Getting started with Connected for Impact in your team

As a manager, how do you ensure that our strategic ambitions do not get lost in lengthy Excel spreadsheets, but instead provide the energy to drive improvements? Yvette Akkermans, Head of Consultancy & Projects within the Campus & Facilities division, sees it as her duty to make ‘Connected for Impact’ a tangible reality for employees. ‘See which aspects of the strategy make their eyes light up.’

For Yvette, strategy is not a document that gets filed away in a drawer, but a way of working. In her role as Head of Consultancy & Projects, she leads a team of 22 staff members. Her departments primarily support Radboud University’s property organisation. Her responsibilities include project managers who oversee property and maintenance projects, as well as technical advisers for systems such as the thermal energy storage system.

‘Our university faces a challenge,’ explains Yvette. ‘We need to carry out our work more effectively and efficiently to ensure organisational continuity. This is in line with the strategic ambition to be an agile and resilient organisation. Drawing on my background at the Hotel School, with a Lean philosophy that includes value-driven working, I constantly ask myself: what are the needs of our target group and how do we add value to them?’

Within Campus & Facilities, this way of thinking has led to the introduction of value chains. ‘Do we do the work because we’ve always done it that way, or because it adds value? We want to better understand what students and staff need and tailor our services accordingly. In doing so, we actively seek to engage with campus users. Through consultations with, for example, the Accessibility Working Group, the Biodiversity Working Group, accommodation services and account management, we find out what needs exist. This enables us to better align our work with real-world practice.’

The power of communities

Yvette is particularly proud of the open culture of improvement within her departments. ‘We’ve set up a FLOW team: staff members who take on suggestions for improvement and work with colleagues to find solutions. In addition, we’ve recently launched the Process Management Community, where we share knowledge and learn from one another to drive continuous improvement. I’m a firm believer in communities. This keeps us closer to real-world practice and enables us to do our work better.’

She also experiences this freedom to take such initiatives herself. ‘I’m glad that, within Campus & Facilities, our director and my fellow management team members give me the freedom to put ideas into practice. That makes it possible to actually implement changes.’

Thinking more broadly

She sees the ‘Connected for Impact’ strategy reflected in her work every day. ‘As Campus & Facilities, we are the driving force behind the ambition to be a Connecting Community; for the other ambitions, we actively support or follow. For example, we’re working with student accommodation provider SSH& on the development of new student accommodation on campus.’

‘But we can also contribute by considering what a student will need in the future to make an impact,’ Yvette continues. ‘For example, by staying healthy. We can play a role in this through Radboud Sports & Culture. So we’re always looking at what Campus & Facilities can contribute to the strategic ambitions. Take the Food & Beverage department and the development of the ‘Broodje Nimma’ – where, with sustainability in mind, we explored how to develop a plant-based sandwich using local suppliers. It’s therefore important to think beyond the confines of your job description and to challenge one another in that regard.’

For Yvette, the greatest added value lies in involving staff in change. ‘When colleagues tell me that their horizons have broadened and that they feel they’re allowed to suggest that things can be done differently, I think: this is what we’re doing it for. I love it when people are empowered to do what drives them. That ensures they go that extra mile.’

As a manager, Yvette herself contributes primarily to the ambition of being an agile and resilient organisation. ‘For me, that starts with people. Staff need to feel that things don’t just happen to them, but that they can play an active role as well. Resilience is incredibly important in this regard. The strategy gives meaning to our work and helps us to focus. Every link in the chain within our organisation is important. ’
At the same time, she warns against making the strategy too complicated. ‘Perhaps the “how?” of the strategy has sometimes been developed in a rather consultancy-style manner. Try to look beyond that and focus on the intention. The strategy actually offers scope to interpret for yourselves what is actually possible.’

Comprehensive need

Looking ahead to the coming years, Yvette sees plenty of opportunities to make a greater impact, particularly by strengthening collaboration within the organisation. ‘Students and staff don’t think in terms of pillars or departments. They simply want to be helped. That’s why I hope we can break down the barriers between the pillars more often and organise our operations holistically, based on the user’s needs. That way, we’ll achieve greater impact together.’

In her eyes, this presents a key challenge for managers. ‘We must ensure that the strategy doesn’t remain a distant concept for staff, consisting of endless Excel spreadsheets. Identify which elements genuinely align with your team’s work. What makes their eyes light up? Focus on precisely those topics and discover together where you’re already making a contribution and where you can make an even greater impact.’
Her key advice to fellow managers? ‘Don’t treat the strategy as something separate from your day-to-day work; instead, make it part of the way we work – then it will be embraced naturally. And remember: nothing is certain except change.’