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Idea In Brief
Understanding human emotions is fundamental
When staff come together with a common understanding of how current processes impact their day-to-day lives, the improvement ‘healing’ process can begin.
Overcoming barriers to success
Effective continuous improvement requires overcoming fear of failure, enhancing understanding of the process, and connecting employees emotional experiences to the change.
Actions to make continuous improvement more fun
Key strategies include starting with simple tasks, creating excitement about change, and aligning changes with a strategic vision that can be measured over time.
With so many universities contemplating what to do with outdated technology, manual processes and workforces that need upskilling, ‘fun’ might be the last thing that comes to mind – but perhaps it should be.
At Nous we believe that understanding human emotions as part of any continuous improvement journey is fundamental to getting change right. It sounds simple, but this step is often poorly executed. When staff, faculty and leadership come together with a common understanding of how current processes impact their day-to-day lives, the improvement ‘healing’ process can begin.
We have found that under the right conditions, employees can even enjoy being a part of the experience. Our clients tell us that their teams relish coming together like this because it is a unique opportunity to be part of something they would otherwise miss out on. This enables creative energy that enables people to think differently.
In this article, we draw on our experience working with universities in Canada and globally to explore barriers to success in continuous improvement, and how they can be overcome.
Three factors inhibit organisations’ continuous improvement
So, what is preventing so many institutions from getting the conditions right? We believe there are three factors.
1. Universities know they need to change, but fear getting it wrong
At a recent NousCubane conference, we invited university leaders to share their continuous improvement experiences. While they each spoke about different stages in their change journey, the common thread between them was “our people are scared.” Their people have heard nightmare stories from peers at other institutions about large transformations (such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation) that haven’t worked out and are now reluctant to make any changes.
Why is this? University leaders said it comprised fear of the unknown, fear of change and fear of failing. These fears are intensified by the fact many institutions are impacted by tensions between academia and administration, a strong influence from seasoned tenured employees, and large deficits. Making the case for investments that are needed (but not universally wanted) can feel like an uphill battle. As a result, leaders may feel pressured to make change without understanding the root cause of the problem they are trying to solve. This can risk making ineffective changes that leave employees more frustrated than when they started.
2. Universities lack a common understanding of what continuous improvement is – and what it isn’t
Continuous improvement (CI) is a persistent effort toward enhancing services, processes and products by making incremental changes over time. CI is not a ‘once and done’ project with a finite end, but rather an ongoing cycle of evaluation and refinement. It seeks modest improvements in favour of speed and makes trade-offs on acceptable levels of quality versus perfection (which can take years to achieve).
CI has gained momentum in recent years because administrators see it as being more approachable (involving smaller upfront investments and quicker implementation timeframes), leading to faster returns on investment and community benefits.
CI is not defined by sweeping transformations, costly initiatives or a sole focus on reducing headcount. Large transformations (while sometimes needed) rarely achieve everything they set out to do and can take years to get right. People often feel burnt out from the disruption without enough support for the change journey.
3. Universities underestimate the need to connect users’ emotional experiences to the proposed change
In our experience, universities’ most frustrating and inefficient processes are often a pressing concern for their employees. Undetected, this can result in lower productivity and even burnout.
Bringing processes to life and understanding how staff and faculty feel through testimonials help leaders to grasp the reality of the situation and provide ideas on where to get started. Teams often discover that the process is highly therapeutic, allowing them to share real-life experiences that they have been holding onto for years.
When employees feel as though changes are being made to them, without understanding why, user adoption rarely meets expectations. Leaders must create an environment where staff, faculty and students, can openly share their biggest pain points and see that they are being heard through action.
These five actions can make continuous improvement more fun
Nous recently worked with a university’s administrative office that relied on outdated technology with minimal standard operating procedures. The office received hundreds of emails daily from frustrated students, leaving staff feeling overwhelmed and unsupported.
We facilitated a workshop to bring their office together to ‘air out’ their grievances with current processes. This was treated as a special in-person event (a rare luxury post-covid given hybrid operating models). The session was extremely effective in generating buy-in – staff could voice their frustrations openly and bond with each other (and even laugh at how ridiculous things had become) without fear of reprisal.
By collaboratively exploring new ways of approaching problems, the group not only lifted team morale but developed a shared vision for more efficient and enjoyable processes.
“To be successful in continuous improvement, there are three fundamentals that can help drive success. Firstly, you need to meet stakeholders where they are. This means understanding the problem from their perspective and involving them in co-design. Even the smallest changes benefit from their input. Secondly, empowering local teams to take ownership of success. The continuous improvement team is at its best when it is moving the whole organisation forward, regardless of who gets credit for it. And finally, make the experience enjoyable and rewarding for everyone involved. This can be tough, grinding but also rewarding work. When done right, people want to get involved, as it’s the place to learn, grow and achieve success. Focus as much on the experience as the outcome.”
This project and others working with Canadian universities in recent years has revealed five key lessons:
Getting this right will help your institution get ready for change
Recently we partnered with Memorial University in Newfoundland & Labrador on a CI engagement. Deborah Collis, Memorial’s Chief Financial Officer, crystalized the challenge and opportunity when she said: “Change in any organisation can be seen as scary by those affected, but with clear communication, appropriate training and materials, and empathy for employees as they work through the process, the change can be a success for everyone.”
Successes like these show the impact CI can have. One of the most satisfying parts of working with clients in this space is seeing teams get to the other side of the change journey, where they can look back at how far they’ve come (together). When our clients see the impact that CI initiatives are having on their teams and work environments, it becomes part of who they are, and they become hungry for more (embracing a ‘what should we tackle next’ mentality). The pace of this evolution varies across institutions, but when it progresses, it is incredibly powerful and rewarding for everyone involved.
Under the right conditions, continuous improvement can get even your toughest critics onboard – and they might even smile while doing it!
Get in touch to explore how we can help your university undertake a continuous improvement agenda.
Connect with Janet Vanderlaan on LinkedIn
Contributions by Tim Kennedy and Darcy Bandeen.
