Strategic partnership with leading housing association: Livv Housing
- Cube Thinking team
Results summarised
- Engaged workforce
- Contact centre optimisation
- Excelled collaboration & teamwork
- Ongoing support for team & leaders
- Improved project management & data analysis
Livv Housing Group is a not-for-profit housing organisation and more.
Providing and maintaining over 13,000 homes across Liverpool City Region and the North West, plus apprenticeships, training, health and local projects to build flourishing communities.
The challenges
Livv Housing Group faced a period of operational challenges and sought to regain control of their processes in a way that balanced performance with empowerment for their teams.
Jason Kingston from Cube Thinking, an expert in business improvement and coaching, had previously worked with Livv Housing, and his expertise was enlisted once again.
The key challenges:
- Gaps in collaboration between departments, especially Business Intelligence, IT, and Learning & Development (L&D), leading to siloed efforts.
- The contact centre required a fresh, independent review to understand call handling, statistics, and setup, alongside actionable improvements.
- Upskilling team members in process mapping, value streams, and coaching business analysts (BAs) to become self-reliant powerhouses.
- A need to enhance project management methodologies, particularly around IT-based outputs. While the project team’s methods were functioning, they lacked cohesion with overarching business needs.
Cube Thinking adopted a comprehensive approach to address Livv Housing Group’s challenges.
Jason Kingston, Director and Business Analyst Lead at Cube Thinking reviewed process mapping and value stream methodologies to uncover inefficiencies and identify opportunities for improvement. This included the shaping of the Customer Journey Mapping approach and elements of the Amazon ‘Working Backwards’ methodology.
Working with the Business Improvement Team Jason developed the BA’s confidence and toolkit usage.
On a mission to enhance Livv Housing’s contact centre, Jason provided independent insights into the contact centre’s operations, developing a clear action plan and outlining steps for optimisation.
Recommendations included a Hub and Spoke model, omnichannel optimisation and business partnering with internal functions to drive forward a ‘Right First Time’ approach.
To enhance project management, Cube Thinking fostered collaboration between Business Intelligence, IT, and L&D teams to ensure their contributions were integrated into projects rather than treated as isolated functions through workshops with each function and collaborative 2-stage methodology workshops to agree on a common harmonious approach that reduced non-value added activity and increased collaboration.
To further align the crucial people element of organisational change, Jason delivered tailored coaching to business analysts, building their confidence and equipping them with the skills to lead workshops, effectively gather requirements, and play a more significant role in project success.
Jason also supported the new Director of IT in their role through a review of systems architecture and project management, shaping a full and comprehensive systems inventory with reconciliation to data structures.
To ensure ongoing growth, Jason Kingston provides ongoing support as a trusted advisor, enabling team members to bounce ideas off an external perspective and gain clarity on complex issues.
The engagement with Cube Thinking delivered significant improvements across the entire
organisation:
Enhanced Teamwork: Greater collaboration and clarity on roles within projects.
Improved project management: A refined methodology that provided better outcomes,
particularly for IT–driven initiatives.
Contact Centre Optimisation: Clear insights into the current challenges, actionable
steps to address them, and a road map for improvement.
Empowered Teams: Increased capability and confidence among staff, particularly
business analysts, who now lead workshops and contribute at a higher level.
Engaged Workforce: Teams felt more involved in the process, transitioning from feeling
like tasks were “done to them” to being active contributors.
Ongoing Support: The external support provided a critical sounding board for
innovative ideas, ensuring decisions were well–informed and effective.
Through Cube Thinking’s expertise, Livv Housing Group regained control, aligned its teams, and established a culture of collaboration and empowerment, setting a solid foundation for future growth.