Communicating change: maximising the potential of the

University website

EUPRIOStavanger, 2008Martin Herrema

Media Relations ManagerUniversity of Westminster

• Founded 1838 in Regent Street, London as the Polytechnic Institution. It was the UK’s first polytechnic

• Became home of new technologies – hosted Britain’s first paying cinema audience in 1896, when the Lumière brothers presented their moving images

• Became a university in 1992• 23,000 students• Among these are 5,000 international students from

over 150 nations, making Westminster one of the top ten most popular UK universities for overseas students

• Leading post-1992 university for research in communication, cultural and media studies, law, Asian studies (Chinese) linguistics, art and design, electronic engineering, Italian and politics and international relations

New vice-chancellor• New Vice-Chancellor (V-C) Professor Geoff

Petts, started September 2007• Commitment to clear communication to

engage with staff, students and other stakeholders

• Announced consultation for a programme of change, to be known as Westminster 2015

• Change programme involving all sections of staff, both academic and administrative and support

The communications challenge

• Ensure that as many staff as possible gain access to the V-C’s change messages

• Engage staff in ways that make them feel part of the change process

• Make use of the full potential of the university’s web site alongside other vehicles such as open meetings and newsletters to both broaden reach and showcase V-C’s modern leadership style

Web manager joins communications department

• University had appointed its first web manager just prior to the new V-C starting. This post was located within the marketing and communications department

• Web manager combined a strong technical skills with great awareness of communications issues

• His background of working for a political party’s web site and a leading national conservation organisation provided him with fresh ideas for the university

Setting the agenda • Working with the marketing and communications

office, the V-C announced a series of presentations to staff, outlining a consultation exercise to inform his agenda for change

• Before these meetings began, an electronic Suggestion Box was developed by the web manager. This was incorporated in to the V-C’s web pages and was aimed at encouraging staff to let him know what they thought of the university as it currently stood, “warts and all”

• This electronic Suggestion Box formed part of a wider staff engagement exercise that also included a questionnaire and focus groups

The Suggestion Box• Sitting within the V-C’s home pages, the Suggestion Box was open

for three periods from September to December 2007. All comments came in to the Web manager.

• The Suggestion Box was open for use for a fixed, two-week period• It provided an opportunity for staff to comment on any University

topic. Staff could identify themselves or remain anonymous• Staff posting comments or suggestions could also indicate whether

they wished for their comment to be published

Using the feedback• All suggestions and comments were collected by the

Web manager and collated into themes and topics

• These were all then made available to the V-C’s office. All suggestions and comments posted by staff who had indicated that they were happy for them to be published appeared on the V-C’s home page

• Comments on issues ranging from the perceived over-bureaucratic style of management to the lack of showers for cyclists to suggested improvements to the university’s research funding mechanisms were made

• A total of 250 comments and suggestions were received over the three Suggestion Box periods

Feeding into the change process

• V-C read every suggestion and comment and responded where possible

• Some of the issues raised fed into a series of staff open meetings

• The perceived openness of the process – with critical comments as well as positive ones being published on the web site – encouraged staff to engage in the consultation process and attend meetings to discuss the change agenda

Other web initiatives• Videos of all the V-C’s change agenda

presentations were posted promptly on his home pages, alongside a transcript

• The outcome of the consultation process that concluded at the end of 2007 was a new structure and set of academic priorities for the university. These were announced in the early part of 2008 at two meetings at which the V-C delivered what he called his ‘State of the Nation’ address, which again was immediately posted on his web site

Other web initiatives

• Well-known UK journalist, academic and satirist Laurie Taylor agreed to carry out a TV-style interview with the V-C on his proposals for change. This interview included a number of searching questions on the restructuring plan and the university’s research policies. The video of the interview was again posted on the V-C’s pages, along with a summary of the main points covered

The rest of the communications toolbox

• Although the response to the web initiatives was positive, we felt it important to make full use of a range of communication tools

• Large staff meetings, smaller focus groups and all-staff emails were all used

• As well as the normal staff newsletter, a special newsletter called Change News was produced

• This proved beneficial in reaching staff that don’t have regular access to a computer as part of their normal working day

Summary• It’s important to have the web manager sitting within the

communications department• Using the web in innovative new ways can engage staff to

take more interest in a process of change. Feedback received on the Suggestion Box was that staff felt part of the process

• However, it’s important to publish Suggestion Box comments and suggestions as fully and as quickly as possible after the open period to maintain momentum and credibility for the process

• The web site can be used effectively to embed a new leadership style within the organisation’s consciousness

• However, it’s important not to forget that not all staff will have access or the inclination to go on to the university web site so traditional newsletters can still play an important role in the communications mix