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Operational Excellence

External project generation

The objective of this project is to increase the number of high quality external projects for WBS postgraduates by providing a coordinated and streamlined approach to organisations. 

Improvement Champion
Carol Rue, Director of Personal & Career Development, WBS

Facilitator
Jules Cross, Processfix Ltd

This project is now complete.  A working group has been set up from the original OE Improvement Team, which will direct, monitor and evaluate ongoing external project sourcing according to the newly implemented process and the agreed Key Performance Indicators. Read Olivia Brook's WBS newsletter report on this successful project.

Below is a summary of why we needed to improve this process and progress to date. More details are available from the workshop output (PDF Document) and progress report (PDF Document).

 

EXTERNAL PROJECTS GENERATION

DESCRIPTION

Process Issue(s)

All WBS postgraduates must complete a project as part of their course of study. Many undertake projects for outside organisations. Each postgraduate programme handles its own contacts with project sponsors, so a single organisation may be contacted by several different WBS programmes. This is confusing for the company and impairs our reputation. It is also potentially wasteful as, if project opportunities cannot be met by the originally intended programme, that project and organisational relationship may be lost to WBS. With central coordination both could be retained, by allocating that project to a student/group on another WBS programme(s).

Planned Improvement

To bring a coordinated approach to external project marketing, liaison with project sponsors and allocation of project opportunities

Benefits

  • Improved service for project sponsors and postgraduate students
  • Larger pool of projects, available more quickly, less project ‘waste’
  • More efficient approach to promotional activity will release workload capacity.

Key process changes

  • New project co-ordinating role required across all PG programmes
  • Use of common CRM system (ACT) across MBA and PG programmes
  • Co-ordinated project marketing across MBA and PG programmes
  • Effective central monitoring and review of project allocation process

Progress

  • Olivia Brook appointed in Spring 2009 as Manager, External Projects
  • ACT in use across all Specialist Masters programmes and the MBA
  • Co-ordinated external projects marketing for the first time in 2009
  • Performance measures have been established and monitoring is underway

Successes

  • 100% plus increase in numbers of external projects available for Specialist Masters students, compared with 2007-8
  • Number of Specialist Masters external projects sourced is 30% above target
  • 62% increase in external projects take-up compared with 2007-8

Improvement Team

Linda Butler, Scott Dacko, Alan Gamble, Catherine Gordon, Belinda Grant, Pat Hodges, Nick Kaijaks, Jon Lees, Tracy Lynch, Justin McArthur, Les Oakshott, Sarah Patrick, Carol Rue (Improvement Champion), Donna Shannon, Kirsty Warwick