Welcome to the first WST CoP Newsletter

By Michael Sinnott, Director of Agile. 

Hello and welcome to our first Work Smarter Together Community of Practice Newsletter – WSTCoPNL (pronounced whist-capall) for short … but not for long as we need to find a better name that sounds a little less… like a card game for horses.  So… welcome to the first edition of our newsletter.  We hope …

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Ag obair as láimhe a céile! Working hand in hand!

By Clár Ní Bhuachalla, Bord na Gaeilge UCD Irish Language Officer.

‘An Ghaeilge Bheo/The Living Language’ project - a collaborative project between Bord na Gaeilge and UCD Library, sponsored by SPARC. Anyone who sat leaving certificate Irish might recall the term ‘seanfhocal’ or proverb. A lot of these ‘seanfhocail’ pertain to the weather, to the land or to significant life events such …

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What is a Community of Practice?

By Michael Sinnott, Director of Agile. 

What is A Work Smarter Together community of practice? It is a network of enthusiasts who share and create knowledge about a shared interest area.  Given this is in a work context here in UCD, the enthusiasts in question are colleagues in UCD and the shared interest area will be some aspect of how …

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Re-live WST 2017 through the eyes of an artist

By Kim Lacey, Agile Administrator.

WST 2017 celebrated the creativity, innovation and collaboration within UCD and what better way to re-live and capture the essence of the day than through a graphic capture. On March 15 2015, our graphic artist, along with the help of four UCD scribes , worked to encapsulate the atmosphere, content and memories from WST 2017 …

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SPARC: Working together to make UCD a better place

By Sorcha Mulcahy, Deputy Director of UCD Career Development Centre.

The SPARC (Supporting Partnerships And Realising Change) programme enables UCD staff and students to work together on projects that make UCD and/or the surrounding community a better place to learn, work and live. The UCD Career Development Centre provides support for these projects in the form of funding of up to €1000, …

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Introducing UCD's Continuous Improvement Leads

A short Agile news item from the support units.

In May 2017 some of the largest support units were asked to nominate what Agile calls ‘continuous improvement leads’ (CILs).   The role has three main themes, aimed at ensuring: that support units have mechanisms in place for identifying and choosing improvement projects, that they have structures for supporting staff who …

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Congratulations to the first Green Belt Graduates!

Congratulations to Agile's first ever Green Belts graduates! On 7 April 2017 Prof Mark Rogers presented Liam Cleere, Marian O'Connor, Michael Sinnott and Olga Murdoch with their QQI Green Belt certificates marking their successful completion of the QQI Assignment and Green Belt projects. Each graduate engaged in a 6 month project where they learned the powerful tools and methodologies necessary to …

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Register now for the WST CoP summer school on 18 July

The WST Summer School will take place in the afternoon on 18 July. The workshops and creative sessions will be an opportunity not only to build skills and knowledge but will also be a chance to network with colleagues from across campus. Choose one of the three workshops below and register now.…

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Start of Year Planning 2017/18 - Information Sessions

By Caroline McTeigue, Support & Training Officer in Administrative Services, UCD Registry.

As part of the preparations for each academic year, UCD Registry host two information sessions during the summer that are aimed at all colleagues who support students during the registration season. The sessions are always well attended and give staff/faculty an insight into the activities carried out by …

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Who is Tim Woods ...... and how do I eliminate him?

By Olga Murdoch, Agile Lead.

What is the tool used for? TIMWOODS is waste - it is an acronym that provides us with a framework for finding all the wasteful steps in our processes so we can then remove them.  Waste Description Transport Unnecessarily moving things, forms, furniture, resources and materials from one location to another. Inventory Making more than …

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If you need to understand what is causing a problem then a Fishbone diagram is for you!

By Olga Murdoch, Agile Lead.

What is the tool used for? A fishbone diagram is used when you want to find out what is causing a problem that you are experiencing. It is most effective when used in a group where you have the benefit of multiple differing perspectives. Why should someone use it? This tool provides a structured approach …

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