Internal faculty events: what do our staff think about them?
Our faculty is a vibrant community of researchers, lecturers, and support staff. Recently, 180 colleagues voiced their opinion about our internal events by completing an online questionnaire (45% support staff and 55% academic staff). What encourages them to attend an event or decide not to? And how can we ensure our events are even more in line with what staff want?
Why do colleagues come to events?
The most import reason is ‘connection’: 48% of respondents say they mainly come to meet colleagues. Relaxation is a good second reason to come. The actual content of events, such as sharing knowledge, plays a slightly lesser role. That’s important to note as it shows that our events are not just about sharing information, but clearly about strengthening our community.
Why don’t colleagues attend events?
Lack of time, and inconvenient dates or times are the main reasons, which is understandable considering our busy schedules. Staff do seem to be reasonably happy with the current frequency of internal faculty events, which is 5 to 6 times a year. The focus for the summer event is clearly relaxation and connection, preferably in Leiden. That helps us with ideas for the next event to round off the academic year before the summer holiday.
Where can we make improvements?
Responses to open questions provided suggestions for improvements. For instance, there’s a need for short, interactive knowledge sessions, of which the Faculty talks are a good example. Colleagues say they would like more room for discussions with each other, with less emphasis on long presentations of prizes or official parts in programmes. In addition, respondents believe it’s important to vary days and times, as well as allow for more interaction during events. Finally, staff find it hard to combine lengthy events on specific topics with a busy work schedule. But good ideas were also given on how we could have a lower threshold to inform each other about our research and education.
Onwards and upwards
We will take all these valuable responses into account when organising future internal faculty events. This is, after all, a place of learning. Although we don’t expect to get everything right at once, by listening and adapting, we can move closer to what is needed to strengthen the faculty.
If you have any questions or would like to make a suggestion, please send an email to communicatie@law.leidenuniv.nl