University collaboration has the power to boost UK innovation, as University of Cambridge vice-chancellor Deborah Prentice and University of Manchester president and v-c Duncan Ivison wrote in Times Higher Education in July. Their urgent call to build on existing assets strongly resonates.
But innovation doesn’t only come from alliances or strategy documents. Some of the most impactful changes can begin with individual staff members who identify unmet needs, start conversations and build solutions from the ground up, with little or no additional funding. Untapped potential lies in the personal leadership of staff who take the initiative and quietly build something that matters.
As our sector faces unprecedented financial pressures, a grassroots approach can create value, strengthen external business partnerships and set institutions apart.
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Through my role developing such partnerships at Warwick, I’ve seen how individual initiatives can grow from informal conversations into strategic assets that deliver measurable impact. My Executive Education project with Warwick Business School explored how seemingly simple ideas – such as a podcast series and a women’s leadership network – can create value from existing resources and frameworks. What emerged is a practical model for how university staff can drive innovation without waiting for formal approval or dedicated budgets. It complements traditional processes rather than replacing them, while enabling the kind of grassroots innovation universities need when core funding resources are constrained.
From conversations and experiments to engagement and networks
Both the podcast series and the leadership network bridged a gap between ideas, the university’s existing resources and an identified need.
The Women Leaders: Tales, Trails and Truths series was born when a new studio on campus created an opportunity to produce a podcast. Having a colleague on the business partnership team with production skills meant we could make professional-quality content without external costs. What began as a creative experiment focused on something I cared about and where there was a gap: honest conversations with senior women leaders. In under a year, the podcast drew thousands of views, drove channel engagement and has directly led to partnership opportunities and programme development.
The network started with a question to senior women across business, healthcare and public sectors: what would be meaningful to you? Instead of launching a leadership group and hoping people would join, we asked them what they wanted. They asked for substance over socialising, with an emphasis on genuine and cross-sector connections. That insight shaped a diverse community without a large budget. It doubled in size, attracted external hosts and funders, brought partners to campus for strategic conversations and fostered new relationships.
Neither initiative relied on central funding. They aligned with institutional strategy, evolved through feedback and proved their worth through outcomes rather than promises. While these examples are institution-specific, the challenges are universal: how do we stay relevant and create impact with fewer resources?
A five-stage model to drive innovation and impact
The framework that emerged from my research provides a practical model for university staff to create impact and drive innovation. It draws on established leadership theory but translates into steps any individual can follow in most contexts.
1. Listen: Begin with informal conversations to understand what your stakeholders need. When considering how to create a meaningful women’s leadership network, I spent time having chats with diverse senior women to find out what they truly wanted: a trusted space for dialogue and substance rather than superficial networking. This listening phase revealed gaps between what traditional networking groups offered and what these leaders valued, and it prevented our building something no one wanted.
2. Pilot: Start small to test ideas. One podcast episode. One informal lunch. Let your initiatives evolve naturally rather than launching fully formed programmes.
3. Align: Build traction by connecting your personal interests and values with broader institutional priorities. My passion for connecting with people, building relationships and amplifying women’s journeys created a natural alignment. The key is to find where your personal energy fits with what your institution cares about. It makes it easier to keep doing the work and show strategic value.
4. Measure: Track hard metrics (views, attendance, engagement, costs) and soft outcomes (relationship development, partnership opportunities, strategic conversations).
5. Embed: Secure long-term viability through working groups and senior participation, not just approval. Working groups create multiple champions so initiatives don’t collapse when a key person leaves. Getting leaders to actively engage (by attending, speaking or contributing) creates stronger buy-in than simply receiving permission.
Getting started: what you can do tomorrow
You probably already have what you need to start. We had a studio and a colleague able to produce and edit in-house, which led to the podcast. You might have a meeting space that could host informal gatherings, research expertise that could inform content creation or community links that could become partnership opportunities. Identify assets and consider how they could serve unmet needs.
For small initiatives such as informal lunches or conversation series, it is likely, depending on your institution, that you could operate within discretionary authority. As initiatives demonstrate impact, you can use early evidence to build cases for formal support.
Patience is key. Trust and momentum take time. Expect six to 12 months before you see clear results. Look for early signals: people returning, promoting your work or offering help.
Strategic innovation doesn’t always begin with alliances, budgets or board meetings. Sometimes, it starts with one conversation and a willingness to act. The untapped potential often lies in the personal leadership of staff who spot opportunities and align them with institutional values. Done well, these grassroots efforts can become genuine strategic differentiators.
So, what conversation could you start today?
Penny Triantafillou is associate director of Warwick Business Partnerships in the Warwick Innovation District at the University of Warwick.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the official position of her institution.
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