I try hard to make a positive contribution to the organisations and sectors with which I work. One of the ways I seek to do this is by creating and sharing insight into the issues and challenges that they face.
I’m currently exploring a number of themes, which I discuss in a bit more detail below. If you’d like to know more about my work in these areas, please read on. Or just drop me a line.
Academic workload modelling
Academic workload modelling is an approach to understanding how members of academic staff spend their time when they are at work, from teaching and research to management, administration, academic citizenship and other activities.
I’ve written a how-to guide to workload modelling for higher education institutions, as well as a basic workload modelling template that institutions can use and build upon.
Find out more here.
Board effectiveness
There are various frameworks available for assessing the effectiveness of organisations’ boards and governing bodies. These frameworks tend, though, to focus on ‘hard’ measures, such as the compsition of the board and how frequently it meets.
Such measures are, of course, important. But so, too, are ‘soft’ measures, such as how well board members interact with each other and with management. And how good the board is at knowing when it needs external support.
I’m working on a board effectiveness framework that brings together these ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ measures to provide a more holistic view of board effectiveness. I’m also looking into how we might formulate actual outcome measures of board effectiveness, rather than just input and process measures.
If you’d be interested in sharing your thoughts or in learning more, just drop me a line.
Strategy in the public and not-for-profit sectors
I’m looking at the notion of strategy and how it applies to the public and not-for-profit sectors. Commercial organisations are all about generating profits and competing with their peers for market share, but the public and not-for-profit sectors are different.
I do quite a lot of work around strategy with my clients and it’s clear that this is a complex area with no easy answers. But it’s equally clear to me that there’s a lot the public and not-for-profit sectors can learn from corporate strategy and the idea of competitive advantage.
I’m not sure yet where my research in this area is going, but if you’re into this sort of thing and you’d like to get involved, please do get in touch.