Steve Chairs the Lean HE Conference in Tromso
Information Services' Steve Yorkstone was working in the Arctic earlier this month, chairing the Lean HE community of practice, and representing the University at the annual international Lean HE conference. We find out more...
As many colleagues know, I chair the international community of practice for improvement in universities, Lean HE.
We set up Lean HE in Sighthill around 5 years ago with a small number of UK Universities. We thought we would try out something, see if it worked, and develop as we went. Since then the Lean HE community has grown into a thriving international network.
Click here for a timeline showing the development of Lean HE
Annually the community hosts and international conference, and I have a role to play chairing an AGM, formally opening the conference, presenting the organisation’s annual report, and thanking the conference hosts.
The first day was primarily taken up with the business of the AGM. Partly I chair the meeting, and ensure the network is sustained. This year for example when it comes to people we created the post of communications director, looking at how Lean HE gets its message out around the very different higher education sectors and cultures globally. We also constituted a position to look at growing into parts of the world Lean HE isn't well represented in.
Above: Chairing the Annual General Meeting
Resourcing is also something we talk about at the AGM, as Lean HE doesn’t itself have any budget, it relies on the support of the universities its' community members come from. And we have representation from all around the world on the committee, Canada, the USA, Norway, the UK, Australia... this means we have to think creatively, and use technology to our advantage.
Click here for the Lean HE Annual Report 2017-2018
This role involves a lot of being on stage, and despite appearances, I am actually always really nervous before speaking in public. Practice means I have got more used to it, although I do have a tendency to get super emotional, especially thinking about the difference that everyone there makes.
Above: Nervous selfie taken just before opening the conference and welcoming delegates
My first role in the conference proper was to welcome the delegates and pass the conference on to the hosts and then it was on to the first presentations. One of the first speakers was our own Ruth Swan from admissions, giving a Pecha Kucha about a poster she's using to manage a project in admissions. She was brilliant... and took the opportunity to get a laugh!
Above: Ruth's presentation wasn't all serious!
Moving through the first day there were a series of keynote presentations, from a psychologist talking about courage, to a researcher presenting on the "efficiency paradox"; where contrary to what you would expect, by making every department busier we end up making the organisation as a whole less effective.
The second day of the conference focussed on breakout sessions, with parallel workshops. The one that sticks with me most focussed on kindness, and introduced an approach I can see myself using in future workshops, based on the Zulu greeting "Sawubona", meaning "I see you".
Later, I was presenting the timeline of Lean HE, and our annual report (both linked above). It was great to be able to reference the conference hosts from every previous international conference in the room from Cardiff in Wales, Waterloo in Canada, Stirling in Scotland, Sydney Australia, and Tromso in Norway.
Above: Presenting 5 years of Lean HE to the conference
The third conference day had a mix of plenary sessions and keynotes; I introduced one of the parallel sessions led by Laura Hallett Head of Strategic Projects and Change at York St John University, looking at a series of tools to support change around the DMAIC(T) cycle - Define Measure Analyse Improve Control... and as Laura added: Thank.
Finally I had the honour of thanking the hosts for their work. The team of seven staff from UiT the Artic University of Norway did an amazing job, well deserving of a dashing Edinburgh Napier University hoodie wearing teddy bear!
Above: Giving token thank you gifts to the conference team
The conference was well received, here's what one delegate wrote:
"Such a great conference! I loved every part of it and am buzzing with inspiration and motivation. Being relatively new to lean, I learnt so much and have lots of practical things to take back and try out in our team. I loved meeting everyone and talking about all the different experiences. The facilities were amazing and conference dinner so much fun."
Of course for me, the conference didn’t end there, as there was lots of admin to do relating to my role, updating the Lean HE website, ensuring conference handover is ready for next years’ event, so people can start planning for that.
Above: Steve and Susanne, the Secretary of Lean HE, completing administration following the events of the week
It's great for me to get this experience, and, it also brings connections that I bring into the University here. The speakers we have had at BIG events last year, for example, were largely drawn from the Lean HE network. We also hosted a post conference event here, where 10 colleagues from Australia and Canada came to speak with (comparatively) local universities about how we apply improvement techniques.
I worked with our Learning Technologists here to record part of the day - check out a case study from Aberdeen University about how they improved their Budgetary Control in Estates Planned and Reactive Maintenance. Sounds like a dry subject... but staff there have delivered some amazing improvements.
Check out this Panopto recording of Craig Howell's talk
Above all, it’s great to see Edinburgh Napier University taking the lead on an internationally important subject. When it comes to Business Improvement expertise we hold our own against some of the most well-funded and established universities in the world. It goes to show that over a little bit of time giving things a go, and learning from experience, can really have an impact!
Steve Yorkstone
Information Services