OUR APPROACH TO MANAGING THE CHANGE PROCESS LIFE CYCLE
OUR OFFER TO CLIENTS
We are experienced change catalysts. We support clients through every step in the change process life cycle, including helping get their ideas off the ground and turning strategic goals into successful projects. In many cases, clients may have a solution in mind, or at least a sense of direction they wish to travel, but need specific expertise, fresh insight or just an extra pair of hands to make it happen and deliverer change.
Our services are borne out of 'real world' practical experience of delivering the type of support we offer to clients. We have used our experience and expertise to deliver transformational change on the ground that has enabled people, places, businesses and local communities to thrive and grow as well as deliver benefits for local economies and the environment. We have what it takes to make things happen, get the job done and do it well.
Our Seven Step Approach to Managing the Change Process Life Cycle
We have developed our offer to clients around a seven step approach to managing the change process life cycle. This provides clients with a structured and pragmatic approach to delivering change, whether that is helping achieve a better understanding of the need for change, find the best solution and/or enable them to put it into practice. It also sets out clearly our approach to completing each stage, as well as the services and support we offer at each step of the process. We provide bespoke support to meet the specific needs of each individual client.
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Who We Support
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There are four typical scenarios where clients seek our support, namely:
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Clients who have already identified the need for change, have a solution in mind - or at least a sense of the direction they wish to travel in to deliver a desired change - and need support to bring people and ideas together, assess options, find the right solution and translate it into a successful project.
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Clients with assignments that are more strategic in nature, requiring us to prepare the strategic framework for a programme of action, which could include preparing a robust evidence base, new policy guidance, vision statements, strategies and action plans - or to review existing ones.
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Clients who need support to prepare a funding proposal and write a funding bid to secure project grant funding.
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Clients who have a clearly defined project already developed and require us to provide short-term ‘hands-on’ project oversight, coordination and management support to put it into practice and ensure
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Clients who require a robust monitoring and evaluation system designed for their project and support to facilitate its implementation.
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Our services are geared towards delivering change that addresses key economic, social and environmental priorities within the public sector and supports businesses and local communities achieve what is important to them.
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We carry out short term and interim assignments and deliver commissioned projects for a wide range of clients in the public, business and community sectors. Our services and expertise are particularly suited to supporting short term and interim assignments and delivering commissioned project for:
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Local authorities and other public bodies with responsibility for economic, social and environmental well-being;
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Third sector organisations, including voluntary and community organisations, social enterprises, development trusts and co-operatives;
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Community groups, particularly those involved in the health and social care sectors;
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Technology-led small and medium sized businesses, particularly those seeking to develop partnerships with the public sector.
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How We Support Our Clients
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As experienced change catalysts, we offer a comprehensive range of services to make things happen and deliver change for local authorities, other public sector bodies, businesses and local community organisations and groups. These are practical, flexible, results-driven services, delivered at all times with integrity and a passion for making a difference.
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We are not ‘theoretical’ consultants, who just focus on completing an assignment and never have the responsibility for following through in practice. Our services are borne out of many years of ‘real world’ experience of doing in practice what we deliver for our clients. We know what it takes to make things happen, get the job done and do it well. Over the years, we have found out what works well and also sometimes what didn’t work as well as expected and learnt from it.
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Our background is having responsibility for improving the lives of others, working with businesses to help them thrive and grow and supporting community groups to bring new life back into struggling communities and improve their health and well-being. We have led, managed and delivered projects and programmes whilst working for local authorities, economic development companies, public/private sub-regional strategic partnerships as well as in private consultancy. We have delivered transformational change on the ground that has enabled people, places, businesses and local communities to thrive and grow as well as strengthened and diversified local economies and made the environment a healthier place in which to live and work.
How We Help Facilitate Change
Our services provide support for our clients across all seven steps of the change process life cycle. Nevertheless, we understand each assignment and project is unique, there are no “one size fits all” solutions and that clients may require our support at different steps in the change process life cycle. We also appreciate not every assignment will start at the beginning of the change process and run through all seven stages to the end. Some clients may have a clearly defined project already developed but require additional short-term support to put it into action. Other clients may have an idea of the change they wish to see happen but need support to bring together people, ideas and resources to find the best solution to achieve their desired change
Accordingly, we work very closely with each potential client to understand the relative position of their assignment or project within the change process life cycle. This ensures we are able to offer the right services, at the right time, focused on the right goals that are appropriate to meet a client’s specific needs, circumstances, desired outcomes and unique operating environment.
Our Seven Step Approach to Managing the Change Process Life Cycle
We have identified seven distinct steps within the change process life cycle. We believe each step has its own defined set of activities and requires its own specific range of services and support to complete it. Our seven steps in the change process life cycle are:
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Step One - Understanding the Need for Change:
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This step provides the basis on which to be able to substantiate the need for change, what change is required and what that change should look like. We provide a range of research, analysis and consultation services to help manage this step in the process;
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Step Two - Building a Partnership for Change:
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This step enables the right people and organisations to come together to agree the scope, desired outcomes and time-lines for a project and ensure things get done on the project and it is implemented successfully. We provide a range of services to facilitate stakeholder engagement and the formation of partnerships;
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Step Three - Setting the Context for Change:
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This step provides a better understanding of the critical factors and potential barriers that could shape and influence the ability to deliver change, as well as the clarify what outcomes are envisaged, how those outcomes will be achieved, who will be responsible for delivering those outcomes and what change will look like at the end of the process. We provide a range of services to support this step in the process, including preparing policy briefings, vision statements, strategies and action plans;
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Step Four - Finding the Right Solution for Change:
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This step helps ensure strategic goals and priorities can be translated into projects that are fully aligned to the identified change and anticipated benefits. We provide stakeholder engagement and project design and development services to facilitate this step in the process;
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Step Five - Enabling Change to Happen:
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This step involves securing the necessary resources and commitment to action to enable a desired change to move forward. We provide a range of services, including proposal development and bid writing to help secure grant funding for projects;
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Step Six - Delivering Change on the Ground:
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This step enables and empowers clients to act on putting their solutions into practice and deliver meaningful change. We provide project oversight, coordination and delivery services to support this step in the process;
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Step Seven - Learning from Change:
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This step provides the basis on which to determine whether a project achieved its agreed outcomes, whether it was well managed and how the change process may be improved in the future. We provide a range of monitoring and evaluation services to support this final step of the process.
Step 1. Understanding the Need for Change: Research, Analysis and Consultation
If you are seeking to gain a better understanding of the need for change and greater insight into the nature and scope of the underlying problem, as well as be able to demonstrate a strong rationale for change and communicate the identified need to others, we are able to undertake a range of research, analysis and consultation exercises to build a robust evidence-base that will enable clients to manage the process of change more effectively. We possess an ability to interpret and communicate complex written, statistical and technical information and prepare and present complex/sensitive reports to a wide ranging set of stakeholders; ensuring that this information is communicated in a way that is appropriate and accessible to the audience with a high awareness of political sensitivities.
Step 2. Building a Partnership for Change: Engagement and Collaboration
If you are looking for support to influence and engage with colleagues, partners and customers at all levels within complex strategic planning or politically sensitive situations to achieve consensus on the need for change and secure commitment to making it happen, we are very experienced in stakeholder engagement, securing ‘buy-in’ and establishing strong ‘change’ partnerships at the local, sub-regional and trans-national level. We know how to manage the interface between the public sector, businesses and local communities. We understand their needs, priorities and the challenges they face. We know how to break down cultural barriers between sectors, manage competing interests sensitively and find new ways of collaborative working
Step 3. Setting the Context for Change: Policy, Strategy and Action Planning
If you are in need of an objective perspective or fresh insight to help understand, shape or challenge emerging policy areas as well as set the context for change and the identify the steps needed to achieve it, we have an impressive track record of preparing position papers, policy briefings, strategies and action plans for a wide range of sectors. These are practical, forward thinking, provide a clear vision and direction for achieving an agreed set of goals, identify appropriate delivery structures and arrangements for deploying resources and focus on those issues that can be directly changed and influenced. We are also experienced in providing the link between strategic issues and the development of spatial strategies and the delivery of public sector services
Step 4. Finding the Right Solution for Change: Project Design and Development
If you need help to assess options for change to address a particular issue and find the right solutions to make it happen, we specialise in bringing people and ideas together in a collaborative manner to find the right solutions and turn those into successful projects. We are experienced in facilitating a collaborative process that creates the right environment in which to stimulate creative thinking, encourage participation, generate breakthrough ideas and identify solutions that are fully aligned to the identified change and anticipated benefits. We also have a proven track record of turning strategic goals into successful projects that deliver meaningful change and achieve agreed goals, outputs and outcomes.
Step 5. Enabling Change to
Happen: Securing Grant Funding
If you require grant funding for your project to go ahead and need assistance in putting a funding proposal together and help to navigating through a formal competitive bidding process, we offer practical knowledge and experience of writing successful funding bids and managing the bidding process for and on behalf of the public sector, businesses, universities and local communities. We are able to draw on a long and successful track record of shaping, developing and writing funding proposals, writing and submitting bids, producing supporting business case reports, as well as building bidding consortia, managing the submission process, contract negotiations and any post-award delivery arrangements.
Step 7. Learning from
Change: Monitoring and Evaluation
If you require specialist support within your project team to monitor and evaluate the performance of your project, we offer bespoke approaches to performance monitoring, evaluation and review for small and large scale projects run by the public sector, businesses and community organisations. We are able to design and conduct monitoring, evaluation and review exercises that provide evidence to determine whether project outcomes have delivered the changes and benefits as defined by the original project purpose, goals and objectives. We are also able to assess how well the process of change was managed and help consolidate what has been learnt from the change to help improve the change process in the future.
OUR SEVEN STEP APPROACH TO SUPPORTING THE CHANGE PROCESS
Step 6. Delivering Change on the Ground: Project Management
If you need a safe and experienced pair of hands to help you manage your project through to completion, we are experienced project managers and offer 'hands-on’ project oversight, coordination and day-to-day project delivery support to enable and empower clients to act on delivering their own projects. We provide practical support across the whole project life cycle from start-up to completion, ensuring momentum is maintain throughout the process. We manage a broad range of projects for the public sector, businesses and local community groups across a wide variety of sectors and scale, from small through to large scale projects with complex funding and partnering arrangements, operating in challenging environments.