Leadership Interviews surface FST successes and concerns

As of September 1, almost 90% of UVA's leadership has been interviewed regarding their thoughts so far on the FST project.  As a part of the conversations, leaders were asked to identify success themes and potential roadblocks to watch for.   

We've assembled a snapshot of their thoughts below; read on and see how their viewpoint compares to yours!

Success Themes

• Chart of Accounts:  The new chart provides an opportunity for agility, improved processes, and outcomes.  It's important to have the right people providing insight and input. 
• Governance/Leadership:  We should continue to have senior leadership support for FST and transparency around decision-making.
• Change Management/Communication: Their outlook was generally favorable on efforts to date, but they stress that it will be critical to continue to reach out to schools and units with needed information and for FST to have a presence at standing meetings. 
• Reporting and Dashboards:  Respondents value the effort to provide meaningful data reporting that enables the staff to focus on forecasting and insights instead of data entry, and enables leaders to make data-driven decisions.
• Post-Go-Live Support:  The group stressed the need for a clear understanding on where to go for information and help post go live.  A key success factor here will be collaboration between IT, HR, and Finance. 

Potential Roadblocks

• Decentralization at UVA/Differences in Processes:  The decentralized nature of UVA is both a strength and a challenge.  FST will need to think about where it makes sense to standardize processes, and where it does not. 
• Competing Priorities/COVID-19:  Staff and leadership have a split focus due mainly to uncertainty and changes stemming from the pandemic.
• Interdependencies/Collaboration:  It's important that we realize where units and schools are interdependent, and determine how they can best collaborate so their needs are met. 

Have a thought or concern about FST you'd like to share?  Email us at financetransformation@virginia.edu!