How to guides

We work closely with social housing providers, supporting leaders in finding effective ways forward. Here are some free resources to help you.

Sharing our knowledge

Our free downloadable guides have been written to help you transform your organisation. From Sprints to strategy, we aim to get you thinking about the changes you can make and how that could be structured or prioritised. We’re adding to this library regularly – just get in touch if there’s a topic you’d like to see us cover!

Key social housing reports digest

Understanding the complexities of the social housing landscape is a formidable challenge. With ever-changing regulations, diverse tenant needs, and a vast array of reports, staying informed is vital.

We’re here to save you hours of reading. We’ve summarised over 200 pages, producing this digest featuring the top themes and priorities from five influential industry reports. Uncover the major themes reshaping the sector, assess stakeholder impacts, and start with our ten-point action plan.

Five reports. One easy-to-navigate, action-oriented digest.

The executive guide to The Marzipan Way

The Marzipan Way is a comprehensive guide to digital excellence, specifically tailored for social housing providers. It’s not just about technology; it’s about transforming how you utilise technology for your tenants and staff, and meet regulatory requirements.

Reboot your transformation

We understand the challenges that come with managing a transformation initiative in the social housing sector. Even the most well-planned programmes can hit roadblocks and stall.

Inside this playbook, you’ll find proven strategies and expert insights to diagnose the root cause of the problem, prepare for recovery, execute the recovery plan, engage stakeholders, and achieve long-term sustainability for your programme.

Knowledge and information guide

Welcome to our knowledge and information guide, your go-to solution for effortless records management. From creation to deletion, our system simplifies handling both manual and electronic records. By following our advice on precise classification, categorisation, and indexing, you can make your records easily retrievable. Plus, advice on developing a unique tracking method ensures you always know where your documents are stored. Download our guide today and master your record-keeping.

Delivering the digital dividend

Our new download helps you demonstrate the benefit of investing in your digital strategy. This in-depth guide examines the key digital elements:

  • Making a business case
  • Reducing user resistance
  • Metrics and benchmarking
  • Digitising processes
  • Increasing automation
  • Encouraging self-service

How to create your digital strategy

From vision to delivery, we’ve divided our executive guide and toolkit into four handy steps to help you to create a digital strategy that works for your organisation.

Pathways to progress

Explore our Pathways to progress guide to learn about the value of our free, unbiased Transformation Health Check. Learn about how our health check can provide an overall assessment of your transformation’s strengths and opportunities for improvement in seven key vital areas. Start your free health assessment by downloading the guide!

 

ICT governance framework

Data quality and governance are consistently listed among the top ten risks and challenges in the regulator’s Social Housing Annual Review. A review of governance downgrades also reveals that the majority of them are associated with poor data management and reporting.

Accordingly, we think it’s crucial for providers of social housing to create and abide by a set of standards for the regulation of data and technology activities in the sector. We have therefore developed an ICT governance framework that includes the following in conjunction with 3C Consultants and has now been used by over 30+ organisations:

  • ICT strategy, business alignment and value for money
  • programme and project management
  • ICT service management
  • resources, partnerships and procurement
  • data management
  • risk management and business continuity

How to lead a data-driven transformation

Learn about the typical data management lifecycle and how Big Data can lead to data-driven business models. The guide discusses the role of data in digital maturity, a model for a data-driven organisation, and the challenges that come with a data-driven approach. Begin your data-driven journey right here.

Rapid process Design Sprints

The Golden Marzipan Design Sprint is an approach to designing products, experiences, or services that focuses on the end user first. A Design Sprint is a structured, five-day approach to solving business problems that incorporate ideas like prototyping and user research.

Design Sprints planner

Make the most of your Design Sprint with our free planner!

From identifying the right people and space to providing a list of key questions to answer before beginning, our planner covers all essential elements. Take the first step toward a successful Design Sprint experience by downloading now.

Making decisions remotely

As more of us spend our time collaborating online, busy housing executives and boards must make strategic decisions without meeting face-to-face.  This guide provides evidence-based guidance to assist you in making stronger, more informed virtual decisions.

Digital social housing resource library

Along with our downloads, we offer an up-to-date free resource library for social housing professionals. From relevant news to toolkits, we link to external sources so you can easily keep your finger on the pulse in the social housing industry.

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