Approach
Understand first. Then decide. Then build.
Most failed digitisation projects did not fail on the technology. They failed because building started too early. So my approach has an uncomfortably long beginning and a surprisingly short remainder.
-
First conversation — 30 minutes, free of charge
You describe the situation, I ask questions. At the end I tell you what I would tackle first in your position, and whether you need anyone from outside at all. A legitimate outcome of this conversation is: not yet, or: not with me.
-
Stocktake — one to four weeks
I talk to the people involved, have work steps shown to me at the desk, and document the process as it actually runs. Effort per step is counted, not estimated. You receive a written report that makes sense without me in the room.
-
Assessment and ranking
Every idea gets two numbers: expected benefit and expected effort. Out of that comes an order you can argue about on the merits. This is where the decision falls on whether and how to continue – and where you can stop without loss.
-
Enabling the workforce
In parallel with the first implementation, never after it. People who are to carry a change need to understand it beforehand. That is not a courtesy to staff; it is the most effective lever against a project that quietly runs into the sand.
-
First implementation
A single process, manageable in scope but painful enough that the improvement is noticed. Four to eight weeks to productive operation is the normal case, not the exception.
-
Handover and continuation
Everything built is documented and operable by your own people. Whether you continue on your own afterwards or I take on the next process is your decision. Dependency on me is expressly not a business model.
Principles
What you can hold me to.
No lock-in. You get documentation, access and explanations in a form that would let any other provider take over.
No commissions. I sell no licences and am paid by no vendor for recommending their product.
No project for its own sake. If the honest answer is that the effort does not pay off, you will hear it from me – even when it costs me the engagement.
Confidentiality. What I see in your building stays there. References are named only with explicit clearance.
First conversation
A conversation that is worth something on its own.
Thirty minutes in which we go through your situation and I tell you what I would tackle first in your position — even if no engagement comes of it.