Taking Stock: Organisational Health Checks:
Significant pressures and demands make it difficult for leadership teams to stand back and take stock of direction, strategy and delivery. We have developed a short, hands-on diagnostic approach which addresses this.
The methodology is based on a
simple, strategic three-question methodology which is designed to get to the
heart of issues. We’ve tailored the approach to two broad areas:
Ø Taking stock on transformation or efficiency programmes
– are they heading in the right direction? Are they on track? Are you
evaluating the cumulative impact on services particularly for vulnerable
groups? or
Ø Taking
stock at a strategic level on corporate direction and delivery of your
strategic objectives – Are your corporate plans still fit for purpose? Will
they deliver the vision and local priorities? And at the pace and scale
required?
Our approach is to:
Identify and scope the issue or challenge, in conversation with the client, and
use this to plan and shape the next, workshop stage
Facilitate an intensive half-day workshop with the leadership team, using the
three key questions as a diagnostic framework to focus the discussion analysis
and any appropriate action planning
Provide the leadership team
with a clear, strategic analysis and constructive recommendations.
Our approach will help you because it will:
Ø Focus on key issues and challenges
Ø Provide a manageable ‘space’ for senior managers to
actively think about those issues, supported and facilitated by an expert team
Ø Produce
a clear analysis with key recommendations
The approach is short, simple
and focused. And because we are very good at this sort of thing, and understand
the public sector very well, we think our support will be excellent value for
money.
Third Sector and Social Enterprise - Planning to do business…
Using our unique approach to supporting change, we will provide you with tailored help and guidance to achieve success and a sustainable future:
If social enterprises and community organisations are to survive they need to plan better for the future and secure the ever scarcer funding to keep going.
It is increasingly essential for 3rd sector organisations to plan business development in order to reposition themselves to take maximum advantage of the current opportunities to work with the public sector.
Exact Consultants have worked extensively with voluntary organisations in supporting them to develop and grow strategically.
We have developed a set of tools and expertise to help third sector organisations and new social enterprises to understand how they need to change and how to properly plan their future. We can help you produce better plans and put you in a better position to persuade the public sector and other funders to invest and do business with you.
But don’t just take our word for it - here’s what our clients say:
“Exact Consultants support in our business planning was invaluable. It is the key to our sustainable future, without it we doubt whether we could have progressed.” Balsall Heath Forum, Birmingham in 2011
To find out more contact Dianne Thomas on 07598 229959 dianne.thomas@exactconsultants.co.uk
Improving Service Outcomes and VFM
Do you know how you are shaping up to today’s challenges?
In the absence of national reporting of performance indicators, how can you learn from what is working elsewhere to improve your performance?
We can help you to find out. We have established an innovative, cost effective and successful approach to service/process specific improvement networks. Working with you and your sector colleagues, our approach is designed to capture really key performance information, analyse and evaluate what works, spread learning and celebrate success. Enabling those involved to make faster progress towards improved outcomes and efficiency savings.
Facilitated Improvement Networks. (FINs)
FINs offer the opportunity for participating councils in selected services or business processes to share key performance information in real time, identify areas of strength and comparative underperformance, and establish reasons and solutions. They enable faster improvements in outcomes and efficiencies through learning from best practice.
They are led from the sector and supported by our expert facilitators and performance analysts. They can be time limited for one year with the option to continue for as long as participants get value from them.
Exact Consultants work with you to identify what matters in your service/process, collate, analyse and report on comparative performance information. Facilitate virtual learning sets and workshops for the networks and carry out bespoke challenge/improvement support for individual participants as required.
Comparative performance information is shared only with network participants.
Workshop sessions are based around systems thinking/lean approaches.
To discuss your specific requirements contact Dianne Thomas on 07598 229959 dianne.thomas@exactconsultants.co.uk
Counting the cost of efficiency
Independent diagnostic, risk analysis and support
Our robust, independent and critical review will provide you with a clear picture of how your organisation is performing against what it set out to achieve. Our support is available at any, or all of four key stages;
Planning – we will support you in the development of your key plans. We will work with you to ensure that your plans are challenging but realistic, your monitoring and reporting processes provide the means to measure progress and managers receive the information they need, when they need it.
Stage progress check – in implementation we will provide you with a progress report to check performance and evaluate the impact of savings programmes on services. We work with you to develop any action needed to get you back on track. We will provide a risk assessment to help identify the potential barriers to achievement or adverse outcomes.
Project and programme management. Again in implementation we can provide accredited project management support in your delivery - hands on, or as a critical friend working alongside your programme team.
Post implementation – we will provide a critical, honest and independent assessment of how you performed and work with you to prepare for the next round of plans.
Our experience of strategic planning and performance management covers councils, health bodies QIPP/CIP, housing and the third sector.
Your own Route-Map to Excellence
Communities and stakeholders now expect that all services are delivered to a high standard and in many cases personalised. We can work with you to show where your services are positioned relative to the best practice providers. We can pinpoint specific steps you need to take to ensure that your services are tailored to meet expectations.
We provide effective external scrutiny of front facing or corporate services, and identify the scope for further improvement and greater efficiencies.
We provide a focused piece of work over a relatively short period of time, typically up to two weeks, addressing the specific issues you want to address.
We can then offer you arms’ length on-going support to help you develop and deliver your future plan for action.
Using our unique approach to testing the DNA for successful change, the end product would be a bespoke, comprehensive report showing strengths and weaknesses, process benchmarking against best practice, specific areas for development and a route-map to improvement / excellence showing the changes you need to make. This would consider;
The clarity of the vision, a clear simple vision helps clarify the direction in which organisations need to move.
Who owns and how well bought in are key stakeholders to the agreed agenda. All change needs strong strategic leadership – this sense of urgency, the sense of what’s happening and what’s needed – is crucial. Do you have this in place?
Weaknesses – we set the bar high! What are the areas for improvement and what is the quality of your plans. We identify and advise you on removing barriers and cultural problems.
Do you have the capacity to deliver the plan and show results? We suggest short & long term measures and goals. In successful transformation, leaders actively plan and achieve some short term gains which people can see and celebrate.
To ensure you can sustain momentum and build capacity to improve,we can either work directly with you to coach and transfer skills or we can offer a remote support capacity as and when you need it.
IMPROVEMENT SUPPORT TAILORED TO YOUR NEEDS
We offer a choice of three levels of challenge
1. Corporately:
We can work with your senior leadership team, helping you to assess your strategic performance and ensure you have the in-house skills to lead and manage:
How clear are your ambitions? How effectively are you driving and delivering your vision?
2. Service or Theme or Specific problem:
At the level of a particular concern or service area where you need quick improvements, we will work with officers and members to provide a robust assessment and support change ad skill up your team to sustain that change: How well are you doing? What is best practice? How can we best move forward? What are our options?
3. “State of the Nation”:
Potentially an annual assessment with on-going support - but at a frequency to suit you, even as a one off. As an organisation, are you heading in the right direction? …with pace? What are the barriers ahead? How do you need to plan to succeed? What help do you need to sustain success?