At C.Co, we support organisations with solutions for all aspects of change management, enabling successful improvement and transformation across the public sector. Our work can be broken down into the three Ds: Diagnostics, Development and Delivery. Our Diagnostics looks at how our solutions meet genuine need and impact. Our diagnostic tools enable us to identify and develop a baseline. This enables us to understand and work with the current scenario to identify risks and maximise opportunities. With regards to Development, we work collaboratively with you. Our solutions have integrity and credibility, are evidence-based, easy to use and work. We are flexible and all our services contribute to improving outcomes for residents and service users.

Intelligence-driven delivery

The focus of this article deals with our approach to Delivery. Our delivery is always intelligence driven. Our solutions are designed to be responsive to your needs, can be quickly mobilised and are resourced by our experienced and affordable teams. We aim to deliver our solutions in a pragmatic, impactful and client-centred manner, ensuring that you are with us every step of the way.

A desire to improve services from both yours and your end users’ perspective is at the heart of what we do.  To achieve this, we bring people together from across organisations. We share and signpost innovative practices and bring robust but pragmatic methods to everything we do. The aim of this approach is to give you the confidence in your change and transformation projects. This in turn will enable successful implementation and ongoing development.

Many projects suffer – and can ultimately fail – with change fatigue and a lack of buy-in from key stakeholders. This is often down to lack of communication, disjointed actions and decisions as well as a lack of oversight and management. With our delivery approach, we aim to prevent these problems occurring in the first place.

How to successfully mobilise and deliver a Transformation Programme

There are a number of key components which should be in place to enable successful delivery of a programme of work. These include sound governance, change control mechanisms, engaged project delivery teams, an experienced programme management office, approved review methodology, benefits capture and realisation mechanisms and regular reporting. All conducted in parallel with frequent and relevant communications and engagement with key stakeholders.

The value of a joined-up approach

The key components of programme management ensure greater buy-in, enhance chances of success and allow warning signals to be flagged up in a timely manner to allow a change of course or tack.

Project management should not just be about paperwork and process, but about timely results and altered mindsets. We do not take a ‘one size fits all’ methodology, we adapt to suit the circumstances of the work, ensuring the scale of project management is tailored to the individual project and that all outputs are focused and targeted to achieve your aims and objectives. Most importantly, we work with you and your staff – integrating with your in-house team to utilise and develop the skills already in place, as well as constantly assessing the impacts of organisational culture and the changes that will be required to ensure the smooth and successful implementation of any project.

We maximise the use of specialist advisory support, training, knowledge sharing and good practice to bring together experience from across the sector, exploring new opportunities through discussion and research.

Improving Community Services

An example of C.Co’s approach to delivery was some work with Cheshire East Council, when we were asked to review its Community Services. The brief was to consider the way in which current services are delivered; the strategic context for the delivery of services moving forward; and the future delivery of those services in line with recognised best practice.

C.Co initially conducted a ‘desktop’ review of available, relevant documentation, and we challenged existing delivery and ‘to be’ proposals against the hypothesis that the Communities division can be incorporated into the Place, Public Health, Commissioning and Social Care operations to better integrate services around the needs of the community. This part of the review raised a number of topics that were explored through engagement workshops, at a more general level, and specifically through face-to-face meetings with key individuals/groups.

Following this, our team was able to make a number of mostly structural recommendations that provided a platform for the existing Community Services teams to be incorporated across the wider People and Place directorates and, in particular, more closely aligning Community Safety and Community Development to the commissioning process. C.Co’s recommendations identified efficiency savings as well as an improved operating model.

Contact us to find out more about our three Ds approach to change management.