Controlling and Warmth

Admin Team Awayday today - that's Heads, Directors, some Deputy Directors of Professional Services, and the Faculty Directors of Operations.  Quite a big group, and good to get some quality time together. Today was about planning - looking at the external environment, sharing our plans, and  looking at some financial issues.  Lots of good stuff shared, and I think we all enjoyed looking at the different plans and seeing where they interact.

Lots of common points made - some key themes about where we're trying to get to as Professional Services. In the climate of increased competition, we need to be distinctive, and we had a lot of discussion about what differentiates us from other Universities, and how we can market that. The University of Warmth was suggested as a strapline...

We had a long discussion about what we as professional services need to be better at - communication, team working, getting rid of silos. Simplifying processes, only doing what we have to do, stopping doing anything which doesn't add value. Looking at different ways of providing services - which may not be by us. Getting rid of unnecessary reviews and policies. Understanding what we do, what activities we support and what services we offer. Knowing our costs- how much does it cost us to provide services? Working in partnership and collaboration with academic colleagues. Breaking down any "us and them" mentality, especially around the "we earn the money, they spend it" opinion of some academic areas. As someone said, we'll know we've succeeded when no-one refers to "the University" as if somehow they're not part of it. And my favourite phrase "The Centre".

That's not to say we don't do any of the above of course - we do a lot of it very well. But we need to get better, and smarter. I managed to get my favourite word in - mandation! It came up at the Modernisation and Efficiency meeting, and I rather liked it. Of course it's all about how much people can be told they have to do things a certain way, rather than suggesting, or encouraging them to change.  It's an interesting balance. My own experience is that you can tell people what they have to do, if it's clearly explained why, and they can see the benefits to them. But it is clearly dependent on the situation. It was reported to us that one University, not in this country, has a Department of Controlling. I'd love to be head of that one....