It’s better together – how to make the case for collaboration

Start at the top by getting the leadership on board

Chief information officers and financial leaders often don’t need persuading that change is needed – but developing a shared understanding across their organisation of what change is needed, and how it should happen, is the biggest challenge they will face. It’s essential to get buy-in from the leadership so that the principles of collaboration and sharing become baked into the institution’s overall strategy and vision, shifting the culture to prioritise collaboration rather than independence.

The good news is that there has never been a bigger appetite for collaboration as leadership teams are all too aware that doing things in the same way as they always have is not the way to ensure survival.

The message to those leaders is this: by showing strong leadership and driving a process of simplification, rationalisation and improvement, we not only create the right conditions for collaboration, but we also provide stronger foundations to improve financial management and the all-important student experience.

Understand that you don’t always need to be different

Higher education institutions are competitive because they have to be – they need the unique selling points that attract students. That can mean the default approach is to ‘go it alone’ and seek solutions to digital, data and technological challenges in isolation. This is despite every university facing the same issues, needing the same back-end functions, and often using identical systems.

The truth is this: the majority of activities in an institution do not yield competitive advantage where it matters – recruiting students and staff, winning research income and other funding, and providing an exceptional experience for students.

The underpinning systems aren’t what make an institution special – what matters is what is built on top of those systems. Collaboration makes it possible to focus on those areas where you really are different. Student support, wellbeing, contact hours and teaching quality are the things that really matter to students.

Take a fresh look at processes, data and systems

The major technical obstacle to collaboration is the inconsistency and lack of standardisation of processes, data structures and wider operational models within institutions and across the sector.

Sometimes, institutions create whole bespoke systems to accommodate a small cohort or specific use case instead of buying an off-the-shelf solution that could be used across organisations.

I’ve also seen so many cases where students are asked to provide the same information repeatedly – for the library, accommodation, finance, and so on – because departments don’t share data. That makes for a poor student experience.

Optimising systems and removing unnecessary customisation makes it much easier to share services or collaborate. An important first step on the road to collaboration will be to identify where these kinds of issues are and how processes can be simplified.

Understand the financial implications of change

Understandably, leadership teams will be concerned about the cost of change. Savings will be long term, but there may be up-front expenditure to consider – so try to build a clear picture of the short, medium and long-term implications.

Remember that preparing for collaboration is about simplification, streamlining and efficiency. Organisations that go through this exercise often become more efficient because of it, even if they never take the next step.

Stay focused – and beware of ‘scope creep’

Be very clear about your goals and outcomes before you start. It’s better to start small and build. I’ve seen too many occasions where an organisation decides to share its payroll function, and then decides to do the same with HR and recruitment at the same time – they end up at a point where it all becomes so complex that nothing happens.

Being specific about which functions, or even parts of functions, you are in a position to will enable your organisation to reduce costs in high-cost areas, without taking on too much at once.

Keep your people posted

Collaboration is not just about making work better. It’s also about saving money, and as around 65% of a university’s expenditure goes on staffing, people will inevitably become concerned about change.

Using resources more efficiently may mean achieving the same outcomes from fewer people, but not always. Often it’s about increasing productivity among the existing headcount.

It’s crucial to involve staff in the process. They are the ones who can help identify efficiencies and collaboration opportunities, and understand where their institution is different from others. Talk, listen and learn from them.