Prisma Primary Schools | Strategy Development

Introduction

The Zeeland‑based Prisma school group was tasked with creating a new strategic policy plan, and then supporting the development of a new multi‑year strategy. Various stakeholders chose Visuele Verbinders and Hutspot to help the organization reach a shared vision, mission, and core values, and subsequently assist in developing the new multi‑year strategy—this all with involvement and co‑determination from the entire organization. Using Design Thinking, and in a process where the organization itself took an increasingly active role, we were involved with the school group for nearly an entire school year, ultimately delivering a beautiful, joint result. Read on and explore further!

Process towards the result

We knew the end goal: a visually carried strategic plan. Over the course of a year, we mapped out the steps needed to reach that result using sticky notes. Together with the working group—composed of several school principals, the director, and a quality‑assurance officer—we defined an approach in which we would first prepare the content with the working group, then bring it to the Management Board (in which all principals participate) and provide sufficient handles for them to bring the content and feedback from the various schools back to the working group. In short, a process in which involvement and co‑determination from the entire organization were firmly embedded.

Key characteristics of the trajectory were:

• All staff involved

• Clear and innovative content

• Visual to make things concrete together

• Transparent in process

• A final result that is widely supported

Farmhouse session: laying a broad foundation

Together with the working group, we designed a plan to dream with the Management Board (MB) about the mission, vision, and core values. By inviting everyone to share their dream, we were able to visualize these dreams concretely. This created space to discuss priorities and the “why” of the organization. We sharpened these using clear language, and members of the Management Board even helped draw the core values themselves.

From drawing table to bustling marketplace

We then launched the strategy trajectory with all staff, using the in‑service day at the start of the school year—a perfect opportunity to engage everyone in conversation. With the working group of the in‑service day, we set up a lively marketplace where everyone could contribute input to the mission, vision, and core values through various working methods.

Examples of working methods:

• Quick‑drawing workshops on core values

• Chat corners with strong statements aimed at Prisma’s vision

• A “haunted house” where people could share worries and “ghosts”

• A talk show where the board members conversed with staff

We did not show up with a blank canvas. In preparation for the in‑service day, we used the input from the farmhouse session to create a concept visual for the mission, vision, and core values. This visual formed the basis for the conversations at the marketplace.

Writing the strategic plan with the working group

We used the input from the marketplace during the in‑service day to determine, together with the working group, where the focus of the strategic policy plan should lie. The points we wanted to pick up over the next four years could be grouped into three strategic pillars. After approval by all school principals, we started writing. We used a gradual drawdown of roles and responsibilities: we organized an afternoon with IB officers and school principals to sharpen what we wanted to achieve within each strategic pillar. The working‑group members were divided over themes and acted as “guardians” of those themes, talking to the schools to enrich the themes with content. Of course, we continued to draw visuals, so that we could always link back to the content and move towards a shared image. We facilitated working sessions in which we turned the input into text based on the compiled visuals. We wrote the first draft of the policy‑plan texts, so that afterwards we could hand over responsibility to the working group and ourselves shift more into a reviewing and content‑advising role.

A result to be proud of!

From all the images and texts, we compiled a policy plan in which visuals and text perfectly support each other. But we wanted to go further than a PDF or printed document. We therefore built an interactive website featuring the overview of the four visuals along with descriptive content.

From a landing page, you can click through to the different visual overviews that tell the story of the organization’s “why” on one side, and of the three strategic pillars on the other.

In this interactive environment, you are guided step by step through the various parts of the strategy, so the information is presented in an attractive way for different target groups.

Click here to view the full online environment!

From strategic plan to school plan

Once all strategic pillars were clear for the school group, the work for the teams in the schools began. They already knew the content and had been able to contribute input throughout the process. Now the school teams are taking the lead in translating the strategic pillars into their own objectives. To support this, a Google‑Docs environment was set up in the style of the strategic policy plan, which the teams can work with during this school year.

Passing on the baton

Our role is concluded for now. We remain in contact and involved, and we will also play a part in the midterm evaluation to see how far the school group has come and where extra attention is needed. Thank you, Prisma, for this wonderful collaboration!