Tag Archives: conference

A taste of a successful online conference

Online-600x600-Lean-HE-Conference-This October we had planned to travel to Glasgow to present at the international Lean in Higher Education Conference. As it came closer, it was obvious that the conference could not be held as a traditional face-to-face event. For our part it was both disappointing not being able to visit Glasgow, and at the same time invigorating to experience a novel way to take part in a conference. Many questions presented themselves as we planned for the event. Would it feel like a conference, how could we deliver an interactive workshop online and would we be able to network and meet colleagues in informal ways?

Over the last two years, we have learned how to deliver workshops online, knowing full well that we have to take a different approach compared to a face-to-face environment. To some extent, online facilitation and workshops can be just as fruitful as “the real deal”. It is for instance far easier to use digital tools, creating live output.

Our main concern was how the online conference could deliver value when it came to networking and connectivity. After the full three days, we were amazed. On my part, I was clearly entering the “conference bubble” when it came to learning and inspiration – and for large parts also for the networking (both the formal and informal parts). The brilliant people participating aside: The main reasons for this were:

  • the thorough professional preparation from the conference team at Strathclyde University, with John Hogg at the wheel, and
  • The use of a professional online conference platform.

Conference and learning sessions aside, my reflections quickly turns to our own organization. Would we be able to deliver an online conference experience as good as this one? I believe we couldn’t as of now. I do believe we have the capability to do so when it comes to having dedicated and innovative people, but I also believe we are in dire need of a professional online conference platform to cover the needs for the next few years. It is simply not enough to use MS Teams or Zoom solemnly, to deliver high quality online conferences.

-Svein Are Tjeldnes

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Continuous improvement up for a game of Nordic collaboration

THE BUILD UP

When we started to learn about lean and continuous improvement at UiT the Arctic University of Norway, we quickly realized we needed a network, a kinship, to support us. We had little knowledge of which universities we could turn to, to hear those encouraging stories of thrilling successes or the chaotic tales of thundering failures (both equally important). Our perception was one of a growing number of universities in the UK that were heading down the winding road of continuous improvement.

Our foot in the door was a direct request to Christine Stewart at Cardiff University back in 2013. On the back of our visit to Cardiff,Lean HE logo we were invited to participate at the 2014 conference of the newly formed Lean in Higher Education hub in the UK (Now known as Lean HE). Literally as we flew to Waterloo (Canada) the following year, to build further on budding friendships, we formulated a desire for a similar Nordic network – not to mention a bold dream to hold a conference on continuous improvement ourselves. We even promised ourselves to use such a hypothetical opportunity to launch a Nordic initiative.

THE PRESENT

Fast forward 5 years to April 2020. Last week, we held our first meeting with Nordic colleagues. On the agenda: Exploration of a Lean in Higher Education Nordics network. Ironically, the lockdown due to the Corona crisis made it easier to go ahead with a fully virtual meeting – allowing 12 participants from 6 Nordic universities to meet and explore the interest of such a network. It was a pleasure to experience that the first meeting had a vibrant feel to it. As for the conclusion there was no doubt about the commitment between the participants, but rather a crispy clear desire to establish a Nordic branch of Lean HE Europe.

Hopefully, five years from today, we can look back at this meeting as an important steppingstone to acknowledge years of fruitful Nordic collaboration within continuous improvement and innovation.

THE NORDIC FLAVOR

Nordic countriesHaving observed the growth of the Lean HE network globally, and the value of “local” branches such as the Southern, the North and Midlands in the UK, Lean HE Poland and Lean HE Netherlands and Belgium, we are certain that a Nordic branch will prove valuable as well. The Nordic countries have strong ties and shared values at their core. Lean HE Nordics will give us a platform to collaborate, explore and innovate on our journey of continuous improvement.

-Svein Are Tjeldnes

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Lean Down Under

Click on the picture to see a short video from the conference.

The Lean in Higher Education (leanHE) conference 2017 has come to end and, and as I sit on the plane from Sydney to Bangkok I’ll take the opportunity to write down some thoughts. Time flies, and it is hard to believe that it has been a full year since we left Scotland after the 2016 conference (which inspired our first improvement blog). In the day-to-day work and operations it might sometimes be difficult to spot the overall progress, but the conference gave a good opportunity to think about this. In the next passages I’ll sum up a couple (out of many) learning points as I give my view on the impact of the Sydney conference for me and my colleagues from UiT The Arctic University of Tromsø (UiT).

UiT has participated in this annual conference series with two or more delegates each year since it was held in Cardiff in 2014. This has had major impact on our work with continuous improvement. In Waterloo, in 2015, we were informally asked if we would be interested in hosting the conference at some point. In 2016, in Stirling, there was a soft launch of news that UiT would host the conference in 2018. Finally, this year in Sydney, it was a pleasure to formally announce Tromsø and UiT as the host for the next leanHE-conference.

With the knowledge that we would be responsible for next year’s conference, we travelled to Sydney not only to learn more about lean and continuous improvement in higher education, but also to observe how Macquarie University ran the event, the flow and feel of the conference and the overall output. We bring a lot of useful knowledge on this back home.

Another important discovery for us was that we are more capable of bringing experience and knowledge to the conference than we have been before. It was a good experience to be able to present some of the work we do at UiT. There are always new angles and takes on different problems, and so one of the most useful outputs was the many opportunities to grow larger and stronger networks with colleagues from all over the world.

For my part, the most interesting presentations came from Vincent Wiegel and Tobias Byron. Vincent (from HAN University) made sure to challenge and engage the audience, even a bit provocative – which is good. It was interesting to see how he made use of digital solutions to interact with the participants during the presentation. Tobias (from the Macquarie group) brought reflections on what he whish he knew about lean ten years ago. Interesting to see how embedded lean was in a large company.

It is always good to meet old friends, but just as good (and important) to make new ones. We made the most of the time in Sydney. I feel certain that we have strengthened our ties with existing networks across Europe and made new connections in both Europe and Australia. Making new connections is a promise for the opportunity to learn something new.

Our goal for next year’s conference in Tromsø is to make it both practical and applicable. Primarily we want every speaker to have practical and interactive elements in their presentations. We’d like to arrange more workshops where participants get to practice new skills and techniques, and also where we all can be inspired to use new technology both in teaching and facilitating process improvement.

Finally yet importantly, I want to congratulate Valerie Runyan, her team and the Macquarie University for a conference well done and for hospitality beyond what anyone could expect. 150 participants and speakers have been attended to in every possible way. We are very grateful for this, and as we continue planning next year’s conference in Tromsø we will make sure to make good use of Valerie’s knowledge and experience.

Welcome to Tromsø and UiT the Arctic University in Norway next year.

On the conference web-pages you can now pre-register for the conference. https://egencia.qondor.com/lean2018

-Svein Are Tjeldnes

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Forbedringsprosessen UiT på årets NARMA-konferanse

I dag (28.03.17) har jeg fått lov til å dele noen tanker om UiT sitt arbeid med lean og forbedringsprosesser med ca 300 deltakere på årets NARMA-konferanse i Lillestrøm. NARMA er et nasjonalt nettverk for forskningsadministrasjon, og ligger under UHR-paraplyen.

Utfordringen som ble stilt kom i form av et innledende tema: «Effektivisering og avbyråkratisering. Er lean svaret for forskningsadministrasjon?». Mitt svar på spørsmålet får dere helt nederst.

Undertegnede og Tina Lewis fra Københavns Universitet fikk hver våre 40 minutter til å fortelle om våre institusjoners erfaring med bruk av lean som forbedringsfilosofi. Det var svært interessant å få høre om erfaringene fra KU, presentert av en leder som selv bruker lean i sitt daglige virke. Til min store glede kunne jeg konstatere at vi var helt på linje, med et hovedbudskap om at lean handler om folk og de små forbedringene i arbeidshverdagen og ikke et middel for de store og raske innsparingene. De kommer etter hvert, dersom man tør å bruke tiden på å investere i medarbeidernes og teamets evner til samhandling. For egen del valgte jeg å presentere tanker om hvorfor vi har satt i gang forbedringsprosessen, mer enn hvordan. Hvorfor er langt mer interessant, og ikke minst så genererer «hvorfor» mer engasjement enn «hvordan».

Basert på spørsmålene fra salen trekker jeg glatt en konklusjon om at plenumsforedragene om lean vekket interesse og nysgjerrighet. Dersom noen fortsatt sitter med spørsmål, eller har lyst å diskutere lean generelt, er det bare å ta kontakt: svein.are.tjeldnes@uit.no

For de som ble mer nysgjerrige på lean og lean i høyere utdanning kan jeg anbefale den internasjonale konferansen om lean i høyere utdanning i Sydney i november. Skulle det blir for langt å reise, så arrangeres den samme konferansen i Tromsø i november 2018.

Så, mitt svar på spørsmålet fra konferansen: Et klart og utvetydig ja/nei/kanskje/vet ikke. Du finner det bare ut ved å prøve selv.

-Svein Are Tjeldnes

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Post Conference Syndrome

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Thoughts upon arriving home after the LeanHE-conference 2016 in Stirling

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Packed and buzzing room – ready for action

When I was a youngster I played the drums and timpanis in both a windband and an orchestra, and several times a year I would get to go on a trip with either one or both. For instance a one week tour from northerly Sortland to Sandefjord (which was really exotic since they had bats flying around) far south, or even longer tours to Italy (talk about exotic for a young Norwegian boy). Or going away on school camp with all your friends and schoolmates, and maybe even a girlfriend (or two).

All of these travels had one thing in particular in common: to be together with your best friends and the coolest folks, around the clock for many days – and importantly enough: without ANY parents. However, as with all fairytales, suddenly the tour is over and you arrive home. I can still vividly remember the kind of empty feeling that landed on me as soon as the last goodbyes and hugs were done and the door to our house shut behind me.

Today I am experiencing that same empty feeling. A kind of sorrow and mourning having left that lovely bubble of excitement, buzz, being with good old and new friends, learning and developing together with 170 fantastic lean practitioners at the Lean in Higher Education in Stirling. Can you relate? However, this is not all a bad thing. It simply means that we had a rock’n’roll badass great conference. I am proud to be a part of this particular community.

I count myself lucky to know Sue Jennings, Lorna Prince and the rest of the team at University of Stirling, who gave us this amazing conference at the most awesome venue. Including the fabulous dinner at Stirling Castle where I got to go through two first-timers: Wearing a real Kilt (Scotland’s National Tartan) and eating Haggis.

I also feel grateful to Steven Yorkstone, Susanne Clarke and the rest of the Global Lean HE steering committee for discovering me in Waterloo (last year), urging me to become a member of the committee. They are highly competent people, both as lean practitioners and as warm and welcoming persons. The same goes for rugged John Hogg (always going strong in every sense of the word), the lovely Rachel MacAssey (chairing the European division with steady hands), smiling Valerie Runyan (taking on the task of next year’s conference in Sydney), energetic Mick Gash (always present with helping hands and thoughts), Pat Browne (ever offering own ideas), devious Mark Robinson (never short of comments), vibrant Vincent Wiegel (always strongly present), Marilyn Thompson (the happy Canadian) and Tammi Sinah (who never seems to run out of energy).

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Sean Jackson, John Hogg and Svein Are Tjeldnes in their Kilts

It would be clearly impossible for me to mention every person I had the luck of meeting these important days in Stirling, but hey – I could go for a few. I absolutely loved talking with and learning from Sean Jackson of Virginia University. His session “Who’s ready for lean” was excellently delivered and thought provoking. I keep thinking that if we had applied some of his ideas and work on change readiness assessment, I know a couple of processes we never would have started at my university.

Most importantly, I have to point out my absolute favorite session among all the high quality contributions delivered at Stirling (A description of them all can be found in the program). Nicola Cairns and Heather Lawrence gave a fully packed room great insight in evidencing benefits and impact of change, even using lean teaching methods. I have declared myself their number one fan.

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Building a lego avatar to present yourself

This conference did also present new and a bit surprising friendships. I had the pleasure of getting to know and discussing lean with Birute Budreviciene, Sandra Kavalevskyte and Aidis Stukas from Kaunas University of Technology. This was their first LeanHE conference and I trust we will see them again as they were very eager to hold a seminar in Lithuania soon. Best of luck on further exploration of lean. I also, by coincidence, ran into Swedish Karolin Arvidsson from Middlesex University. Please follow through on your idea to bring the team over to Norway and UiT – The Arctic University of Norway for a visit. The same goes for Jose Franken from University of Twente, as we will connect to discuss the build-up of teams.

As the LeanHE conference also puts great weight on networking, it was especially gratifying to finally meet and put a face to many of the twitter-accounts I have been following for a while. For instance Stuart Morris from University of Lincoln. I trust we will be able to explore our collaboration and networking further as it will be easier after meeting in person.

Eventually I want to thank all of my fellow” MacKenzie” clansmen and -women at our table during the castle dinner. You all made the dinner memorable, thus helping to create this Post Conference Syndrom write-up. Julia H. Sempler, Jeung Lee, Edvins Balodis, Tom Laws, Katrien Verhooge and Anne Wendt: We were a great even when discovering the vegetarian mix-up.

Then – at last but never the least, my team, friends and wonderful colleagues from UiT – the “concept group” responsible for driving change. Julia H. Sempler, Frank Lindrupsen, Karin Eilertsen, Grethe Karlsen and Kjersti Dahle: The five of you are the ones who are designated to help me get over this post conference syndrome, by relentlessly pushing forward with continuous improvement step by step, day by day.

– Svein Are Tjeldnes

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