In July 2025, the Internal Communications Team explored staff experiences of University-wide communications. We combined two online discussion groups with a staff survey to better understand how our communications are perceived and how they can be improved. These built on findings from a staff communications survey run in January 2025.
We asked colleagues about:
- which channels and formats work well,
- how communications could be more relevant and accessible, and
- what improvements they would like to see
We would like to thank the more than 200 staff who contributed to the surveys and focus groups. Your time and perspectives have given us invaluable data with which we will create communications that work better for everyone.
Findings
Staff value being kept up to date, particularly through the Vice-Chancellor’s video updates and the University Bulletin. At the same time, the overall volume of communication can feel overwhelming, with duplication across channels and a need for shorter, clearer messages. Colleagues also asked for more transparency, acknowledgement of workload pressures and greater opportunity for debate on sensitive issues.
Finally, there is strong demand for more two-way communication, with clear feedback routes and more evidence that staff views are acted on.
What we are doing
Avoiding jargon and decreasing complexity of communication
We have updated the Bulletin and Staff Gateway blog guidance to reduce jargon and acronyms, and to ensure the main message is always clear. Contributors have been asked to follow these principles, and we welcome feedback on universitybulletin@admin.ox.ac.uk from staff if something is not clear.
Read more: University Bulletin: a guide to making communications work for staff
Refreshing the Bulletin layout
From 8 September, Bulletin has a new design to make it easier to navigate, with clearer sectioning and fewer items per issue. New sections, called ‘Have your say’ and ‘In case you missed it…’, group similarly themed content together, driven by staff feedback about better sectioning of messages.
Continuing to signpost to staff benefits
We are continuing to strengthen signposting in Bulletin and on the Staff Gateway to make staff benefits and opportunities easier to find. Recent items include staff discounts, the Staff Volunteering Scheme and information about leave policies. For wider University updates, the Gazette remains a key source.
Learn more: Home | Oxford University Gazette
Vice-Chancellor’s video messages
Transcripts and key bullet points are provided alongside the Vice-Chancellor’s video messages.
Example: Transcript: Vice-Chancellor's start of Trinity term 2025 message
Balancing tone and highlighting resources
We have asked Bulletin contributors to use a clear and supportive tone and to highlight relevant resources or next steps. If you have suggestions for resources to feature, please let us know.
Contact: internal.communications@admin.ox.ac.uk
Strengthening two-way communication
We are developing more opportunities for staff to share their views. We will also do more to close the loop by showing how staff feedback has informed changes to communications, such as articles like this.
We will soon be issuing a call for staff to join a communications forum to discuss pertinent topics such as jargon, essential information for new joiners and more.
