Building a continuous improvement environment and managing institutional change
Addresses objectives: C3B Leverage our entrepreneurial spirit and model organizational efficiency and sustainability
Waterloo’s strategic plan explicitly endorses flexibility, agility, and resilience. The Change Management Program, embraces CI processes and offers a campus-wide, streamlined approach to manage change initiatives and support employees. The COVID-19 pandemic has only increased the pace of change, and thus need, for change management.
Customized learnings and tools are instrumental to leverage internal resources and processes to create capacity. The associate provost human resources team leads a University-wide steering committee to implement continuous improvement built on Lean principles. In 2021-2022, change management principles were used to support preparations for return to campus, establishment of a campus rapid testing centre, and building effective change management principles learning sessions for campus. These learning sessions include Change Management Tools and Techniques, Brainstorming, Championing Change (in partnership with project management office). Over 200 staff from across campus enrolled in these sessions.
In the last year, the CI team also focused on building a CI governance structure and continuing to build awareness and knowledge about the benefits and application of continuous improvement methodology. An internal Change Management Community of Practice was established in April 2021, bringing together approximately 300 people to share ideas and resources and develop their change management skills on a quarterly basis. In addition, a Canadian Network for Higher Education was established in June 2021. These networks have enabled valuable knowledge sharing across campus and universities and continue to inform continuous improvement planning.
Jump to: SC Goal C3 | Strengthening Communities Goals
Moving forward: In 2022/23 the Provost's Advisory Committee on Building a Resilient University of Waterloo will complete internal engagement and environmental scans that recognize organizational strengths to build on and make recommendations for implementing improvements to the University’s functional organization and operations. Over the next year, Human Resources will apply change management methodology in a standardized approach for key initiatives identified through campus strategic plans.