Five steps. Usually six to eight weeks.
Every engagement has roughly the same shape. What sits inside each step depends on the company and what's prompting the call.
- 01
First conversation
We spend an hour understanding the business, the team and what's prompting the call. No deck, no questionnaire.
- 02
Quiet review
Two or three weeks reading how the company actually runs today — a few one-to-ones, a look at whatever already exists in writing.
- 03
Proposal
A short written note with what we'd change, what we'd leave alone, and what it would take. You decide what to act on.
- 04
Doing the work
We write the documents, set up the processes and stay close while the team picks them up. Weekly check-ins by default.
- 05
Handover or continue
Once it's running, we either hand it back fully or stay on for ongoing coordination. Either is fine.
A few things we try to do every time.
Not a manifesto — a short list we hold ourselves to.
Read before recommending
We spend the first weeks reading what already exists. A lot of the work is already half-done somewhere on a shared drive.
Talk to people, not titles
We ask the people doing the job how it actually works — not just the person who manages them.
Short documents
If it doesn't fit on two pages, we rewrite it. Long policies don't get read; short ones do.
One source of truth
We move scattered notes into one place and keep it that way. No parallel versions.
Weekly check-ins
Same day, same time, fifteen minutes. Most issues get resolved before they're issues.
Hand it back cleanly
Every engagement is set up so the work can keep going without us. That's how we close.
Because the work actually gets finished.
Most HR advice ends with a report and a thank-you. We stay until the documents are written, the new processes have been used a few times, and the next person knows how to keep them running. That's the part that actually takes the time.