Strathclyde Innovation Forum
Introduction
Being innovative is one of our core values that underpin the way we work, our strategic Vision for 2025 and our People Strategy. When coupled with us being people-oriented, ambitious, collaborative and bold, there is an opportunity to harness the creative power of the people in our University to drive us forward confidently as an institution whilst addressing the challenges faced by society at large.
The Strathclyde Innovation Forum will enhance and formalise our approach to innovation, in a way that benefits and engages the whole University community. The Forum aims to encourage all University staff, regardless of staff category or job type, to communicate and share our innovative ideas and new and different thinking to make our work more efficient, our jobs more enjoyable and, ultimately, our University more successful to the benefit of us all.
The Strathclyde Innovation Forum works in two ways
Team-based innovation
The best ideas come when people who work or interact with each other share their knowledge and insights and create solutions together. When an issue needs tackled, a problem needs solved or an opportunity needs to be identified, those who face the issue on a day to day basis are often best placed to deliver solutions and ideas. This is hugely beneficial to the University.
To help team leaders create an environment in which innovation ideas are encouraged, the Team-based Innovation course is now available and can be booked here: Team-based Innovation.
This training is delivered by our Continuous Improvement Directorate who also run other training sessions to support you and your teams.
Continuous Improvement coursesGrand challenges
As well as supporting staff to innovate within their own teams, the Strathclyde Innovation Forum will also periodically call for all staff ideas on a Grand Challenge – a question or issue facing the University which staff innovation can help to solve.
Colleagues will be able to input their ideas relating to that Challenge and every idea will be considered by a Challenge Sponsor and their team. Some ideas will be implemented straight away; others will require resource investment to implement. The Challenge Sponsor and their team will investigate those, sharing the most promising solutions through the Innovation Forum and then prioritising the implementation of ideas which are most likely to have the biggest impact on solving the Challenge.
Grand Challenge Six
As a socially progressive and people oriented employer, the University is committed to achieving equality of opportunity for all staff, irrespective of their background and protected characteristics. We want to ensure a welcoming and inclusive culture and have made great progress towards our equality, diversity and inclusion goals over the last few years, including the establishment of our Race Equality Steering Group to take forward the recommendations of the Race Equality Working Group Report and the recent institutional Athena Swan Silver award recognising our achievements in progressing gender equality.
For this Grand Challenge, we are asking for your innovative ideas on how we could do even more to achieve equality for all of our staff, helping every colleague reach their full potential irrespective of their protected characteristics.
Share your ideas with usYour ideas have made a difference!
What you've changed so far
Your ideas are making a difference to how our University operates. Highlights from our previous Grand Challenges include:
- introduction of meeting free Fridays
- consideration of how the University can better engage with our surrounding communities to be an even better neighbour
- more regular staff satisfaction surveys
- a new Breastfeeding Support Statement
- improvements to our Agile Working Toolkit
- improved PGR student induction
- improvements to our Cycle to Work scheme
- plans to introduce British Sign Language interpretation at graduation ceremonies
I am absolutely delighted that my idea for British Sign Language interpretation at graduations will be implemented in the near future. The Innovation Forum, providing a transparent and direct link between the wider Strathclyde community and the upper echelons of the University, makes equitable and just organisational change possible.
Dr Kirsty Ross
Outreach Officer, Pure & Applied Chemistry
Challenge-led innovation
Identify
Identify & set the challenge
Create
Generate ideas
Investigate
Investigate ideas to determine feasibility
Share
Share most promising solutions
Prioritise
Prioritise, plan & implement
Check
Check results & seek to continuously improve