rETHink: implementation is now really getting under way
ETH Zurich’s organisational development project is entering a new phase. The solutions developed in the various working groups are now to be implemented. The project managers explained at the “rETHink Switch” event what now awaits us.
rETHink hasn’t really taken off yet at ETH. This is something frequently heard in the university’s corridors when staff are asked about the project. This is set to change in the coming months.
rETHink Switch: exhibition and Town Hall meeting
“rETHink Switch” was the name of the information event that took place in the Main Building on Wednesday, 22 March. It symbolically threw the switch to signal the official start of the project’s implementation phase – and the conclusion of the solutions development phase in the workstreams, which have now been wound up as implementation of the proposals will primarily take place in the organisational units.
All ETH employees were invited to discuss the results of the organisational development project achieved so far at this two-part event. At an interactive exhibition, participants from the rETHink workstreams presented their proposed solutions for selected areas of action derived from the analysis phase and put forward in June 2021. They answered questions at the stands and invited those present to discuss the proposals. At the subsequent Town Hall meeting in the Audi Max, the project managers provided an overview of the status of the project.
Major interest in the proposed solutions
“I am delighted to see how strong the interest in rETHink and the joint further development of our university is,” says ETH Secretary General Katharina Poiger, who is in charge of the project. More than 400 employees have registered for the event. “However, communicating the results of this extensive organisational development project and making them comprehensible for everyone is also a challenge,” admits Poiger.
Some smaller subprojects that have already been implemented often only concern a small share of ETH members. And in the case of larger projects, the proposed solutions first have to be addressed. “Most of these will require an adjustment to the regulations, which will take time,” points out Poiger. For example, an amendment to the Organisation Ordinance is planned for 2024, for which all those affected will have the opportunity to express their views in a consultation.
And on top of this comes the duration of the project. “We may already have forgotten which of the measures that have already been implemented actually emerged from rETHink,” says ETH President Joël Mesot, who launched rETHink after assuming office. By way of example, he cites the expansion of the Executive Board and implementation of all the organisational adjustments carried out in this connection.
Initial solution packages implemented
Project manager Poiger informed the meeting that around half a dozen solution packages had already been implemented. These include the definition of our university’s values, which were derived from a broad and intensive discussion in which hundreds of ETH members took part.
A good dozen further projects are currently being implemented in the individual organisational units. These range from digitalisation of the university’s administration and a leadership feedback process for professors to implementation of a toolbox containing good practice examples for day-to-day work.
Finally, there are half a dozen overarching fields of action that are continuing to be addressed within the framework of rETHink. These include questions concerning cooperation between the departments and professorships with the central administrative units, the treatment of senior scientists and the workload of professorships.
These overarching projects are to be driven forward in a restructured project organisation. The existing workstreams were wound up and sincerely thanked by Joël Mesot. The ETH President simultaneously welcomed Birgit Kessler as new Co-Project Manager. The former Head of the Office for Faculty Affairs is switching to the General Secretariat and will jointly lead the project through the implementation phase together with Katharina Poiger.
The event was rounded off with a panel discussion in which six participants in the workstreams shared their personal impressions and spoke both about which of their original expectations of the project had been fulfilled and where they still saw potential in the project.
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