Whether it's a complex transformation, or a necessary business improvement, SPD Consulting can help.
Project Management
Provide coordination and planning oversight for an improvement initiative, that is either stand-alone or part of a wider program of initiatives.
Work within a project team to create workplans, track progress, and provide insights to the project team to increase chances of project success.
Process Design & Improvement
Advise and lead the design of processes and structures for any level of an organization, including enterprise, divisions, or specific working areas.
Create process visuals ("maps") and narratives for current-state, and provide process improvement recommendations for the future.
Conduct appropriate validations of process improvements with stakeholders.
Program Management
Provide high-level oversight and coordination of a complex improvement initiative, normally consisting of two or more sub-projects.
Help to align expectations among all program areas, with program leadership, and with external stakeholders.
Change Management
As an adviser to a project or program, provide insights into how the changes being contemplated should be coordinated to ensure high rates of acceptance by stakeholders.
This primarily includes advice regarding improvements to leadership alignment, communication, and program discipline. Working with the organizations personnel to ensure a change is widely accepted is a core goal.
Strategy Advisory
Advise on the strategic direction of an organization, either at an enterprise or a divisional level. Focus on setting proper vision/mandate, defining strategic objectives, and building strategic roadmaps.
Use outcome metrics and value drivers to further enhance the organization’s strategy by using common and quantifiable measures of success.
Advise and build the process for completing annual strategic planning, including target setting, business planning and budgeting, workforce planning, strategy translation to divisions and functions, and performance goals translation.
Business Analysis Services
SPD offers many different business analysis services for its clients to bolster the offerings detailed above. These services normally complement a larger project or improvement, or may be offered separately as needed. In most cases, these services involve creating custom business and process tools. Some examples include:
Business / Market Assessments
Analyze an aspect of a business in order to determine its viability given a particular set of circumstances. Useful for new product commercialization or moving into a new target market.
Survey Design & Administration
For an engagement survey or something similar, designing the questions and reporting method in order to create usable quantitative reports. Creating custom reporting tools and techniques is common. Useful when a wide perspective on a subject must be gathered.
Requirements Elicitation from Stakeholders
Acquiring the business and / or technical needs of a group of stakeholders via common business analysis techniques, such as focus groups and interviews. Useful to gather the perspectives or needs of an identified stakeholder group.
Technology System Selection
Establishing the business requirements for a potential technology system solution, conducting research into vendors, and completing an evaluation of viable options. Useful to help determine a fit-for-purpose technology solution for your business.
Business Case Development and Implementation
For a key decision, investment, or initiative, managing and developing all aspects of a business case, such as the opportunity background, environmental scan, cost/benefit analysis, and option evaluation. Useful to establish an objective view of a decision for use by leaders.
Meeting Facilitation
Working as an independent participant in a medium or large meeting to provide stakeholder facilitation and meeting management. Useful when a leader requires an unbiased individual to coordinate a stakeholder group.
Gap & Option Analysis
Assessing a particular aspect of a business, such as a core process area (e.g. Accounts Payable) and determining areas of concern ('gaps') in order to create improvement recommendations. Useful to acquire expert advice on how an under-performing process can improve.
Primary and Secondary Research and Reporting
Conducting primary or secondary research into a subject to increased understanding in order to support a decision. Useful to gather facts and test the validity of assumptions.
Training & Curriculum Development
For a specific subject, develop visual and written content for a training activity within an organization, including slides, participant materials, and facilitators guides. Useful for developing a key communication tool for a completed improvement or new business area.
Maturity Assessments
Quantitatively assessing the maturity of an organization or process area across core business dimensions of Strategy, Processes, Culture, Leadership, Governance, and Technology. Useful to understand business challenges across different categories.
Scorecard & Dashboard Development
Related to measuring an organization or process, developing a reporting tool and data acquisition strategy in order to visually show the status of the subject. Useful for understanding an organization at a high-level.
Technical & Business Writing
Providing succinct and sensible writing for a business in order to get a message across in a formal manner. Useful for organizations without access to communications expertise.