1. SER BENEFITS BRAINSTORMING SESSION 23 July 2014 Ideas from Claire Doherty, Daniel Farrell, Nadege Minois and Kevin Thomson

2. Rationale Instead of using the more conventional approach of benefits categorisation as financial/risk and compliance/time saving and so on, we decided to classify the benefits of the SER projects using the four SER guiding principles. Our first task was to evaluate the importance of each principle to apply a weighting factor if necessary. PrincipleClaireDanielKevinNadegeTotal Simplification214411 Visibility and Transparency 33219 E-enablement421310 Adaptatibility and Flexibility 143210 1: least important 4: most important Although each attendee perceived the importance of each principle differently, the overall importance of each principle is similar.

3. Simplification: What does it mean? Cyclical process review / continuous improvement Process-led technology (do not strap/bolt in ITS) Eliminate hoops Increase service delivery / pace Clarify cross-unit communications Promote institutional change Decrease cost / increase revenue Top-led Improve customer service Improve data quality Expose problems Increase creative capacity Better management of resources

4. Visibility and Transparency: What does it mean? Golden sources: minimise or eliminate local copies Provision of management information Improve decision making and quality of decision More information for analysis Clarify inter-departmental communications Better control / less fragmentation Improve audit preparation / self-monitoring Better documentation including semantics Less shooting down of ideas Encouragement of self-improvement Improve data quality (aeration) Expose gaps / problems

5. E-enablement: What does it mean? Reduce or minimise sutures between systems (i.e., keep the bonnet closed) Encourage move towards standards and structured data Paper-lite Mobile devices / web promoted developments Easy and ready (24/7) access Common features Sexing up the image (no more clunky) Promote innovation and modernisation Customisation Be ahead of the game / customer Making staff feel part of the developments (e.g., workspaces)

6. Adaptability and Flexibility: What does it mean? Repeatable / prototypical Decrease cost of repair / maintenance Delegable Upgradable / maintainable while in circulation Reliable Friendly Responsive to external changes Recoverable Customisable Scalable

7. Do the SER projects bring the identified benefits? Case study 1: Paperless Admissions Current characteristics to improveBenefit achieved E-enabled replacement of unreviewed processE-enablement Written on complex platform (MMS)Simplification Developers need to learn language (not industry standard)Simplification Not self-reported or wholly accurate reportingTransparency Complex workflow with many variablesSimplification Not self-sufficient ecosystem (closed?)Simplification Not easily adaptableAdaptability Involves a lot of staffSimplification Work-around heavyTransparency

8. Do the SER projects bring the identified benefits? Case study 2: Online Matriculation Current characteristics to improveBenefit achieved E-enabled only to an extentE-enablement Work-around, SITS fields used for other purposesFlexibility Complex workflowSimplification Not maintainable at local levelFlexibility SlowSimplification Replacement of paper-based processE-enablement Not self-explanatory at timesTransparency Permits errors because of manual interventionAdaptability No up-to-date documentationTransparency

9. Further thoughts on benefits Thoughts on Time: Breaking institutional habits Case study resolution (round-the-houses time) Response rates including enquiries Time spent on data correction Time spent on maintenance Data entry including upload / scanning Time spent on developments Time spent researching (looking on different systems for full information) Time spent finding / creating work-around (creative space versus quick fixes from lack of planning time) Time spent diagnosing problems Time spent reporting (not e-enabled)

10. Further thoughts on benefits Thoughts on Cost: What do we actually measure Paper Transparency: Invisible budgets Printer/Ink Stress: Sick leaves Thoughts on Feedback Staff survey Staff experience: training and self-improvement Direct correlations between NSS and SER?

11. Representation of benefits Simplification E-enablement Adaptability Flexibility Visibility Transparency Advising Curriculum Approvals Paperless Admissions Tasks

12. Conclusion on benefits We can work quicker (save time), more accurately (increase quality) and more creatively (be ahead of the game). By freeing up a percentage of staff time and saving money, we will be in a position to re-invest. Re- investment has to be in the areas of professional development, self-improvement and the continuous improvement of processes and services. We can achieve greater improvement without continually expanding staff complement.