With its ground-breaking research, excellent education and innovative partnerships, Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) ranks among the world’s leading universities. On a daily basis about 27,000 people (students, scientists, visitors and employees of the university and companies on site) travel across the university’s campus. Campus and Real Estate (CRE), is responsible for the development, construction, renovation, maintenance and management of the university’s buildings and grounds.
Campus strategy
TU Delft has a campus to be proud of. It is a living lab that is a great place to be, to work and to study. Nevertheless, many buildings are in need of renovation and student numbers have been steadily rising for years. On top of this, the university has to deal with the changing demands of students, researchers, start-ups, teachers, companies and visitors. To ensure a future-proof and affordable campus that accommodates its visitors, CRE developed a new campus strategy in close collaboration with its stakeholders.
Let’s Create
Using the momentum generated by the new campus strategy, CRE took a closer look at their own organisation. To implement the strategy successfully, CRE needed to transform its way of working: connect the CRE departments, engage in a dialogue and create a culture of understanding and support towards employees’ expertise.
To align CRE’s employees with the campus strategy and its consequences, PROOF developed an engaging internal branding programme and creative concept to guide all its communications, which was titled ‘Let’s Create’. Serving as a call to action and invitation to employees to contribute to CRE’s future and way of working.
Dialogue and collaboration
True to the belief that all employees needed to become part of, and drive the transformation, and in line with the ‘Let’s Create’ statement, employees from all levels of the organisation were involved in all the stages of the programme.
From the kick-off event in May 2019 onwards, frontrunners and ambassadors formed specialised teams which focussed on further fleshing out the strategic pillars of the new organisation. Regular CRE-wide events and team-based activities kept employees involved during the process. Best practices (internally shared as ‘Created by Cases’), showed the desired way of working and provided proof points for CRE’s transition.