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how institutions might assist them to do this. For instance, despite the fact that
individuals working in third space were characterised by strong lateral relationships
and networks, they appeared to find hierarchical relationships, and line-management
responsibility for their own staff, more challenging. While there was emphasis on
enabling their staff to operate as autonomous professionals, there was less confidence
about occasions when staff might need to be given a steer in a particular direction.
This suggests that it may be appropriate for individuals who spend time on project-
oriented activity to consider how they might also gain mainstream line-management
experience, and also budgetary responsibility, especially if they wish to achieve a
post at top management level. Thus, different approaches may be required at different
stages of a career.
While management and/or higher-level qualifications were seen as an increasingly
significant element in career development, bespoke opportunities that were timely
and appropriate, such as secondments, mentoring and study leave, tended to be
favoured over formal programmes that did not lead to a qualification. While the
majority of respondents preferred programmes that also included academic
colleagues, it appeared that this could lead to difficulties if there were too much
variation in levels of seniority and experience between the individual members of a
group, for instance between middle level professional managers and senior academic
managers. Issues arise, therefore, about how such opportunities might be integrated
with formal programmes, how professional staff development relates to the
opportunities available for academic staff, and about ways in which the two might be
integrated.
Implications for institutions
Although organisational restructuring is likely to remain a feature of institutional life,
the study suggests that this might be usefully informed by consideration of the nature
of boundaries, and the way that individuals operate around them, particularly when
they are being reconfigured or functions relocated. While bounded approaches to
institutional activity are likely to continue to be required to maintain processes and
systems, to safeguard academic and regulatory standards, and to ensure
organisational continuity, it may also be helpful for institutions to consider how these
might be balanced with less bounded approaches. Senior institutional managers may
wish, therefore, in reviewing recruitment policies and the construction of job
descriptions, to consider the balance of professional staff that is appropriate for their
particular mission and direction. Discussion about the shape of the professional
workforce might include, for instance, whether more project-oriented individuals
might assist in stimulating new thinking and ways of working, bearing in mind that
too many such people could be a liability if, for instance, they did not attach
sufficient priority to audit requirements or time deadlines. There are also issues about
when and how third space activity might be mainstreamed, in order to make way for
new projects that come along. It may be helpful, therefore, for senior managers to
maintain an overview of:
• how those characterised as bounded professionals might obtain experience of
less prescribed ways of working and also how other forms of professional
might obtain mainstream experience;