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Overview

As part of the UW’s new Strategic Plan, we are working to make University operations more effective, service-oriented and responsive. That means looking across people, processes and technology to reduce unnecessary complexity, strengthen service and create an environment where employees can focus more of their time on work that matters most.

Operational Excellence provides a connective framework for this work across the University. Our first areas of focus are Financial administration, research administration and information technology, building on and connecting with other efforts already underway across the UW.

Building a stronger operational foundation

Over time, administrative work at the UW has developed differently across schools, colleges, campuses and units. That local flexibility has helped units respond to distinct academic, research, clinical and operational needs. At the same time, it has sometimes resulted in duplicated work, inconsistent processes, unnecessary complexity and systems that do not always work together.

Operational Excellence gives us an opportunity to rethink that work together.

Our goal is not simply to move existing processes or organizational structures. We will look across people, processes and technology to identify ways to:

• Improve administrative and operational services for faculty, staff and students
• Simplify and standardize processes where doing so makes sense
• Reduce duplication and unnecessary steps
• Make better use of enterprise technology, automation and emerging tools
• Build sustainable workloads, stronger teams and opportunities for employee growth
• Increase the University’s capacity to advance our teaching, research, patient care and public service mission

Our first areas of focus

The first phase of Operational Excellence focuses on three areas that touch work across the University:

How we will approach the work

Operational Excellence is both an opportunity to improve how the UW operates and a significant change for our community. How we do this work matters.

Our approach will be guided by several commitments:

• Start with the work. We will understand how work happens today, where it creates unnecessary effort, and what faculty, staff and units need before designing the future.
• Engage the people who know the work. Faculty, staff, administrators and leaders from across the UW will help identify needs, test ideas and shape solutions.
• Design across boundaries. We will look beyond individual organizational structures to improve the full experience of getting work done.
• Use technology intentionally. Technology should improve service, accessibility and efficiency while supporting appropriate human oversight.
• Learn and adjust. Different functions may move at different speeds. We will use feedback from employees and the people using our services, along with measures of service quality and workload, to improve our approach.
• Keep people at the center. We will track measures such as service quality, responsiveness, user experience, administrative burden, workload sustainability and adoption of improved processes. Specific measures will vary by workstream and will be shared as implementation progresses.

How work is governed

A governance structure is being finalized to provide clear leadership, decision-making and coordination across Operational Excellence and its workstreams. More information about the structure, roles and opportunities for involvement will be shared here soon.

Shaping the future together

The UW’s faculty and staff bring deep expertise and commitment to this work every day. Operational Excellence is an opportunity to build on those strengths, reduce barriers, improve services and create the conditions for our community to focus more fully on the UW’s mission.

Throughout the initiative, we will engage faculty, staff, students, and partners to understand current experiences, identify opportunities, test ideas and prepare for change. Engagement will look different at different stages of the work and across the three workstreams.