Stephen Yorkstone
stephen yorkstone

Mr Stephen Yorkstone MA(Hons) FRSA FICiPS MAC SFHEA

   

Biography

Steve enables continuous improvement in Edinburgh Napier University, where he works as an internal consultant. In his role he facilitates and runs interventions, from "process reviews" to more tailored workshops; and delivers support and advice informally and formally in terms of consultancy, coaching and training.

He is recognised as an expert on facilitation and has developed, in partnership with Svein Are Tjeltnes at UiT the Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø, a model for facilitation and associated training.

In 2016 he authored "Lean Universities" in the Shingo Prize Winning 'Routledge Companion to Lean Management'. He edited the book 'Global Lean for Higher Education: A Themed Anthology of Case Studies, Approaches, and Tools' published 2019.

Externally to the University he chairs Lean HE, the international organisation for continuous improvement in universities (see: www.leanhe.org ) and coaches senior leaders in facilitation and change. He sits as Secretary on the Board of the International Association of Facilitators (see: www.iaf-world.org ).

In previous roles he has worked with a number of Universities, including establishing the 'Lean team' in the University of St Andrews where he co-designed the Lean 'St Andrews Model' and established their internationally successful consultancy service.

Esteem

Conference Organising Activity

  • Organiser: Lean HE Global Festival 2020
  • International Programme Committee: European Lean Educator Conference 2019
  • Team Member: KATACON Europe 2018
  • Programme Committee: European Lean Educator Conference 2018
  • Conference Chair: The LMJ OpEx Conference "Achieving Operational Excellence" 2016
  • Conference Chair: 6th Annual LMJ European Conference, 2015
  • Programme Committee: Second International Conference on Lean Six Sigma in Higher Education 2014
  • Conference Chair: Lean Thinking in Universities 2010

 

Editorial Activity

  • Editorial Board Member: The LMJ - thought leadership for process improvement 2014 - 2018

 

Fellowships and Awards

  • Senior Fellow: Higher Education Academy
  • Fellow: The Institute of Continuous Improvement in Public Services
  • Fellow: The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts Manufactures and Commerce

 

Invited Speaker

  • Process PalooozAI 2024: Moderator
  • Lean Global Connection 2023 "The value that Higher Education can provide"
  • Lean Global Connection 2022 "Tackling Academic Overburden with Simple Lean Tools"
  • Lean HE International Conference 2022 Panel Chair "People leading people leading lean in Higher Education"
  • Lean HE Poland Online Conference 2022 "Leading Lean Without a Team"
  • Wessex Higher Education Transformation Palooza - weaving lean, process excellence & sustainability, "Introducing and Embedding Lean in a UK University"
  • British Army LGBT Conference 2021 - Leadership: The power of visibility "Confidence"
  • European Lean Educator Conference 2021, Panel Chair: "Digital Lean Hotspots in the Educational Ecosystem"
  • Finnish Universities Quality Network 2019
  • EUROMA 2017: Parallel Session Chair
  • Committee of University Chairs Autumn Plenary 2016
  • Lean Forum Konferens 2012

 

Membership of Professional Body

  • Member: International Association of Facilitators
  • Member: Association for Coaching

 

Non-executive Directorship

  • Secretary: International Association of Facilitators

 

Date


17 results

Picturing a Programme: The Business School Graduate Apprenticeship Journey

Presentation / Conference
Yorkstone, S., Fonseca, D. A. P., & Harte, P. (2022, June)
Picturing a Programme: The Business School Graduate Apprenticeship Journey. Poster presented at DLTE, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh
Can we explain our Business School’s Graduate Apprenticeship Programme visually? This poster shows our work to that end. Ana Paula Fonseca (Programme Leader), Patrick Harte (S...

Case study 10: Facilitating education leadership: Building and sharing an understanding amongst the programme team

Book Chapter
Malone, E., & Yorkstone, S. (2022)
Case study 10: Facilitating education leadership: Building and sharing an understanding amongst the programme team. In J. Lawrence, S. Morón-García, & R. Senior (Eds.), Supporting Course and Programme Leaders in Higher Education: Practical Wisdom for Leaders, Educational Developers and Programme Leaders (191-194). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003127413-37
This case study describes the process of building a programme roadmap to enable a shared understanding and sense of ownership with the various tasks involved in the management...

Enhancing Programme Management to enable Programme Leadership: A Roadmap for Programmes

Presentation / Conference
Yorkstone, S., & Malone, E. (2021, June)
Enhancing Programme Management to enable Programme Leadership: A Roadmap for Programmes. Paper presented at Horizons in STEM Higher Education Conference: Making Connections, Innovating and Sharing Pedagogy, Online

Lean as a Framework for Humanisation in Higher Education

Book Chapter
Yorkstone, S., Clarke, S., & Mann, J. (2020)
Lean as a Framework for Humanisation in Higher Education. In C. Devis-Rozental, & S. Clarke (Eds.), Humanising Higher Education: A positive approach to enhancing wellbeing (221-241). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57430-7_13
Lean management is a compelling concept, with a significant history, and although not always described as lean in name, is having an impact in Universities worldwide. Central ...

Lean and green in a Scottish university

Digital Artefact
Pearson, J., & Yorkstone, S. (2020)
Lean and green in a Scottish university. [https://planet-lean.com/lean-green-university/]
Why do lean and green go hand in hand? In the experience of this university in Edinburgh, they are both about respecting people and thinking holistically.

Growing a Lean Approach in a Changing University

Book Chapter
Hurley, B., & Yorkstone, S. (2019)
Growing a Lean Approach in a Changing University. In Global Lean for Higher Education: A Themed Anthology of Case Studies, Approaches, and ToolsNew York: Productivity Press
Edinburgh Napier University was a relatively early adopter of lean-type improvement in the United Kingdom Higher Education sector. The avoidance of the term “lean” was intende...

Global Lean for Higher Education: A Themed Anthology of Case Studies, Approaches, and Tools

Book
Yorkstone, S. (2019)
Global Lean for Higher Education: A Themed Anthology of Case Studies, Approaches, and Tools. (1). CRC Press (Taylor and Francis Group
This book collects a series of investigations that reflect the state-of-the-art in the global practical application of Lean for Higher Education (HE). The contributions introd...

LEGO Café: Let’s Build a Learning Community

Presentation / Conference
Ennis, L., & Yorkstone, S. (2019, June)
LEGO Café: Let’s Build a Learning Community. Presented at Learning and Teaching Conference, Edinburgh
Trying something new can be scary. Often it helps to float ideas with friendly colleagues before taking the leap and branching out. We created our monthly LEGO Café as a space...

Building a playful community of practice: Brick by brick

Journal Article
Garden, C., Ennis, L., & Yorkstone, S. (2018)
Building a playful community of practice: Brick by brick. Edinburgh Napier Teaching Fellows Journal,
No abstract available.

Navigating The Labyrinth: A best practice guide for facilitating change

Report
Tjeldnes, S. A., & Yorkstone, S. (2018)
Navigating The Labyrinth: A best practice guide for facilitating change. Edinburgh/ Tromsø, Norway: Edinburgh Napier University
Facilitation skills have been identified as key to successful improvement initiatives in Higher Education. Why is this? What makes for good facilitation? Are there models of f...