Diagnose before prescribing
Start with the gap between what you want to happen and what actually happens. Validate the problem with records, observation, and conversations rather than assuming that a new tool or more activity will solve it.
- Set the boundary: which business unit, workflow, or customer journey is being reviewed?
- Check the baseline and its reliability. Mark missing evidence explicitly.
- Trace causes across functions: sales promises, capacity, delivery, collections, and team decisions may be connected.
- Prioritise by impact, urgency, effort, dependencies, and the team’s capacity to act.
Seven connected areas of work
A business does not need to tackle every area at once. Select the work that supports the most important priorities.
Strategy & execution
Translate ambition into a small number of priorities, initiatives, owners, and review dates. Test assumptions about customers, capacity, and resources before committing to expansion.
Sales & marketing systems
Connect enquiry sources, qualification, follow-up, proposals, conversion, and retention. Define sales stages and ownership so opportunities do not depend on someone remembering the next step.
Profitability visibility
Review how the business tracks pricing, costs, margins, cash commitments, and collections. Make assumptions visible and agree what management information is needed for decisions.
Operations & SOPs
Map the current workflow, identify delays and rework, and document a practical standard. Include exceptions and escalation paths; test the procedure with the people who will use it.
People & organisation
Clarify roles, decision rights, handovers, and performance expectations. Identify capability gaps and training needs instead of treating every execution problem as a hiring problem.
Management reporting
Choose a small set of measures with a definition, data source, owner, and review frequency. A dashboard should lead to decisions and actions, not simply display activity.
Implementation & adoption
Pilot a change, collect feedback, resolve exceptions, and agree when it is ready for wider use. Assign internal owners so the improvement can continue after the engagement ends.
Measure the work without overclaiming
Separate the deliverable from the business outcome. A completed SOP is an output; fewer errors is an outcome that needs evidence over time.
- Define the starting point before implementation where reliable data exists.
- Agree a target or desired direction, measurement period, and data owner.
- Review adoption as well as results: are the new routines actually being used?
- Record external changes and other initiatives that may influence performance. Do not attribute every improvement to consulting.
