Service design for universities
Sometimes solutions are under our noses - you just need the right approach to unlock them. In this post, consultant Jean Mutton explains service design, which she says is for anyone who often thinks "there must be a better way".
Three award-winning projects that you need to know about
The Times Higher Leadership & Management Awards earlier this month saw thirteen universities win awards for their work. Three of these universities have recently been featured in Efficiency Exchange discussing aspects of their work.
Balancing the needs of managers and planners in a performance planning framework
When the University of Lincoln considered their current performance management processes through the eyes of their academic managers, it provided valuable insights. Liz Lacey explains how blending two different approaches helped to inform a review of the way performance planning is carried out by academic leads.
Sandra Heidinger: Measuring up at Strathclyde
With a clutch of awards for its business process improvement work, the University of Strathclyde’s achievements are getting UK-wide recognition. The university’s HR director Sandra Heidinger talks to Rosie Niven about how empowering staff is the key to organisational success.
Operational efficiency or ‘how I became a Bollywood stuntwoman’
Operational efficiency or Bollywood stunts? In this post on the AHUA blog you will get more of the former than the latter from University of York's David Duncan who shares his advice on maintaining an efficient and effective administration.
Don’t wait for Godot, start fixing things now
Inspired by the absurdist Samuel Beckett play Waiting for Godot, the University of Sheffield's Rachel McAssey issues a call to arms in her blog; instead of waiting for big change to happen, get some problem solving skills and start making small improvements.
Employee engagement toolkit for higher education
UCEA and UHR have worked in partnership to develop a toolkit on employee engagement specifically for the HE sector.
The project was jointly funded by...
How you can engage people to evidence the benefits of business improvement projects
Following the launch of last year's guide to evidencing business improvement, the University of Strathclyde's business improvement team are now testing out a business exploration map tool. Nicola Cairns' blog explores how people can be engaged to ensure that the potential benefits that they have identified fully demonstrate the impact of their project.
Academic Futures: a new career route for postgraduate students?
The University of Lincoln is developing a programme to tackle the lack of professional development schemes tailored to the needs of postgraduate students interested in an academic career. Rebecca Sanderson explains the project funded by the Innovation and Transformation Fund that explores how to provide postgraduate students with more effective career development opportunities.
Leadership Foundation to fund projects that support workforce change
The Leadership Foundation is pleased to invite proposals from member institutions for funding for projects to support the Workforce change, processes and practices workstream of the second phase of the Diamond programme (Diamond 2.0) to improve efficiency and effectiveness in higher education.
