How Nous helped a university strategise during the pandemic
International consultancy Nous Group has helped a UK university to build a long-term strategy, in spite of the challenges presented by the global pandemic. The firm moved workshops and discussions with the senior leaders of Coventry University online during the Covid-19 lockdown, before producing a report which is now being used as a base for the institution’s rearticulated 2030 values.
Working in the UK, Canada and Australia, Nous Group supports education, health, government and social care sectors to ensure a better future. The firm offers a broad consulting capability that helps client to solve the most complex strategic challenges facing them, with Nous partnering with them through transformational change.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, experts from Nous Group worked with Coventry University on maintaining its operations remotely and digitally. The firm was already helping the university develop an ambitious 2030 strategy before the pandemic hit.
UK based Coventry University Group includes campuses and initiatives across the globe. To inform the group’s new long-term strategy, Coventry University had engaged Nous to rearticulate its university values, report on higher education trends and facilitate a strategy away-day with the board of governors and leadership team.
To help achieve this, Nous undertook three major activities. The firm looked to research trends in education; including compiling international case studies, identifying future scenarios for education; as well as planning a full in-person day of workshops and discussion with the board of governors and senior leaders; and finally designing a 400-employee survey and workshops to assess Coventry’s current culture and rearticulated values.
Unfortunately, Covid-19 disrupted these activities by preventing in-person engagement – but Nous was quick to help the institution adapt. The consultancy swiftly redesigned its planned culture workshops so that they could be facilitated virtually and remain interactive – and furthermore, while they were able to engage staff in the UK they also did so for staff in Singapore.
From this engagement, Nous developed a raft of proposed values which were mapped across current trends, future trends and potential opportunities, illustrating how they would enable Coventry University to adapt quickly and thrive.
Speaking on the work of the firm, Clive Winters, Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Group Strategy at Coventry University, said, “Nous was highly professional and engaging in its approach, responding to new ways of working as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and ensuring that we met the development timelines for our 2030 strategy.”
The values showcased by Nous in the firm’s report are now being used as the foundation for Coventry University’s rearticulated 2030 values. According to a statement from the firm, this ultimately underlines the fact that “virtual engagements can provide outputs that are just as useful as those from in-person workshops.”
Among other service lines, Nous Group advises education organisations on their sustainability and environmental impact, models of regulation for the future economy, and digitally transforming service delivery.
