'The UT does not want to outsource its own headaches'

The fact that Karin Bax's position is of a temporary nature soon becomes clear upon entering her office space in the Vleugel. Her laptop is on two reams of paper, with a borrowed keyboard and mouse on the desk. 'Especially when working on the train, I spend a lot of time in the same position behind my laptop. You'll definitely start noticing that somewhere in your neck and shoulders.' And the lack of a laptop stand? 'I'm here for a reason, am I? Watching the pennies is part of my assignment here. And I have to say: I've always been a frugal person. Healthy-Calvinistic, let's call it.'

Why did you say 'yes' to this job?

'Last year I had agreed with myself that I would no longer do a permanent job and a job on the side, but that I would take on several projects at the same time. But then as a common denominator that it is at an organisation with societal relevance. Moreover, I like to learn something. The university world was a stranger to me; I also feel like Alice in Wonderland here. That has its disadvantages, but I also see it as an advantage. As a relative outsider, I can ask the question: 'why do you do it this way?'. I can challenge the beliefs under the assumptions under the statements.'

'The most important thing is: I noticed that this organisation feels a strong urge not to outsource its own headaches. They are in it themselves and want to solve the problem themselves. This university just needs some support with that. In that sense, I am a kind of aspirin against those headaches.'

'I’ve noticed that the UT mostly tends to work with its head, not the heart'

How have you experienced the past four months here?

'I like it, I really enjoy it. Don't get me wrong. What we are doing is anything but pleasant. We are in dire straits, you shouldn't beat around the bush or make it look better than it is. For me, the pleasure is in contributing something, to help people and the organisation move forward. That means that making difficult interventions – in a good way – can give a certain satisfaction.'

What kind of organisation did you find when you started at UT?

'One in which I feel welcome. People have time for you. Somehow I had expected some suspicion given the nature of my job, but it was not so bad for me.  Or it could be that people don't say it. The UT has a very committed, but also very smart and thinking organisation. What is important in a change is that you have a balance between the head – the upper current – and the heart: the undercurrent. I’ve noticed that the UT mostly tends to work with its head, not the heart.'

What do you mean?

'We are in a difficult period, which may become much more difficult. The reorganisation is underway at the faculty of Science & Technology, other units do not rule out a reorganisation. That is not only something to think about with your head, it also does something in people's hearts. Such a situation feeds a certain fear and uncertainty. Leadership must be more aware of this.'

'What I also notice – and I don't know whether it applies specifically to a university or to Twente – is that a lot is done implicitly here. This means that sometimes there are expectations that are not expressed. Or they are spoken, but they are not translated into a question or task. I sometimes notice something like that during meetings, from people's facial expressions. Someone thinks something, but doesn't say it. Let me be the one who makes this immediately negotiable as a temporary outsider and change manager – also from the Randstad. People are very friendly, but that reluctance that undoubtedly goes hand in hand with good intentions can also get in the way.'

What is your assignment as a programme manager for organisational changes?

'The job description was quite diffuse, but there is no other way. If you can determine the job precisely in advance, you can also do it yourself. The key question is: can you help us implement change? In practice this means, among other things, coordinating initiatives that are already in place and are ongoing together with the programme management team. For example, the building blocks, the acute measures under the no time to waste heading and the reorganisation of S&T cannot be seen separately from each other. They need to be more in line with each other.'

'I see my second task in including people in all the changes. This organisation grumbles a lot about communication, but in the meantime the informal lines are very strong. As far as I am concerned, the formal lines should be strengthened, especially those from manager to employee. In addition, for me it is about leadership and ownership, to be able to help with that. This change task for the UT requires something from the collective of managers who – let's face it – are not necessarily appointed because they are so good at implementing changes. That does mean something.'

'It is about people. So you also have to be somewhat predictable in your actions'

You just mentioned it, the faculty of Science & Technology is in the middle of a reorganisation process. Do you have a certain hand in that?

'My area of focus is UT-wide, so I have not been substantively involved in that reorganisation process. I did speak with the dean, portfolio holder for operations and HR advisor at S&T. It is important to record how S&T deals with this reorganisation. It cannot be ruled out that other units will follow. Then the next unit would not have to completely reinvent the wheel, which saves time and money. But above all, it is important that you realize that every action within an organisation creates a certain expectation. After all, it is about people. So you also have to be somewhat predictable in your actions.'

You do not have a formal mandate from your role. Is that an advantage or disadvantage?

'That's right, I have no formal decision-making power. That's certainly not a bad thing, I'm used to it. As I indicated, the UT wants to solve the problems itself. I believe that you can easily take a leading role in such a change process without being hierarchically in charge. That requires some guts and empathy. Much of what I do mainly comes down to facilitating people, in the broadest sense of the word. So it's not about the mandate for me.'

The UT is in the middle of solving acute financial problems within the current organisation. In addition, work is being done on the 'Reinventing our UT' process, i.e. the long term. What does that picture look like, according to you?

'There are two tracks. Those acute problems, that is mainly something for this year and next year. That other track, the long term, also depends on what changes in the outside world. But it has already been deployed. I am pleased that the consultation with the Strategic Board has now  resulted in seven concrete starting points, as a prelude to an institutional plan for the UT towards 2030, which should be ready next summer. In any case, these two tracks will influence each other. I don't know if it will be possible to put an exact dot on the horizon, such as: this is where we should be as UT in 2030. Above all, you have to create resilience and a certain adaptivity. This also means that there must be much more harmonisation in all kinds of processes. It is important that you know from each other that you are talking about the same thing. You can't be adaptive if you do everything differently everywhere.'

'As an organisation, you have to ask yourself where your own culture helps and where it is a barrier'

Is the UT to blame for how it ended up in this situation?

'Could it have been done differently? Sure. Should the change have been initiated more quickly? Undoubtedly. When I worked at NS for a while, an employee once said: 'All our trains could run perfectly on time, if those passengers were not there'. What I mean by that is that it does not come down so much to a strategy or structure of the organisation, but to the culture. Culture eats strategy for breakfast. It's always easier to say afterwards that someone should have handled it differently. But it doesn't help you and it's not my place to say anything about it.'

‘As an organisation, you have to ask yourself where your own culture helps and where it is a barrier. That culture is not top-down here like in a company, where a CEO says: this is how we are going to do it. One of the fascinating aspects of a university is the urge for autonomy. That is one of the strengths, but also one of the barriers. The question then is: how can we influence that culture so that it works to everyone's advantage? Then it's about things like taking your own responsibility, speaking out, holding each other accountable and sticking to agreements.'

You have quite a bit of experience as a manager, director and supervisor. What of that experience can you translate to the UT?

'It's not like that when I leave, people can see: this is where Karin Bax has been. Every organisation is one in itself, so I try to look at the UT as openly as possible and with as little bias as possible. In the end, change is mainly about people. It is not just thinking, but above all doing. Chop chop, let's get to work.'

There are interim managers who say they want to make themselves redundant as soon as possible. When would this job be successful for you?

'I definitely have to become redundant. I think you shouldn't have someone like me here for very long. At the same time: this process that the UT is going through is far from finished. First of all, I want to help ensure that this university gets moving. But you shouldn't get stuck in that movement. As long as we know where we are going and that people within the organisation have confidence that we will succeed.'