Our Process
We have a simple, tried and tested process that we take our clients through, to help bring clarity to all our projects…
Dialogue
All good consulting projects begin with healthy dialogue. What we look to establish here is primarily, a good relationship.
If we can establish a rapport and build trust, then a project becomes a lot more achievable!
We look to build trust by assuring our clients that we do not come in acting as the only experts in the room.
We want to learn from your expertise and your in depth understanding of your organisation as much as you want to learn different ways of looking at problems. In this phase, we look to gain a good understanding from you of the challenges faced, what the contributing factors are, and who is involved.
We also gain clarity on roles, responsibilities, what outcomes are expected, and what we need from each other for the project to succeed.
PHASE 1
PHASE 2
Discovery
This is the where the research and intelligence gathering takes place in order to gain a full, objective picture of your organisation and the issues at hand in context.
Discovery can take the form of interviews, surveys, observation, desk research, and use of analytical tools.
Good discovery is linked to good dialogue at the outset. This will enable our presence to not be a surprise or meet resistance when we start asking questions or trying to book meetings!
It is important that people feel like they are contributing to the process and feel relaxed enough to share information.
Obtaining authentic information from various parts of your organisation can give us an excellent picture of your unique organisational landscape and how successfully your business meets the needs of its environment.
Discourse
We then collate all the information we have gathered and make sense of it. We look for connections in the data, we codify and categorise interview and survey responses, we populate consulting frameworks, we compare what we have found to published data, market intelligence and academic insights.
Having analysed all the information, we submit our findings to you in a report and make recommendations for potential solutions with supporting rationale, which we then discuss thoroughly.
Discovery and discourse are where the real value of management consultancy lives.
These aspects of the process enable us to use all our knowledge of how organisations work, how markets operate, how organisational factors interact with each other and combine it with our specific industry knowledge and experience.
Most importantly, we make sense of it within the context of your organisation, thus giving you some viable options for moving forward.
PHASE 3
PHASE 4
Decision
Hopefully, being able to discuss options openly and with some objectivity, will give you confidence in which direction to move forward in.
Decision making is closely linked to discourse, where you can base decisions on the recommendations in front of you and subsequent discussion around options. In this phase, we look at the feasibility of implementation.
Ultimately, change must authentically come from within your organisation, and it must feel and sound right to you.
So, understanding things like your key drivers, how key stakeholders will influence the change, how aligned this decision is with your vision, what leadership capabilities need to be present to make the change work, etc. can help us to co-create an effective and achievable implementation plan.
We then look at how the change can be most effectively communicated and delivered.
Delivery
The change project begins! It is hugely important that stakeholders are empowered to implement change themselves and that they understand and accept the reasons behind the change.
Imposing solutions on employees can often lead to resistance and have an adverse effect on the outcome of the project.
It is actually more valuable to ask for change from the relevant stakeholders and offer up a consultant to assist and influence, rather than saying “we’re bringing in a consultant to change things”.
We find that carving up a project into manageable sub projects brings results more quickly and builds momentum.
We can be involved as little or as much as you like at this stage, but we do prefer to have an oversight of implementation and regular progress updates to ensure things are on track.
PHASE 5
PHASE 6
Debrief
Once the change project is finished and deliverables are met, we meet to debrief on the project and go through a 360° feedback process.
There will invariably have been some obstacles along the way, as all change projects involve human beings, and we can only be so prepared for this!
However, understanding what went well, what could have been done differently, and what we have learned about the process will be invaluable for future projects.
This final phase will help you manage future change projects on your own, or if you choose to work with us again, we will know your organisation that much better and can look to gain even quicker or more widespread change adoption next time around.
As we mentioned right at the beginning, the key to a good project is a good relationship. We look to maintain this throughout our work together, and especially as we part ways.
We believe that if we have gained your trust and have been enjoyable to work with, that you will choose us again when you face new challenges in your organisation.
Ready to Get Started?
If you’d like to know more about how we can work with you and your organisation, please get in touch.