"We have begun to understand each other"
CBH's administrative manager Marie Larson is back from last week's conference in Uppsala. There, she and the other administrative heads at KTH's schools as well as department heads at the University Administration (GVS) discussed the various support areas' surveys of their work.
“We have begun to understand each other's operations, which is the basis for being able to change and know where we stand right now. We have not talked about this before, so it is great and feels very positive, says Marie Larson.
During a dialogue with KTH's university director Kerstin Jacobsson and CBH's administrative support on 24 May, it emerged that the President’s program directive, which describes the implementation of the administrative support merger, will be decided on 14 June. However, no major changes are expected in the organization when the merger takes effect at the turn of the year. In the first phase, the administrative support at the five schools will be subordinated to the University Director and included as a department at GVS, together with the ten existing departments.
The process will then be about developing effective support processes over time to free up resources for education and research, according to the principles of operational benefit, proximity to the personnel, involvement and participation, work environment for renewal and mutual respect.
Proximity to the core activates
That the administrative support continues to maintain its proximity to the faculty is something that Marie Larson also thinks is important and something that was discussed at the conference in Uppsala.
“I think of all our five campuses, that it should be an equal support regardless of where at KTH you work. We talked quite a lot about being close to the operations, or close to the departments, but it is not clear what that means and it is important that it becomes concrete so we know what it means to be available. It is important that we define it,” she says.
What can the merger mean for those who work in the business support at CBH?
“I think that those who work in the administrative support at CBH can be linked closer to those at GVS and those at the other schools who work in the same area. That they get a little bigger network and better development opportunities. If you are not a manager, you do not have many such contact surfaces today.
“Then I hope that it will be even more fun and that we will continue to work for effective and professional business support that is experienced equally regardless of which campus or environment you are in,” says Marie Larson.
Having a active dialogue about the merger is also important.
“I think we should safeguard that it will continue to be so. We will make sure to create forums and meeting places where you can see and discuss it and that it will be where you discuss expectations. We will also book an extra information meeting after the President’s decision, before everyone goes on holiday,” says Marie Larson.
Text: Sabina Fabrizi