\n When I\u2019m out and about meeting staff I hear much debate about the why, what, when and how of change in our University. I wanted to share my thoughts on this often contentious topic \u2013 and hear your views too.<\/p> Early in 2020 we will launch our University\u2019s new vision and strategic plan \u2013 Our future. In order to fulfil Our future we need to ensure that we are in a financially sustainable position so that we have the funds to invest in the new staff, facilities and infrastructure which will be needed to bring our plans to life.<\/p> Our Financial Statements<\/a> for 2018\/19, which have been published following approval by the Board of Governors, confirm that more than 95% of our \u00a31.1bn income is spent on our core goals - on our staff and our students - to deliver research, education and social responsibility; with the remainder invested in the long term sustainability of our University. You can find a summary<\/a> of the Financial Statements on StaffNet.<\/p> However, this is a testing time for UK universities, due to the many external factors that have an impact on us - current home tuition fees are falling in real terms, whilst our costs (not just pay but non-pay too) are increasing. There are further and even greater tuition fee funding risks outlined in General Election manifestos as well as a range of Brexit-related risks that could affect our operations. The Office for Students (OfS) demands that we demonstrate both value for money for our students and our financial sustainability (in the sense of being able to invest to deliver our ambitious strategy, rather than survival). There are, of course, also ongoing unresolved national issues around pay and the continuing challenges around funding pensions in the higher education sector.<\/p> Our Financial Statements show an improved operating surplus (3.7% of income compared to \u00a324.7m (2.3%) in 2017\/18), with a rise in income from tuition fees, education contracts and research. As I mentioned earlier, we re-invest the surplus we achieve each year in activity in line with our strategy. Recently our funds have been used to create some new academic and Professional Services posts; to invest in key infrastructure including IT; to invest in some new buildings like our student accommodation at Unsworth Park; to improve the student experience by funding more full-time Residential Life staff and to upgrade a range of buildings and research and teaching spaces and resources. Increasingly it is also invested in environmental sustainability and meeting our ambitious carbon targets. So even when we are making difficult decisions in some parts of the University we continue to invest our surplus.<\/p> Whilst we have reported an operating surplus, our Board of Governors expects us to deliver a much larger surplus than this (at least 5%) if we are to be sustainable in the long-term. Our strategic change programme (including IT Modernisation<\/a>, the Student Experience Programme<\/a>, and the Research Lifecycle Programme<\/a>), alongside our continuous improvement plans, will ensure that we create the financial headroom to invest in people and facilities. The strategic change programme will also enable us to embrace new technologies and new ways of doing things that better support all our staff and students to be the best that they can be.<\/p> Yes, this means that some individual roles will change. New roles (some that we haven\u2019t yet identified) will be created and some roles will no longer be required. I appreciate that this will cause some uncertainty and where that is the case we will do everything we can to support staff, but the alternative is that we never change anything. If we fail to take advantage of advances in technology and develop more joined-up ways of working we will ultimately find ourselves outdated in the eyes of future students, funders and other stakeholders. Staff want to work for a progressive and successful institution, of which they can be proud. This means we cannot stand still.<\/p> When I talk to staff and students I often hear their frustrations about how difficult it be can be to get some straightforward things done, grappling with paper-based, manual and repetitive processes, on outdated systems and infrastructure, all of which serves to increase staff workloads. Everyone wants to do a good job, but regularly feel that our world-class status is earned in spite of our internal systems and processes, not because of them.<\/p> To deliver our new vision and strategic plan we will need to embrace new opportunities and face challenges with courage and determination. That will sometimes mean we have to make tough decisions and no-one is claiming it will be easy or that mistakes will not be made along the way. But where we do have tough choices to make we will commit to implementing changes fairly and with compassion to support the wellbeing of all our colleagues.<\/p>\r\n\r\n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_post_nav _builder_version=\"3.17.6\" prev_text=\"Previous\" next_text=\"Next\" in_same_term=\"off\" locked=\"on\" \/][et_pb_comments _builder_version=\"3.17.6\" custom_button=\"on\" button_text_color=\"#ffffff\" locked=\"on\" \/][et_pb_text admin_label=\"Related posts\" _builder_version=\"3.17.6\" locked=\"on\"]\r\n\r\n [related-posts-thumbnails]<\/p>\r\n\r\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column_inner][\/et_pb_row_inner][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=\"1_3\"][et_pb_sidebar admin_label=\"Subscribe\" _builder_version=\"3.17.6\" area=\"et_pb_widget_area_3\" locked=\"on\" \/][et_pb_sidebar _builder_version=\"3.17.6\" area=\"sidebar-1\" show_border=\"off\" locked=\"on\" \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_section]","_et_gb_content_width":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,10,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pslt","category-registrar","category-uncategorised"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/521"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3718"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3718\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3783,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3718\/revisions\/3783"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Related<\/h1>\n
Related posts:<\/h3>
Malcolm Whitehouse: Becoming a digital University together<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/a>
Patrick Hackett: Introductory message<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/a>
Karen Heaton: Why our hard-earned retirement is top of my agenda<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/a><\/div>
Improving our financial performance will help to deliver our ambitious future plans, but we must also increase our capacity to create the funds and time to invest in our core goals. One of the ways we can do this is by changing what we do and how we do things.<\/p>Related<\/h1>\r\n