Download to read offline
Uploaded byAssociation of University Administrators
Transforming the Approach to Change Using Lean to increase participation and engagement with change at Oxford
The Lean pilot at the University of Oxford focused on streamlining processes around acquiring and delivering scholarships. Through workshops and process mapping, inefficiencies were identified and quick wins implemented, such as altering invoicing and automating payment approvals. Longer-term, the pilot precipitated a team merger and redistribution of work. While Lean proved effective for targeted processes, broader change remains challenging due to Oxford's complex organizational structure.
More Related Content
Similar to Transforming the Approach to Change Using Lean to increase participation and engagement with change at Oxford
More from Association of University Administrators
Transforming the Approach to Change Using Lean to increase participation and engagement with change at Oxford
- 1. AUA Conference -11th April 2017 Using Lean to increase participation and engagement with change at Oxford
- 2. AUA Workshop Universityof Oxford Introductions Joanna Barry, Head of Student Fees and Funding Claire Taylor, Principal Consultant, SUMS Consulting
- 3. AUA Workshop Universityof Oxford Background The Oxford approach to change
- 4. AUA Workshop Universityof Oxford • Complex organisational structure consisting of Divisions, Departments, Faculties, Colleges and Central Administrative units • Extensive committee structures • Autonomy of each individual unit • Prohibitive cost of change due to extensive IT structures Background to change at Oxford
- 5. AUA Workshop Universityof Oxford • Prior to 2015, change within Academic Administration Division (AAD) was fragmented • ‘Customer’ was not necessarily always at centre of systems and processes • Change was slow to take effect, due to conflicting priorities Change within AAD (pre 2015)
- 6. AUA Workshop Universityof Oxford • Sept 2015: review of efficiency and of new approaches to change • Review outcomes identified: - ‘Waste’ within low-level, overly resource-intensive activities - ‘Non-value add’ activities - Duplication of effort - Lack of understanding of impact of change on ‘external’ processes. Change within AAD (post 2015)
- 7. AUA Workshop Universityof Oxford • Decision to invest in structured approach to change identification • Lean methodology matched Oxford’s requirements to engage staff and release resource capacity by reducing waste and focussing on customer value • Internally facilitated with an initial focus on a set of processes for a team within AAD section (Student Fees and Funding) Change within AAD (post 2015 ii)
- 8. AUA Workshop Universityof Oxford An introduction to Lean
- 9. AUA Workshop Universityof Oxford • Toyota Production System – 1970s • Manufacturing • Key early thinkers History and Evolution of Lean
- 10. AUA Workshop Universityof Oxford Process improvement and service enhancement • Create a better experience for our students and staff • Focus on delivering excellent service and value from our resources Improvement culture • Creating a culture of improvement & innovation • Empowering staff to deliver change Why use Lean?
- 11. AUA Workshop Universityof Oxford • Identify Customers and Specify Value • Identify and Map the Value Stream • Create Flow by Eliminating Waste • Respond to Customer Pull • Pursue Perfection The 5 Lean Principles
- 12. AUA Workshop Universityof Oxford (1) Identify customers and specify value • Who are the customers? • What value do they seek from the process? • Do they have different needs, priorities and requirements? • Which group of customers are the most important for this process?
- 13. AUA Workshop Universityof Oxford • Use Process Maps • Identify and discuss activities, decisions, information requirements • Question and challenge the way things are done: - Which activities deliver value? - Which do not? Why are they done? - Does everyone do things similarly? - Can things be simplified? - Where is duplication? - Where are the bottlenecks? (2) Identify and map the value stream
- 14. AUA Workshop Universityof Oxford • Waste: “Any activity that does not add Value” • Waste is not necessarily inefficiency • Challenge wasteful activity: - Transparency - Walk through process as a customer - Take a wider perspective - 5 Whys? - What are the safety nets? (3) Create flow by eliminating waste
- 15. AUA Workshop Universityof Oxford • Effective Lean systems respond to Customer Demand • How does the service respond to fluctuations in level of demand? • How does the service respond to fluctuations in type of demand? (Runner, Repeater, Stranger) • Concepts: Flow, Bottlenecks, Simplicity • Reduce: stages, handovers • Increase: transparency, visibility, clarity of ownership (4) Respond to customer pull
- 16. AUA Workshop Universityof Oxford • Incremental Change vs Process Re-engineering • Perfection: - What do customers really want? - How do “best in class” organisations deliver services? - How can changes in technology enable radical change? • Continuous Improvement: - Empowered, critical, positive culture - A learning culture - Customer focused (5) Pursue perfection
- 17. AUA Workshop Universityof Oxford Scenario Customers and Services
- 18. AUA Workshop Universityof Oxford The Lean Pilot at Oxford
- 19. AUA Workshop Universityof Oxford Lean Pilot - overview • “A Lean review of the processes around acquiring and delivering scholarships for undergraduate and postgraduate students.” • Pilot focussed on 3 key areas of Fund administration - Getting money in: costing scholarships, donor invoicing, receipting funds - Fund management: annual reporting and budgeting - Award disbursement: paying UG/PG students
- 20. AUA Workshop Universityof Oxford Lean Pilot - stakeholders • Set against backdrop of increases in donations, divergence in UG and PG practice and potential for team merger • Teams involved: - Student Fees and Funding - Graduate Admissions and Funding - Development Office - Gift Registry - Finance Division
- 21. AUA Workshop Universityof Oxford Lean Pilot - structure SUMS Consulting facilitated…. (i) For Lean pilot: - Lean introduction to Senior Managers - Drafting of High and Low level draft process maps - 2 x workshops with key administrators and managers (ii) Post Lean pilot: - Feedback interviews with 12 of 32 stakeholders - 30/90 day ‘Actions’ meetings - Creation of a LEAN toolkit
- 22. University of Oxford StudentLegalSOFinanceGAF/SFFGovernanceOUDOOUGR HighLevel - Scholarships: Payments (end-to-end process) Check student in attendance 3 times/yr (GAF) Pay College fees to College (Manual Journaling) Payment Tuition to University (Manual Journaling) Pay Stipend Termly (PG) Collect bank details and send to finance International complete form for finance (UG) Automated SLC download bank accounts (UG) Create Cheque for first payment (PG) Enter Bank Details onto Finance System Scholarship System (Database) Graduates complete form Open Bank Account (if not already done so) Open Bank Account (if not already done so) SITS (Scholarship Flag Checked) Reconciliation vs Source of Funds – End of Year Accounting
- 23. University of Oxford StudentLegalSOFinanceGAF/SFFGovernanceOUDOOUGR Low-levelPayments (PG) GAF upload scholar details to scholar database (linked to SITS) in September Scholarship managers fill in details re costs (college, tuition, maintenance) Finance officer checks data is correct MT maintenance payments request to Finance Send online form to collect bank details Send tuition fee data to SFF Create list of college fees for each college (using report from scholars database) Receive queries or confirmation from college finance officers Instruct finance division to make payments to colleges HT maintenance payment request TT maintenance payment request Grad scholar accepts award Student enrols Student provides bank details for future payments Student Receives Payment Student Receives Payment Complex funding packages sometimes students confused about what funding comes form which body (e.g. Uni/college/dept) Prompts quite a few queries often due to complex funding arrangements Scope – Payments Identifying payments to be made College, tuition, students Confirm enrolment (trigger for PG is end of selection) Enrolment status taken from SITS. Manual update of database also based on tacit knowledge Finance make payments to colleges Done in the same ways as UG via spreadsheet to Finance Payments made once per year Calendar trigger – mid- Michaelmas Download bank details, prepare for merging into payment request If BACS, told to expect them by 0th week of each term. If cheque, told cheque has been raised and where it has been sent (usually their college) Finance make payments to Students Always cheque for first payment for new scholars - Time consuming not future proof Completed prior to the start of each term. student directs query to GAF. Usually we can resolve it (have access to the Finance system to view payments), ask Finance for further clarification if needed. Finance make payments to Students Inconsistent receipt of remittance notes by GAF. Not retained The fees team in SFF do not make the payments, however, they maintain the fee schedule (and deal with corrections and queries relating to fees). This is fed through to Alan in Finance. It is a completely separate process to our standard payments. Please see note above re. SFF and fee data. Some fees are journaled manually – but only for a small number of courses at the Said Business School and the Department for Continuing Education.
- 24. AUA Workshop Universityof Oxford Scenario Process Mapping
- 25. AUA Workshop Universityof Oxford Implementation across the HE sector
- 26. AUA Workshop Universityof Oxford Use of Lean in the HE sector • Lean first used in US and UK HE Sector in early 2000s • Early Adopters: St Andrews & Cardiff • Early focus on operational efficiencies • Current leaders: Strathclyde & Sheffield
- 27. AUA Workshop Universityof Oxford Consideration of Lean as a fad • Customer & efficiency focus matches sector demands • Continued growth? Strathclyde, Sheffield, Stirling • Cardiff • Lean Derivatives e.g. LSS • Other methodologies e.g. SS, Systems thinking • Bristol
- 28. AUA Workshop Universityof Oxford Barriers to Lean in the HE sector • Organisational Culture • Leadership-related challenges • Long standing processes • Terminology • Training
- 29. AUA Workshop Universityof Oxford The Future of Lean in the HE sector • Continued use of Lean and Lean Derivatives • Importance of participative, structured, customer centric approach to change • Importance of implementation of change generated from these methodologies
- 30. AUA Workshop Universityof Oxford Scenario Value and Waste
- 31. AUA Workshop Universityof Oxford Lean outcomes at Oxford
- 32. AUA Workshop Universityof Oxford • Appropriate methodology for Oxford, complemented by culture of continuous improvement • External facilitator was essential to identifying areas of change without preconceived barriers • Achieved process change (quick wins) for areas within remit of managers • Critical to ensure all relevant stakeholders present from outset • 30/90 day action points allowed Senior Managers/Project sponsor to exert renewed focus Lean outcomes - our experiences
- 33. AUA Workshop Universityof Oxford • Built better relationships with stakeholders outside the team due to close collaboration • Gained greater understanding of processes in other units • ‘Quick-wins’ for process change include: - alteration to invoicing process through Gift Registry - raising payments to students via electronic approval - collation of scholar bank details through secure online portal - Development of scholar database to automate UG/PG scholarship processes Lean outcomes: short-term change
- 34. AUA Workshop Universityof Oxford • Precipitated merger of Graduate Funding team with Student Fees and Funding team • Redistribution of work, from ‘UG/PG/On-course’ split to thematic groupings • Building Lean into mid-term and annual PDR processes • Middle managers to review Lean opportunities on rolling basis • Lean Toolkit to facilitate internal Lean projects Lean outcomes: longer-term change
- 35. AUA Workshop Universityof Oxford • Importance of recognising limitations of Lean projects and selecting achievable process change • Lean projects require endorsement of senior managers across units • 90-day implementation reviewed and extension approved for delivery within new academic/financial year Barriers to Lean
- 36. AUA Workshop Universityof Oxford • What next for Lean within AAD? - Pilot roll-out with Estates on PEA (Project Expenditure Approval) project - Collaboration planned with Sheffield and Strathclyde on resource planning - Circulation of AAD Lean toolkit for managers - Securing and developing AAD Lean resource - Further Student Fees and Funding projects applying Lean ‘Financial need assessments’ and ‘Online application form’ projects • The Oxford Challenge: Using Lean to bring about change in conjunction with colleges and academic units across Oxford (separate entities with separate governance structures!) Looking ahead with Lean
- 37. AUA Workshop Universityof Oxford Any questions?
- 38. AUA Workshop Universityof Oxford Scenario Short and Long-term Improvements
- 39. AUA Workshop Universityof Oxford Your Lean Challenge…
- 40. AUA Workshop Universityof Oxford To take away…