Celebrating the difference that professional services staff are making

Over my career at Oxford – first in a divisional office and latterly in the Registrar’s Office – I have worked with some fantastic colleagues who are all normally up to something to improve things in their areas. I passionately believe that Professional Services Together can support and empower us all to do the same, enabling us to better deliver the University’s huge academic ambitions.   

Professional Services Together is a collaborative programme working to enhance professional services delivery and to support our staff to thrive across Oxford. So one of the things I enjoy most about my role is seeing how keen colleagues across the University are to enhance the experiences of staff and students. It is brilliant to see Professional Services Together being used to help them to do this.  

For me, it is crucial that we celebrate these achievements and exchange solutions, for others to learn and draw inspiration from. It’s wonderful to see great examples of Professional Services Together achievements recognised in the Vice-Chancellor's Awards nominations. I’d like to share a few examples beyond these with you as well as what’s coming next.  

Thinking differently 

It was fantastic to attend the graduation ceremony for the recent Focus Continuous Improvement (CI) Local Practitioner cohort last month and learn about the difference they are making locally. After hearing from the cohort and their line managers, two things really struck me: firstly, the importance of stepping back to explore the root cause of a problem (sometimes it’s not what you think!) and secondly, how infectious the CI mindset is as I heard many stories of a ripple effect within teams. 

We now have a network of over 60 trained CI Practitioners across the University who have completed a range of local improvement projects. These include Gemma Jennings’s project to enhance the new starter process in the Centre for Medicines Discovery; Jo Nickless’s project to improve the examiners and assessors payment process in the Department of Experimental Psychology; and Krisztina Suranyi-Cseko's work to review the education governance structure at the Saïd Business School, reducing the number of committees by a third and saving 3,000 hours of academic time per year. I am really looking forward to watching this network grow and continue to thrive.  

There are lots of ways of getting involved and gaining new skills. For anyone with a local issue to solve or who is looking to get started on reviewing a local process or activity, I highly recommend the Focus Continuous Improvement toolkit and Learning Pathway.  

I am very grateful to Focus for such helpful tools. I have started using them to improve specific processes in my team – the toolkit is invaluable, especially for people like me who are at the beginning of our CI journeys. I wouldn’t have known where to start without Focus, but instead I have a clear roadmap for every project.

Jessica Ryan Philips, Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences 

Inspiring each other and working together 

Over 1,000 professional services staff are now members of one of our vibrant professional communities. Although these communities vary in size and scale – covering areas like Education Administration, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Practitioners, and Oxford Video Makers – they are all brilliant at opening doors, creating connections and sharing ideas, skills and solutions between members. They really do enhance how people work, with benefits stretching beyond a personal level.   

I have definitely benefited from my PA being part of the EA/PA Community. The sharing of best practice, resources and information has meant that there is less reinventing the wheel and more effective use of time. PAs can also be standalone roles; this community brings a sense of being part of a wider profession which is so important.

Sophie Gibbons, Head of Administration and Finance, Department of Computer Science.  

I am awed by the dedication of the leaders of these communities, and it is wonderful to see them lead beyond their substantive roles, and increasingly connect with each other at our new Leaders Forum to share ideas and find solutions together. I also manage a small Professional Services Together fund which community leaders can apply to for support with their activities.  

Into the future  

It is fantastic to see Professional Services Together principles and resources helping colleagues deliver improvements they’ve identified and worked on so hard. This can, of course, feel hard to do when dealing with daily juggles and pressures – but imagine the difference we can make if we all invested a little time to re-evaluate something we feel can be better in our area, or explore an opportunity we’ve spotted recently. Collectively taking small steps really does help unlock the big changes we all want to see at Oxford. 

In partnership with the Focus and People and Organisational Development teams, we have designed simple tools and methods to help individuals and teams re-evaluate their ways of working. Visit the website to find out about the support available – including our themed team discussion guides. 

We recognise that there is a lot of change happening across the University, so the team is working closely with other initiatives (such as Digital Transformation) to ensure we are all aligned and focusing on the right issues. 

Colleagues across the University who’ve used Professional Services Together resources say how much they value them, but I’m aware that some people are missing out. At next week’s Registrar’s Update you’ll get hands-on access to some of the tools that are currently available. We also have lots planned for Trinity term – we are co-creating quick-start guides and bitesize learning events with professional services colleagues, while the Focus team are taking CI on the road to Headington and the city centre. These will cover support, solutions and stories about how common frustrations have been tackled by teams across Oxford. Look out for information in a future Bulletin!  

I would love to hear from you to help us decide where to focus next to ensure we provide the right support to help our staff to thrive. Please get in touch with your ideas or experiences or invite us to come and speak to you and your team.  

You can contact me and the programme team at pst@admin.ox.ac.uk.