A quick chat with Maaike Swart about the programme for organisational development: ‘improvement at multiple levels’
Last year, Maaike Swart moved from coordinating the Strategic Plan implementation agenda to joining the Organisational Development team. As Programme Manager, she has been asked by the Executive Board to help shape Leiden University’s strategic development.
Hi Maaike, what does your role as Programme Manager for Organisational Development involve?
‘Improvement at multiple levels. In my previous role, I worked on prioritising and organising activities more effectively: supporting the interdisciplinary themes, for example. I often noticed colleagues with promising ideas struggled to move them forward. Their initiatives would stall in complex, fragmented processes that made change difficult. That leads not only to missed opportunities but also to disappointment and extra work.'
‘Within the Organisational Development programme, our team aims to remove those obstacles. This includes aligning faculty and university-wide services so that we can respond more effectively to social and technological developments in times of increasing scarcity. For example, we’re looking at the best possible alignment of the different services we provide at both faculty and general level. Efficiency will help us respond to social and technological developments in challenging times. It also entails making university and faculty policies more accessible: ensuring, for example, that information about reimbursement for business travel is easy to find.’
That sounds promising. How do we create this kind of environment?
‘The foundations have been laid out in the Administrative Compass. This vision document is based on extensive consultation with faculty boards, directors of central services and representative bodies. The discussions highlighted the need for clear governance, better cooperation and a good balance between central frameworks and local solutions.
‘Transparency is essential for coherent leadership at both the university and faculty level. What agreements do we document where? And how do we ensure we follow them? One of the core principles is the cross-faculty, cross-campus message: “We are one university.” This will also help to streamline complex consultation and decision-making structures.’
'The discussions highlighted the need for clear governance, better cooperation and a good balance between central frameworks and local solutions'
Are there other priorities?
‘Absolutely! Bringing together and organising our often fragmented services in a smarter way. Staff insights are invaluable here. For example, colleagues are contributing through exploratory working groups (educational logistics, communication, ICT and real estate/the University Services Department), a staff engagement working group and an expert group, essentially a think tank. Together, we identify bottlenecks and opportunities to improve coordination and cooperation, laying the groundwork for widely supported, workable agreements. This bottom-up approach enables the Executive Board to define where staff input and participation are most needed, while we collaborate with colleagues across the university to shape both the process and the content. We’re also looking beyond our institution and visiting other universities to learn from their experiences.’
What topics will the programme address first?
‘Our initial explorations focus on opportunities to improve service provision in educational logistics, communication, ICT and real estate/the University Services Department. We expect these to reveal opportunities for more coordinated, efficient approaches.’
You mention reviewing how services are organised. Does this involve central services only, or also faculties?
‘We’re looking at this as broadly as possible. Services are sometimes duplicated across the organisation, which does not always benefit quality or efficiency. At the same time, we want to recognise what already works well and should be preserved. The key questions are: why do we organise things the way we do? How do we make use of our means and work force in the most efficient way? Is it efficient? Could it be improved? And could we strengthen one another by working together? To answer these, we’re setting up a decision-making process involving as many staff members as possible.
‘We’re also gathering insights through the expert group and a separate digital meeting open to all colleagues, as they have an enormous amount of professional expertise.’
It’s been announced that Erwin will be leaving in a few months. What will this mean for the programme?
‘It’s been a pleasure to work with Erwin. Under his leadership, the groundwork for our organisational development work has been laid. Thanks to him, we can now move forward. On behalf of our executive board, the program will continue on its course under the direct supervision of Vice President Timo Kos. We have discussed this with our deans and are taking into account their remarks, as well as those of the University Council. These all help us in the further refinement of our programme, together with the Council.'
'If anyone has any concerns or suggestions regarding organizational development, please feel free to reach out to me!'
What can we expect in the coming months?
‘The explorations I mentioned are already underway and will continue as planned, just like the vision document. We expect to complete the explorations by March and will then implement the outcome in a new and updated trajectory.'
Is there anything else you would like to share with colleagues?
‘Our programme is open to all your ideas. If you have concerns or suggestions about organisational development, please get in touch. I’m always happy to meet up for a coffee and a chat.’
For more information about the strategic explorations, the Administrative Compass and the Organisational Development programme, visit the SharePoint environment. You can also subscribe to the programme newsletter.