Original message:
Dear Senior Team
Thank you very much for giving me this opportunity and I am very grateful to the Vice-Chancellor for her closing comments about compassion in today’s Open Forum: Plans for Hilary term.
I would like to preface my following comment by saying I am very happy in the team I work in and I have two very supportive Line Managers.
With regard to working from home, I am able to do that but I live alone and I very much welcome the opportunity to come into the office which I very much enjoy for a wide variety of reasons including social and also how I develop my skills and experience.
Many thanks,
Best wishes,
Anna Power, PA and Financial Administrator, Medical Sciences Division IT Services
22/01/2021
Response:
Dear Anna
Thank you for getting in touch after the VC’s Open Forum on Friday. The VC, I and our colleagues really appreciate the opportunity to hear what people working in the university care about.
Your comments on the value of meeting colleagues at work certainly resonate with me. While the last few months have shown just how effective we can be when working from home there are certainly aspects which are a poor substitute for being together with colleagues. Teams meetings can be efficient and focussed but they don’t make it easy to have an accidental but really useful chat sharing new ideas or information. And I think we all feel that team spirit and collegiality thrives with relaxed social contact which happens more naturally in our offices or Departments than it can through video calls. These long months working from home have advantages and disadvantages and it isn’t surprising that most of us want some variety from “commuting” upstairs after breakfast!
The current restrictions will ease and we will be able to come back into our work places. My guess is that many colleagues will continue to work from home at least some of the time but I, like you, look forward to being in the office too.
We will use what we have learned from this period to improve our policies on flexible working and these changes will balance the benefits of both remote working and being with our teams and colleagues in the University. Thanks for all you are doing: your team’s work in supporting IT in Medical Sciences (and in the Early Alert Service) has been brilliant.
Best wishes
Gill
25/01/2021
To access the recording of the Open Forum on 22 January 2021, please visit the Open Forum page.
