Christelijke College Groevenbeek

Improved internal communication for Christelijk College Groevenbeek

To connect all departments and groups within the organisation and improve internal communication, a digital workplace was needed.

3 min read | case study

Challenge

Communication at Groevenbeek occurred across various channels, making it difficult for staff to locate important information.

Solution

The new digital workplace was introduced, providing a central platform for communication and application access.

Result

Staff now quickly find important updates through the Hub, improving engagement and reducing information overload.

Christelijk College Groevenbeek is a school with all learning pathways: from vmbo basis with learning pathway support to bilingual vwo and has two locations, in Ermelo and Putten. The school deals with different target groups, such as staff, teachers and pupils. To connect all departments and groups within the organisation and improve internal communication, a digital workplace was needed.

In this reference case, you can read more about Christelijk College Groevenbeek’s challenges and how the new digital workplace helped to improve internal communication and connect employees.

Start of the search

Communication within Christelijk College Groevenbeek went through various channels, making information difficult for staff to find. Mail is the most important channel of communication within Christelijk College Groevenbeek. A weekly newsletter with lots of news was sent by mail. This newsletter contained so much information that it was not always well read and staff missed important information. Besides this communication problem, there was also a desire to have all applications in one digital workplace, which could be opened via Single Sign-On.

Digital workplace implementation

Workspace 365 was launched in May 2022 and the digital workplace was implemented right away in the new school year. Before the digital workplace was introduced to employees, the workplace was tested several times among the project group, which consisted of the PR & Communication and ICT team.

On the first day of the new school year, the new digital workplace was introduced to all employees through a presentation by the Chairman of the Executive Board.

The workplace was shown, making it immediately clear to everyone what they were going to work with and exactly what the digital workplace looked like. Posters were also hung in the school to communicate that all news is now communicated through the Hub in the digital workplace.

“It was mainly in the power of repetition, letting people know every time that it is in the Hub, to send people back to the digital workplace.”
- Laura Sint Nicolaas.

Improved internal communication

To find information faster and improve collaboration between staff, one of the key features is the Hub for Christelijk College Groevenbeek. The Hub is central within the school as a communication tool for important news.

With a maximum of three messages per day, the tile stays clear and important announcements, such as birth news, vacancies and school activities, are shared quickly and efficiently with all staff members. With the new feature of events within the Hub, the school will soon also start using The Hub for internal events.

All applications in one central location

Christelijk College Groevenbeek uses various applications, an important one being Zermelo. With Zermelo’s integration, employees’ schedules are displayed directly in the digital workplace.

Besides this integration, employees receive notifications from other applications when a task is due or a task is pending. The tile of most used documents and the shortcut to Magister are also widely used within the school. By using these features, processes are optimised and staff can work more efficiently.

“If I had to describe Workspace 365 in one word it would be: complete. You have everything you need for your work in one overview.” - Laura Sint Nicolaas.

A modern digital workplace with many future prospects

The use of the digital workplace is being increasingly embraced by staff at Christelijk College Groevenbeek. In particular, the Global Search function is being used more and more often by employees.

“The nice thing is that employees are exploring the possibilities of the digital workplace more and more and are able to work more efficiently as a result.” - Laura Sint Nicolaas.

In addition, colleagues are coming up with new ideas for the digital workplace, which will only improve the innovation and development of the digital workplace in the future and make it even more responsive to employees’ needs.

Next steps

The digital workplace has been implemented among staff since the beginning of the school year in 2022 and will also be rolled out among students in 2023. With the new integration with Magister, students have instant access to their grades and timetable, and can quickly access the latest school news. By also rolling out the digital workplace among students, students will be able to find their information faster and collaborate more efficiently.

Tips from Groevenbeek Christelijk College

As advice, Laura Sint Nicolaas suggests not to be reluctant to change when rolling out a new digital workplace. It is important to include employees in the current problems and challenges within the organisation and to explain why the new digital workplace will add value.

“By continuously involving employees in the process, they will embrace the new digital workplace faster and better understand how the digital workplace simplifies their work.” - Laura Sint Nicolaas.

With Workspace 365, Christelijk College Groevenbeek has brought all communications and applications together in one central location, simplifying finding and sharing information and improving staff collaboration.

What is Workspace 365?

Workspace 365 isn’t just a platform – it simplifies the IT landscape. Helping you and your team to unlock the ultimate digital work focus, so you can concentrate on high-value tasks that truly make an impact.

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