Operation Work Smarter

As UM progresses toward achieving its five Priorities for Action (PFA), the University launched an eight to ten-week project to engage the campus community through Operation Work Smarter. Operation Work Smarter, a part of PFA 3, aims to identify processes that can be simplified or improved to support the daily work of UM employees.

Due to the complexity of this effort, UM partnered with Huron Consulting Group to conduct a holistic review of the current administrative and cost structures.

This review will compare administrative functions to industry best practices, peer benchmarking and standards of effectiveness. The project will provide the University with a comprehensive and objective assessment of UM's administrative structures.

Opportunity Identification: Overview

Huron will utilize a variety of resources to identify a robust list of opportunities that are most promising for the institution.

Interviews, University Data, Benchmarking, Huron Expertise to a reverse pyramid. Top being Stakeholder interviews and focus groups. Then higher education leading practices. Then benchmarking, and finally supporting analytics. This reverse pyramid helps make a prioritized list of opportunities.

Interview tracker to opportunity log to benchmarking to internal data analysis

Opportunity Identification: Prioritization Criteria

The Steering Committee will identify and prioritize opportunities based on a set of predetermined criteria. While these have not yet been determined for UM, an example from another university is shown below.

Next Steps

In summer 2022, Huron Consulting Group will work with UM employees to complete the following activities:

Conduct interviews and develop common themes; collect, organize, and analyze institutional data provided by the University; present initial diagnostic assessment and solicit feedback from the Steering Committee on initial recommendations for process assessment and redesign.