Every engagement begins with the same question: where is the gap between where your organization is and where it needs to be?
Some organizations know exactly what is broken. Others feel the strain but cannot name it. Either way, I do not assume I know the answer before I look.
Step 1: Discovery
A 60-90 minute conversation with the executive director or senior leadership to understand the organization’s current state, immediate pressures, and longer-term goals. No agenda, no pitch. Just questions.
Step 2: Organizational Alignment Assessment
Using a structured diagnostic framework built around five interconnected areas I assess your organization against a clear set of operational requirements.
Each requirement is evaluated on two dimensions: Does it exist? And is it actually being followed?
The output is an Organizational Alignment Score with a detailed gap analysis and prioritized recommendations. Think of it as an operational audit – a map, not a judgement.
This assessment typically takes one to two weeks and involves document review, staff conversations, and direct observation where possible.
Step 3: Findings and Prioritization
I present findings to leadership with a clear picture of where the organization is strong, where it is fragile, and where the highest-leverage opportunities for improvement are. We align on priorities together.
Step 4: Engagement Design
Based on findings and priorities, we design the right engagement. That might be a defined project to build a specific system, ongoing fractional operations leadership, a facilitated planning process, or some combination. Scope, timeline, and deliverables are documented before work begins.
Step 5: Implementation
I do not produce reports and disappear. My work is hands-on. I build systems, facilitate processes, develop infrastructure, and work alongside your team to implement what the organization actually needs. Progress is tracked against clear milestones.
Step 6: Sustainability Review
Before an engagement closes, we assess whether the systems and structures built will hold without ongoing support. Where they will not, we plan for it. The goal is always operational independence, not dependency.
A Note on How I Engage
I work with a small number of organizations at a time. That is intentional. The work requires genuine attention and presence, and I will not take on more than I can do well.
I am direct, specific, and grounded in what is actually achievable given an organization’s resources and capacity. I will tell you what I see, even when it is uncomfortable, because organizations do not improve by avoiding hard conversations.
Howey Consulting 