Why are we changing our ways of working?

Remember the how the world of work was in early 2020? For many of us we got on public transport, in cars, on bikes or walked to our place of work every single workday.

Many departments had outgrown their space and there were pressures on finding teaching rooms of the right size and shape at the right time.

The University called a climate emergency in May 2019 and had begun to look at what this meant and how we as an institution could make significant changes.

Then in early 2020 our work lives changed significantly due to external events. We were all thrown into a new way of working. For some this meant working from home, for others this meant a period away from campus on furlough, for others this meant they continued to work on campus to support our students, although this was a very different way of working from their norm. The past few years have not been stable as we have experienced varying levels of lockdown in the UK and abroad. This has been incredibly difficult for everyone in different ways, but it has also bought some opportunities.

The pandemic allowed us to make significant changes to how we use our campuses. We now need to focus on the positive impacts that we can make on individual’s health and wellbeing, how changes to working patterns can really make a difference to Inclusion, Sustainability and Carbon reduction and how we can free up spaces and reconfigure them for those that need it. 

We have an opportunity to build on these changes to shape the University we want to be part of. We can do this and ensure our new ways of working focus on the ‘How we will work’ aspect of Strategy 2030, Collaboration, Sustainably and Digitally.