Effectively steering the strategic agenda

A vocational education institution (MBO) wanted to significantly improve the quality of its education. The organisation was strongly focused on day-to-day operations and had a poor track record of achieving lasting strategic improvements. Bright & Company was asked to support the Executive Board and the education and support services directors in steering the implementation of the strategic agenda. The central question was: how can we ensure that the strategic agenda does not simply remain a plan on paper, but genuinely guides decisions, collaboration and actions?

During a series of working sessions with the education and support services directors and the Executive Board, we defined the strategic objectives for the coming years. Other groups within the organisation were also actively involved. Discussions were held with middle management, the Student Council and the Works Council. This ultimately resulted in a strategic direction document that enjoyed broad support and generated considerable enthusiasm and energy.

Successfully implementing this strategic direction proved to be primarily a challenge of leadership and management. Together with the leadership team, we therefore identified effective and ineffective patterns and openly addressed issues that often remained unspoken. We then worked intensively with the team to break ineffective patterns of collaboration, reshape leadership approaches and build on existing strengths.

Collaboration within the leadership team has improved significantly. Alongside managing day-to-day operations, the team now actively steers the implementation of the strategic improvement agenda. The first results are already visible: educational outcomes are showing an upward trend.