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Visio shapes a new strategy with a team of employees

Royal Dutch Visio, a center of expertise and market leader in care and education for blind and visually impaired people, asked Gupta to support them in developing a new strategic direction. Instead of following the standard consultancy process, Visio opted for an approach where a team of their employees helped shape the new strategy.



  • Healthcare providers
  • Strategy
  • Learning and development

Under the guidance of Gupta consultants, a strategy team of eight employees with different skills, backgrounds and areas of expertise got to work developing three possible strategic directions. The team worked together intensively twice a week for three months.

Focusing on the target audience

Visio’s target audience, people with visual impairments, was the starting point for the team’s research. What are their defining characteristics? What are their needs? And to what extent are those needs being addressed by Visio’s current offering? The team completed qualitative and quantitative analyses, spoke to colleagues within the organization, and developed personas to represent their target audience. They also identified external trends, for example by talking to customers, referring doctors and partner organizations. As their final product, the team delivered three strategic directions which offered different approaches to fulling the company’s mission to “Make participation possible for people with visual impairments”.

Broadly supported strategic decision

When making their decision about the strategic direction, Visio didn’t leave anything to chance – they involved customers, colleagues, advisory bodies and partners to help them make the best possible choice. To enable meaningful discussions with all these parties, Gupta produced a variety of communication materials, including a strategy newsletter, strategy video and strategy guide. And during a number of strategy evenings, more than 400 employees came together to think about the future of Visio. As a result, the Board of Directors had all the necessary input to make the best decision about Visio’s future for their customers, employees and partners.

Visio Afbeelding Astrid Stijfs

Astrid Stijfs’ experience

Member, Visio strategy team

The personas really brought the strategies to life”

“'Which direction should Visio go to provide its customers with the best possible support in order to keep participating in a rapidly changing society?' That was the main question during our strategy process. The team tackling this question was a good reflection of Visio’s various employees. It was enjoyable and informative to see how quickly you can achieve results by collaborating with people from different disciplines. We were able to successfully grasp and work on the issues in this group.

For us, as a group of professionals, our pitfall getting too caught up in the details. Is this really 100% accurate?! But Gupta challenged us to zoom out on all the information using qualitative and quantitative analyses. Together, we arrived at three different strategic directions. In addition, we developed personas to represent people who are visually impaired. The personas really brought the strategies to life. That helped us start discussions with employees throughout the organization about the strategies and their significance for our customers. Ultimately, we chose one strategy to focus on.”

Img Roxanne Busschers

Roxanne Busschers’ experience

It was great to see how much positive energy this project brought to the organization”

“I found it incredibly inspiring to work with a team of professionals who have an in-depth understanding of the target audience and organization. As a result, I got to know a new sector in a short amount in time and really started to feel like I was part of the Visio team.

The members of the strategy team took the leading role in shaping the strategic directions. During this process, they brought together extensive knowledge and experience from the entire organization. We supported them with tools and examples, provided insight and inspiration, offered structure, and organized and facilitated the workshops. This division of responsibilities resulted in well-thought-out and broadly supported strategic directions.

It was great to see how much positive energy this project brought to the organization. At every workshop, I was surprised by how early the strategy team members from all over the country arrived. During these sessions, everyone stepped away from their regular daily activities. And the work of the strategy team was positively received by the rest of the organization. The number of registrations for the employee meetings was extremely high, and the discussions were lively and useful.”

more about Roxanne

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