Service Quality

1. Service Quality Jean Sykes Staff Briefing 7 December 2010

2. All roads lead to…..service quality improvement • Howard’s quality improvement programme • Service development plans and annual review • LSE strategic plan targets • Business continuity and strategic risk register • QAA institutional visit February 2011 • Business improvement and BASC roadmap • SERG group and efficiency savings • 4 APRC groups and cross-cutting improvements

3. Howard’s quality improvement programme • Original version 2008 – informal status • His personal assessment of how the services and some of their key functions were doing • Includes desired future status , state of change required to meet the aspirations, and priority rating for each function listed • Updated assessment 2010 with input from us • Updated future status with input from us

4. Service Development Review 2010/11 – Question 4 • Pulls together a range of related quality issues referred to separately in previous SDP monitoring • User satisfaction surveys, including NSS and ISB, with emphasis on analysis of results and actions for service improvement • Benchmarking with peers to answer the questions: How are we doing? Where are we in the benchmark? Should we be doing anything differently?

5. Service Development Review 20010/11 – Question 4 • Data quality and data improvement • Are our data gathering processes robust? • Do we check and review data gathering processes periodically and improve them? • What use do we make of data in our decision-making processes? • Can we identify improvements made to our services as a result of examining our data?

6. APRC Working Groups • Four groups which emerged from the first two years of SDP monitoring • Cross-cutting themes affecting several services • Together they address quality of service issues • 1: Printing and copying services (AF) • 2: Support for major academic initiatives (JS) • 3: Conflicting service requirements (AH) • 4: Data quality (AE)

7. APRC Working Groups • All are meeting regularly and working well • Some are using questionnaires to get information from relevant stakeholders • Most are consulting peer groups in other universities • One invited an external expert to present • 4 Chairs met in late September and will meet again on 6 December to review progress

8. APRC Working Groups • Together the groups are addressing LSE-wide issues for support services in a holistic way • Generic introductory communication for the initiative went to APRC, service leaders, and senior managers a few weeks ago • Further communications will come following discussion of the groups’ reports by APRC • 1 and 3 report in January; 2 and 4 in May

9. Aiming for a joined-up approach to quality improvement (1) • Howard’s document provides useful background and direction for improvements • SDPs describe service improvement plans in line with School priorities • LSE strategic plan targets for services reflect SDP development plans and Howard’s matrix • Business continuity and strategic risk planning aim to safeguard our service quality plans

10. Aiming for a joined–up approach to service quality (2) • QAA institutional audit will scrutinise our processes for assuring quality of service in support of teaching • Business improvement processes help to get the best out of systems and the BASC roadmap tries to bring business quality improvement projects into a coherent whole

11. Aiming for a joined-up approach to service quality (3) • SERG efficiency savings are challenging • But they are making us scrutinise our budgets looking for efficiencies which will have least harmful effect on our services • The APRC groups’ recommendations will help with service improvements across the board • We can learn from one another and spread best practice – aiming for high professional standards in everything we do • Effort put into any one of the above can feed into all the others