From workarounds to working together
How one university turned complexity into coherence, by redesigning professional services to…
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Story
From quality control to quality collaboration
How a legacy function reclaimed its future by shifting structure, mindset and muscle.
The Challenge
The Quality function at a European healthcare site had a long track record: technically brilliant, fiercely compliant and deeply trusted. But the world had moved on.
The system was straining under complexity. Decisions were siloed. Change felt threatening. Stakeholders, internal and external, were losing patience. The function wasn’t broken. But it was stuck.
With our help leadership made a bold call: don’t patch the problems. Reimagine the role of Quality itself.
What we found
Our diagnosis took a human and systemic lens. Structure. Strategy. Leadership dynamics. Cultural cues. The underlying story?
- Deep expertise, but fragmented teams
- Long tenure, but change fatigue
- Stability, but perfectionism, with a fear of getting it wrong
- Commitment, but confusion over roles, goals, and priorities
This wasn’t a capability gap. It was an identity crisis.
What we did
We focused on four “no regret moves”: shifts no one would look back on and question.
- Structural Simplification A clear Target Operating Model split “run” from “change,” clarified reporting lines and sharpened accountability.
- Stakeholder Engagement A new governance model created joint planning forums, clearer service expectations and real feedback loops.
- Leadership Renewal We moved from managing operations to leading adaptively, with targeted support for leaders to grow into that shift.
- Talent & Capability We unlocked agility through smarter resourcing, cross-training and a digital upskilling push, plus a more intentional talent pipeline.
Throughout, we worked shoulder to shoulder with internal change agents, people who believed that the function could be more than a gatekeeper. It could be a guide.
The shift
The result wasn’t just a new structure, it was a new story. One where Quality was no longer the department of “no”, but a strategic partner saying “yes, and here’s how.”
Compliance remained non negotiable. But collaboration? That became the new standard.
"Futurus helped us see ourselves clearly, both our strengths and our blind spots. Their approach gave us not just recommendations, but belief. We now have a clear path to a more modern, more agile organisation, and the confidence to walk it."
Quality Leader
