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Use the ARMA examples to help stimulate discussion. Do these resonate? What other issues exist? What are the consequences of these issues, and why should we change them?

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You have 40 minutes for discussion:

1. Agree on someone to add notes to Padlet, and someone to report back on behalf of the group

2. Everyone introduce themselves, and explain your role (5 minutes)

3. Then take 15 minutes to discuss each of the following questions

Make sure to record your key discussion points in the Padlet during and after each question.

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•‘Them and us’ culture

•Reward and recognition

•Awareness of added value

•Bullying and harassment

•Unhealthy power dynamics

•Professional development

•Career advancement

•Proxy for ‘the centre’

•Workload management

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Work load creep/changing tasks and duties

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Work load creep/changing tasks and duties

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Additional duties and supporting different tasks, historically undertaken by PhD Students in relation to literature review. These have now been cascaded down without consultation or reflection in career progression.

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We attempt to keep academics and researchers right but they don't understand what we do and our support is often considered negatively and we are seen as 'blockers'.

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Main issues and challenges

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It's important that there is greater transfer of skills between research and professional support and likewise sharing of experiences for those who have moved from research to support as a way of trying to help create understanding.

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Lack of open communication around the research and innovation community coming from "on high" Our research is one of QUB's main assets and it's not given priority when it comes to Comms

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That suggests we are subservient to academic staff. It diminishes our own experience and expertise. Many of us are delivering research and innovation activity in our own right. We bring knowledge and expertise that is complementary to academic staff.

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Workload is a major challenge. we are reactive rather than proactive. have to generate disclosure forms so balancing workload with being proactive is a challenge.

Reactive marketing rather than proactive.

Management of cases going through - licencing etc and staffing issues. Workload increases but staffing doesn't. Continually losing staff with in depth knowledge.

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No clear pathway for recognition and reward, no objective mechanism for reporting work done and how that is valued and rewarded. No everything falls into a workplan, contribution to research not always recognised. e.g. valuing ideas rather than being seen as only a service provider.

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Difficulties in having to deliver a project that has perhaps been inappropriately costed to deliver externally funded research. Results in difficulties managing the project and budget constraints and more time required from staff to coordinate & deliver.

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This has perhaps been considered a more recent development and more senior staff either don't see a need for this or they don't believe they need any help.

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Them V Us - Support staff not always appreciated. Expected to respond immediately and sometimes seen as 'blockers'.

Certain roles viewed favourably by academics.

Sometimes them v us is among PS staff.

Accidental reproduction of work.

Some of this is a function of the complexity of the process.

Sometimes problem is caused by academics not engaging with PS staff at the right time.

Lack of respect for deadlines!

Processes struggle when having to address new things.

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Not enough resource/support to deliver the work that is required. People not always trained to do the work that is asked. Hard to deliver the work that is linked to a particular strategy. Need a formal structure to learn new skills through training or shadowing

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we are contacted too late in the research concept development. If we could be involved from the start it would make the process easier and we can show the value we can bring

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Historically there was a certain degree of autonomy and it was quite a tight unit with specific roles and domain expertise in various areas. We were recruited because of this expertise and it was collegiate and complementary to the academic staff. This is shifting with more university oversight and mission creep.  Challenge is demand from academics and it's difficult to say no because everything is strategic. We have to have an overarching understanding of all academic and PGR roles. Our expertise is sometimes disregarded because of the absence of a phd qualification. No recognition and value of our expertise.

Object to the term 'support' which reduces what we do.

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Lack of clear trajectory on opportunities available or path. Also temporary posts and effort taken to work up relevant cases for these roles.  Frequently resulting in individuals moving and learning new roles.

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Lack of resilience in the system - Skelton staff in many places (leaving, retirement and peaks in demand causing issues).
Amount of work is not managed efficiently (time and deadline focused). Researchers growing skills set - more training needed for softs skill, time management and effective communication skills - healthier and more efficient - productive management.

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There is an 'us and them' attitude - that we are obstructive rather than facilitative. We want academics to know that we are here to support.
More supportive attitude from ECR academics? Knowing the right people and getting them to positively influence others.

People leave when culture is not rewarding - and this has an effect on teams.
Financially controlled - technicians and equipment should be supported by the University. More consistent funding.

Lack of opportunity in the University for support staff. Why don't we make more of an effort to retain good staff and keep developing them?

Do we sometimes forget what it's like outside the University? The University does provide good opportunity and working environment - and seen by those who have worked outside and come into the University.

We shouldn't try to mimic the academic pathway, but we should find other ways of rewarding and retaining staff.

Could be more focus on funding staff to develop in their current role. Development and progression 'in role' is difficult.

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There is no cost to academic staff for our time therefore there is nothing to stop them demanding us to do anything.

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Timescales - not getting information early enough, lack of understanding, giving appropriate timescales for work to be completed

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Queen's can be very grade sensitive and in both the research/academic side but also within professional support services

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Work at school level can feel different from central or other directorates, not enough sharing of information and who is doing what role. Would be good to have mentoring or peer support to share experiences. Different ways of working in Faculties and Schools

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Question 1
Did we agree with the voting in the mentimeter?
Workload - COVID-19 had an impact on this
Example from WPU - expected to do all this research and evaluate the effectiveness of the programmes, as well as actually facilitate the programmes. A lot more focus is on evidence based. Everything seems like "firefighting."

Lack of training in this research (literature reviews).

Expectations due to COVID-19 to work beyond 9-5 if projects need finished, you would beyond what you are typically scheduled. If you were in the office you would go home, but as you are working from home there is a temptation to just continue doing work.

Power and dynamics seem more extreme than bullying and harassment.

Example - Kirsty technician. Positive power dynamics, well supported (UK initiative). Reward and recognition for that. This is formalised. Technical managers meet up 2-3 months to discuss progression and different issues.

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If there is some way to harmonise policies across the universities.

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A lack of understanding of who does what
Lack of understanding of steps required behind processes

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Creation of silos - support staff in schools and Directorates - not a clear view across what is happening. Integrating across these spaces would be good.

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Hard to plan a career pathway

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PS staff have little control over the workload - it's more needs based and reactive.

No chance to be proactive - always firefighting.

Deadlines often ignored.

Demand on academic time is an issue that spills over to PS staff.

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In a marketing role it can be difficult to know where to find the support within the university from others in similar roles. Sharing problem solving.

Unrealistic expectations. We can't support staff unless they support us and understand how the systems work.

Even in Research and Enterprise we are not sure of the responsibilities.

Ultimately the Faculty has responsibility for what we do. There is an inter PVC rivalry which is unhelpful. Would be good to have a diagram of reporting structures to understand the dynamics. I am funded on a programme and the University requests a lot of other tasks/responsibilities that are not necessarily supported by the funders.

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Lack of support for scholarship for non-academics, little support to publish papers, funding for conferences, sharing good practice etc. We need to showcase our work on teaching and learning across the University, not currently being done

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If you say no, people will work around you. Clearer roles and reporting structures would be helpful.

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Need more transparent pathways for progression

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Need to build in time in funding bids for research administrators for projects/ centres

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Important that staff know exactly what their role is.
Issues with hierarchical structure.
Importance of taking a team-based approach.
Is an academic lead always required? More opportunities/recognition needed for research support, including for outcomes. Academics do not always need/want these roles.
Unrealistic expectations of workload capacity.
Research support services (clerical/admin/technical) - need more consideration in project definitions. Not included in R&E funding factors. Should be consultation around this, involving everyone to be involved, right at the beginning and a policy is needed to address this. Support services need to feel valued and workload taken into account.
"Innovation" used as a term too often - does not naturally follow research.
In order to create innovation opportunities some research goals/targets may need to be challenged.

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Due to lack of knowledge and/or a lack of collaborative processes there is a lot of unnecessary duplication across the University. This often leads to wrong/outdated information being disseminated.

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Due to many people leaving their posts, their knowledge has been lost (lack of collaboration) and also aspects of these roles are outsourced to other current staff, increasing current staff workload. These additional jobs are never "taken back"

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Grant funded staff can't progress throughout the term of the contract

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Need to get back to doing drop in sessions where those involved in supporting research are more accessible but also need to continue with Teams meetings so people can avail of the support they are comfortable with.

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Overlap of knowledge transfer when recruitment for roles takes place. At present it is rare when the incumbent in the role is available to the new hire for sharing and exchange for on-boarding and grounding. Can this be addressed by prioritizing certain roles in expediting the recruitment process

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Communication of job roles is important. If academic colleagues understand what we do, it is less likely that they will out us under, for example, inappropriate pressure because of rapid deadlines. They should understand they are not the only people we are servicing.

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Better defined roles is really helpful. To know who to approach.

Pre-award and post-award team. A hierarchical structure of who's who, starting at the local level and feeding into a Master structure.

Organogram would be helpful. Updated twice per year. Details of roles under each Directorate.

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Glass ceiling for staff needs to be lifted (as in some other universities) to allow people to progress

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Need to have clear progression prospects - people are stifled at grades 7 with no opportunity for a grade 8 in the same sort of role. Want to develop within Queen's

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No career technician or career postdocs jobs, demotivating for staff and PIs who need to be looking for a new job towards the end of their contract

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Filling vacant posts needs to be faster. If a way could be found of getting the ball rolling sooner.

Flexibility of working from home has been of great benefit. Queen's has been good at providing that flexibility to manage work/home life. Staff are working very hard from home.

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Issue with Canvas for teaching something that is not a current module - CED, GS are not included on the same Canvas, don't have same resources/templates available. Need more streamlined process

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There are too many people for academics to navigate as to who get the right answer from. Someone who acts navigator to ensure that the right support can be gained. Possible development of a handbook for all staff, identify key people and persons take responsibility for making contact (as is done in the Graduate School).

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Need specific information to be relayed appropriately by management to ensure the work is be carried out correctly

Professional staff need to be included earlier on in projects etc so that they don't end up having to fix problems that should not have happened in the first place.

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Senior management need to understand the role of support staff and their needs

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Good idea of have events such as this and the network also and initiatives such as staff fora

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Sometimes have to go though a few people in order to get the right information.

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Years on a temporary contract is not sustainable - can these be made permanent. School recognized the value & Faculty preventing permeant posts.  Faculty focuses on costs to run rather than the contribution to research.

Financial driven model rather than impact or research output focused.  Can this be changes

Short term moves to help School - Shortages are no longer temporary - people stretched beyond capabilities and capacity.

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Help academics better understand PS processes.

Improve the training and induction to academic staff on navigating processes.

All academic and PS staff involved in the research ecosystem should access high-quality, easily-understood training material.

Work is needed on joining up our support.

Training would have to be well designed and structured. Made interactive if possible.

Produce an easy to read handbook for research support.

Do we have a shared objective? Are we all pursuing the same result?

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We're not there to hinder, we're there to help

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Them and Us - Professional services cannot financially benefit from external consulting, although there is added value from their work for the University.

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from a practical point of view a flow chart or road map of who is who and their role of all the people required get to the end result

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The hierarchy of the University need to respect that others have planned and scheduled their workload and to respect this. Eg the HEA call and the manner in which the deadlines where imposed. All need to follow processes.

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Have staff/role stability so that staff are invested in learning the proper processes - a lot of time is lost upskilling people who don't stay

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Newly established increased flexibility (flexible hours, occasional working from home) are huge help, especially when faced with dearth of other rewards and incentives.

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Newly established increased flexibility (flexible hours, occasional working from home) are huge help, especially when faced with dearth of other rewards and incentives.

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Question 2
Lack of training
Formalisation with the technicians agreement

How can workload management be improved?
- Communication
- Set up of collaborative tool. Microsoft planner?
- Couple of hours dedicated to not answering emails/respond to teams chats. Constant disturbances. Time to "switch off" from this and concentrate on research activities would be beneficial.
- Friday afternoons admin time? Depends on work structures.
- 10-4 availability. Buffer at the start and end of the day.
- Protected time
- Teams etiquette (respecting that it isn't instant messaging)

Professional development and career advancement
- 'Off the record' comments regarding funding for researchers, although being told that it isn't a priority
- You may feel capable of it, but it would be beneficial to access training courses that are funded
- Tied to the issue how valued people feel and workload management
- PDRs are difficult to show CPD, you can demonstrate achievements
- Itrent not accessible for professional services
- More collaboration opportunities
*Lack of communication/collaboration is not purposeful, it's just a matter of "this needs done"
- Opportunities for support staff to meet

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Re-evaluate research support posts, especially those on clerical levels that haven't been looked at for decades. Many of those acquired vast ranges of duties and responsibilities that should belong to professional rather than clerical grades.

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Re-evaluate research support posts, especially those on clerical levels that haven't been looked at for decades. Many of those acquired vast ranges of duties and responsibilities that should belong to professional rather than clerical grades.

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More specific training and development needed for particular roles

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Rename Professional Support. The title doesn't reflect the value to the University.

Those on research contracts should be able to avail of the same annual leave as permanent employees. This would help morale and motivation. There is variation in benefits across contracts.

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Need to have consistent approach to accessibility following the appropriate formuat across the whole university.
For example, learning sign language (on a personal basis) really helped with working with students in the University.

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There are a lot of systems and processes in place that have been there for a long time - they don't always represent the best way of doing things. Review required - reduce bureaucracy (e.g. too many forms) and increase flexibility. Needs to match idea of agile modes of working.
Support staff are seen as people who hold a post and there needs to be more encouragement - and tangible rewards - for them to develop within their post. To progress, you should not be required to apply for a different post, internally or externally (whereby that staff member's valuable knowledge is lost). Should be possible for posts to be re-graded as they grow over time. Volume of work and its importance to the business need to be taken into account, not just the nature of the work.
There needs to be better definition of what the role of a PGR is in project proposals, and then what is needed from support services over and above that.

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In some Schools you are thanked for doing something and it is really appreciated. In other places it is rare.. A thank you is always appreciated

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Greater transparency needed on how to progress into the level between salary scales - how to people move into the area between scales? HR need to be clearer on how this works

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Need to empower those in support functions so they can effectively manage their own workloads, e.g. for funding deadlines - set an internal deadline to facilitate all the due diligence that needs to be undertaken etc.

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Sometimes a simple acknowledgement is enough!

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Provide the opportunity to spend time in other parts of the university to find out what they do and how you can help. Also a mentoring programme of sorts where newer staff can get support from longer term staff

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When celebrating success, every person involved should be acknowledged - eg Finance for a grant costing, IT for data management plan, Research Development for reviewing application etc

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The agility and flexibility to perform our roles as efficiently as possible during the 2 years of disruption due to covid has been welcomed. This offered individuals and teams the option to WFH as they see fit, so allowing them to hopefully obtain an adequate work life balance whilst maintaining efficiency - this is appreciated. Commitment to maintaining this agility or hybrid model should be confirmed as a reward to the efforts and success of all employees.

The autonomy to plan within parameters your work load is also beneficial. Less frustration and heightened sense of satisfaction in delivering your 'to-do list' as planned.

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There can be alot of reactive activity in Professional support and not enough time dedicated to proactively mapping or deciding priorities and research opportunities to pursue.  This is changing with the City Deals focus.

Visibility of process maps would be help in communicating our roles, remit and sphere of expertise to colleagues - diagrams or figures, maps are better that long descriptions.

Succession planning appears to be not considered or valued it can lead to gaps when staff leave and there is no backfill for many months.  This should be prioritized with tailored training built in to support individuals at all levels of development.