Business process improvement

Encouraging people to try different ways of working is a big problem for many HE institutions. While taking advantage of a powerful resource, the continuous improvement team at the University of Winchester also learned some valuable lessons about bringing reluctant staff on board.

A range of ways to maximise the opportunities to evidence benefits of business process improvement are outlined in a guide published by the University of Strathclyde. Heather Lawrence explains more about how it can help higher education staff.

Academia and social media are slowly making friends. Some institutions are even finding it's making collaboration more efficient - and fun - by improving communication. Mike Ewen from the University of Hull shares the story of how a small group of social media enthusiasts in East Yorkshire has spawned a UK-wide collaboration network.

A government code regulating CCTV stimulated Aston University to take a fresh look at their surveillance technology. Mark Sutton explains how complying with the surveillance commissioner's code has resulted in efficiencies and savings.

When Edinburgh Napier trialled streamlining the logistics around the production of exam papers they expected the changes would save some time for staff. But the benefits produced went further than that as Louise McElhone and Steve Yorkstone explain.

University College Dublin (UCD) is seeking to weave continuous improvement into the fabric of the university. Its director of agile, Michael Sinnott explains the university’s approach.

The university sector has an essential role to play in tackling the world’s sustainability challenges – not just in developing research-based solutions but in influencing the attributes of students that graduate each year. In this blog, Dr Neil Jennings (Imperial College London) and Quinn Runkle (National Union of Students) discuss projects that have been successful at equipping students across all disciplines with the knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours required to address sustainability challenges while at university and in their future careers.

There has been a lot of awareness raised recently around gender based violence and questions around the idea of standard behaviour.  In this opinion piece,...

Student safety should be a priority for all universities, but with 39% of universities not providing sexual misconduct training for staff, and only 29% of universities with a mental health and well-being strategy, this demonstrates there is need for improvement. Lucy Winrow from ProtectED discusses student safety and understanding 'what works', driving change in national standards in the HE sector and safeguarding the student experience

When the University of Sheffield's Global Opportunities and Engagement team realised that their various admin systems had become too cumbersome, they called for help. Rachel McAssey explains how her team of lean practitioners carried out a process review that has produced many benefits including significant time savings.