Initial Conversation
Once we've made contact via phone, in-person or email, we'll schedule a discussion regarding what job you'd like done and decide if I can help you. This is a casual conversation about you, your business and what you think needs to happen with your business. Your concerns may include increasing sales, gaining a better understanding of your finances, improving workflow systems, or maybe building a better organizational culture. This is an exploratory discussion that will last about an hour to determine if I can help you or not; so, there is no charge for this.
Scope and Definition
If we conclude that I can assist you in accomplishing your goals, then we'll enter the next phase of Scope and Definition. We'll define the project objectives and identify and outline the steps we'll take to meet those objectives. This means drilling down into the nature of your business as a whole and finding your strengths and areas of needed improvement.
I use collaborative methods as described in, The Art of Focused Conversation, created and published Institute of Cultural Affairs of Canada.
For example, let's say you need a marketing plan. This report will define your marketing objectives, identify your customers and the job they need done, identify your current programs and determine which are working or not. (Creating a marketing plan in full detail would be the next phase, Project Development).
Depending on your type of business, size and scope of the job you need done, this will be done over several sessions each lasting three to four hours. If you have cultivated a team-oriented organization, then all the key members of your staff may participate in our initial sessions for S & D. If you have been the sole decision maker, then I prefer to conduct these sessions with you (or partner) alone. If additional information needs to be provided by other parties, unless critical to our immediate task, I'll meet with others after we've concluded our sessions.
I'll draft a Scope and Definition outline report that we'll review together to make sure we're in agreement about what needs to be done, estimated time it will take, what resources may be required and how much it will cost. This report defines the scope of the project, i.e. what we're going to do next for development.
The reason for this phase is to make certain that you understand the full ramifications of what you need to commit in costs and resources to accomplish your objectives. In short, it sets your expectations for a realistic goal.
Project Development
Using the S & D report as our starting point, we'll now draft in detail how we're going to meet your objectives. We'll test every assumption until we're comfortable that each strategic point is realistic.
Since this process will potentially include several to many people, we'll set up a web-based collaborative site to share the work and create transparency. Standard project management steps are easy to follow and make it possible to track our progress in terms of time frames and costs.
Projects range from small and simple to multifaceted and complex. Regardless, prior to the next stage of implementation, we'll review with all team members the completed project terms to affirm our conclusions and strategy.
Project Implementation
The project plan will spell out in detail what actions to take, how to monitor the results and when to evaluate and make changes. The key to a successful implementation is to build in feedback loops and pay attention to the reporting. Proper delegation is another key element. I have management tools for all the necessary parts of implementation to help you ensure the highest probability of success.
The cycle looks like this:
Click image to enlarge
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