Higher Education
Uniting a university behind one plan
World-renowned university
PQ helped a world-renowned university replace fragmented, disconnected planning with a single shared rhythm, working with over 300 staff to turn institutional ambition into coordinated delivery.
300
Motivated team members
25
Unified leaders
1
Planning framework
The challenge
A lot of effort, little clarity
Every year, departments poured time into planning, yet teams chased different versions of ‘important’, plans didn't align, and progress was hard to track or explain.
It wasn't a lack of ambition. It was friction: too many systems, too little connection, and no shared rhythm for execution.
What we did
A single language and a shared rhythm
Working alongside divisional leaders, we co-designed a planning approach people could actually use and trust.
Connected strategy to delivery: linked the strategy cycle with quarterly planning so priorities reached the teams doing the work.
A common, plain-English language: objectives and key results everyone could understand, on one simple digital platform.
Brought people together: ‘Big Room’ sessions that moved planning from spreadsheets to discussion, sustained by a network of champions.
The outcome
Unified strategy, people and plans
Within months, divisions shifted from parallel effort to collective progress.
Teams set the right goals for the right reasons, everyone's work connected clearly to strategy, leaders could see what was moving and what was stuck, and delivery became deliberate.