Healthcare merger: building a shared future together

The challenge: two organizations, one shared future

When WVO Zorg and Zorgstroom merged to form Amarijn, the Executive Board — in close collaboration with many employees across the organization — developed a policy plan and a multi-year strategy. The overall direction was set, but in practice many questions remained. How do we work together as one organization? What does this mean for employees on a day-to-day basis? Which processes and agreements stay the same, and what will change?

Every merger brings questions and uncertainty. Employees wondered: Will my role stay the same? What will my job look like going forward? The strategic plan offered guidance, but the translation to daily practice was still missing.

Patricia, Sector Manager for Assisted Living (WMZ), and Marianne, Sector Manager for Support and Home Care (OZT), recognized the need to bring clarity and actively involve employees in shaping the new organization. They enlisted Flatland to help make this complex transition visual, tangible, and easy to understand.

Our approach: turning abstract policy into a shared understanding

Flatland acted as a neutral party in the merger process — a kind of “Switzerland” between the two former organizations. Together, we developed several workstreams to explore how Amarijn could function as one unified whole.

Each workstream focused on a specific question:

• Making policy accessible:
  In times of uncertainty, employees look for clarity. A sector plan provides direction, but typically consists of dozens of pages of text. That’s why we created an interactive visual version of the sector plan for both sectors. It allows employees to quickly find the information that matters to them — organized, coherent, and enriched with all previous visualizations.
• Creating a shared understanding and making the vision concrete:
  We started by making Amarijn’s vision tangible — for example, their ideas around care zones and the role of family members. What does that look like in practice? Who does what? And what can we expect from each other? Through co-creation, we brought these visions to life visually. Our motto: if you can’t draw it, it’s not concrete yet. These visualizations now serve as conversation starters — both internally and in discussions with clients and their families.
• Creating an overview of the collaboration:
  What does Amarijn’s combined service offering look like? Together, we mapped the client journey for both in-home and residential care. This made it clear which teams are involved at which point in the process.
• Clarity in terminology and understanding:
  Two organizations mean two worlds of language, each with its own jargon. To prevent misunderstandings, we created an overview of the methods (such as STIP) and principles (such as Positive Health and Planetree) used across the organization. This made the overarching coherence visible.
• Translating strategy into daily practice:
  How do we structure our PDCA cycle? By designing a reporting tool and a team plan canvas, teams can now plan, adjust, and share insights in a consistent way.We also worked on more specific topics, such as the transition toward self-organizing teams and streamlining work processes — always in close collaboration with employees. Together, we mapped the current situation, the desired future, and what is needed to bridge the gap. This resulted in a concrete and shared guide for the new organization.

The result: more clarity, engagement, and a shared identity

Flatland’s approach brought clarity and engagement during a period of significant change. Employees could quite literally see what their future working environment would look like. Through co-creation, we didn’t just create a visual translation of the merger — we helped shape a new culture and identity.

The interactive version of the sector plan was launched on Amarijn’s internal platform and quickly became an essential tool. Employees can easily find answers to their questions, see how their work aligns with the broader strategy, and feel actively involved in shaping the organization’s development.

The collaboration between Flatland and Amarijn evolved into a long-term partnership. New questions and challenges continued to emerge, and visualization consistently proved valuable in making complex issues understandable. Other sectors within Amarijn also recognized the strength of this approach and chose to work with Flatland. In this way, the merger increasingly became something shared by everyone — not just something driven from “the top.” And that’s exactly where lasting change begins.