How We Work With Clients - Achieved Strategies

How many consultants will be on a project team?
Depending on the size, scope, and implementation timeline of the project, we can have 2-5 consultants to work on your project.

Will client staff be on a project team?
Absolutely. We don’t believe in creating a dependency on consultants. Additionally, employees’ have essential knowledge, ideas, and experiences that add to the project’s success. The number of staff on a project depends on what each client wants to accomplish, the type of project, and timeline.

How much time is needed from employees?
The following time commitments are averages. Please contact us or submit a Request a Quote for a custom quote.

For project team members, employee time commitments range from 5-15 hours a week.
Organizational change projects vary in length
Performance consulting work lasts 6-9 months.
Strategic planning events last 1-3 days and the time commitment can be 8-30 hours total.
Focus groups range from 2-4 hours for one day.

Will employees be trained?
We allot time to train employees in all our projects. This is based on our belief that clients don’t build a dependency on consultants. The amount and length of training is dependent on the complexity of work and the anticipated business outcomes.

How do you approach your projects?
Below is merely a framework for how we plan to complete your project. Its primary focus is on organizational change projects. We’re working on a less mundane way to present the approach linked to a type of project. Shoot us an email if you want to know how we approach other types of projects.

Consultation/Contracting

Meet to understand business and performance needs and desired outcomes
Document the business and performance needs and reasons for the project
Identify current efforts that should be incorporated or considered
Design an agreed-to plan for the project
Establish measurements for project goals aligned with business and performance needs

Assess & Solutions Formation

Complete internal and external stakeholder assessments
Collect information to learn what enables or hinders performance
Analyze change reactions and determine current state of people readiness for change
Build a vision and case for change with leadership, with a focus on laying the foundation for employee buy-in and engagement
Plan change strategies for increasing adoption across all stakeholder groups
Begin building communication plan and strategy

Implementation

Design and implement change strategies that mobilize the organization to
accelerate adoption of change
Adjust strategies as needed to support adoption of change
Create feedback loops to determine speed and rate of adoption
Execute readjusted strategies and action items as stakeholders move through change
Align implemented actions and stakeholder engagement to on-going evolution of change

Monitor, Adjust, & Evaluate

Ensure structural, process, and people changes are considered as complimentary actions to ensure sustainable change
Identify gaps that could block full implementation and sustainability of change
Set up and support evaluation of change throughout the process, as well as post-implementation
Coach leadership throughout the process and at hand-off to ensure facilitation of change evolution

How long does assessment take?
It varies. Assessments can take 1-4 weeks. We believe that the assessment is a change solution. As we are seeking input from stakeholders, we are allowing people time to be heard: one of the most important steps in a change process. Assessment sets up for measurement of success. In addition, assessment quickly identifies the right tools for accelerating adoption of change.

What are your communication and reporting practices?
You, your employees, and your stakeholders should have access to information that minimizes the “I didn’t know that” mantra. These are effective reporting or communicating skills/practices we practice daily. It’s a little glimpse into what makes us successful.

Making people wrong or needing to be right is a barrier to communicating
Communication is easier when the intent is to truly get the other person’s world
Active listening skills with intent to paraphrase accurately
Flexibility to change communication style based on situation
Attention to detail in capturing information
Ability to translate large amounts of information into analysis and summary
Follow-through to document and give people summarized information
Memory to pull prior documented information into subsequent activities
Ability to be articulate, straightforward written communications and speeches

How do you know when a change project is successful?
When peoples’ behaviors, beliefs, attitudes, and accomplishments are reflected in what you want to achieve. The same holds true when organizational changes made help achieve what you set out to accomplish. Our readiness assessments are famous for assessing change reactions along the way. You can see where adoption is working and where additional work is needed. The transition tools we introduce into your organization give people a consistent language to talk about change and share their current state in relation to full or partial adoption.

What tools and methods do you generally use?
We could probably go on and on with description of the tools or methods we use. Well, we do. Click here to check out our Tools Matrix. We have used these tools in change endeavors for over 15 years, and know they work. The art of selecting the right tools for a situation is not only something we know in theory, but have acted in practice.