The process stops when one person is away
Ownership, exceptions and customer context live in somebody's head. That person has quietly become the system.
Process improvement and operational consultancy
Fix the process before adding another tool.
Repair one known process when the failure is clear, or ask me to investigate across the business and show you where the same problems keep repeating.
Common signs
The team has adapted to the process so thoroughly that the failure looks normal.
Every team has repaired the same process differently
Spreadsheets, inboxes and partly configured software keep work moving, but they also create duplicate entry and conflicting versions of the truth.
Reporting describes the activity but does not improve it
Meetings become arguments about whose numbers are right because nobody agreed the definitions, handoffs or evidence behind them.
What the job may need
Use the skills the problem needs. Leave the rest out.
Founder-led and operational organisations that either have one recurring process to repair or need an independent view across departments before choosing where to intervene.
Capabilities
- Cross-department operational audits and findings reports
- Current-state and future-state workflow design
- Ownership, handoff and exception definition
- Status, approval and evidence controls
- ISO 9001-aligned procedures and operating documentation
- Management reporting and KPI definitions
- Implementation roadmaps and adoption support
Intended outcomes
- Leaders can see which failures are isolated and which repeat across departments
- Every important handoff has a named owner
- People stop repairing the same process in different ways
- Decisions use information the team can explain
What happens in practice
A visible route from the problem to a controlled decision.
The repair ends with a changed process checked against live work. The audit ends with a report and a decision gate, so diagnosis does not quietly turn into an implementation project.
Targeted Process Repair
Start with a failure you can name. End with a corrected process tested against real work.
See scope and price- R1Trace the live process
Follow one real job and expose where the work actually breaks.
- R2Repair the handoffs
Set the owner, status rules, controls and exception path.
- R3Put it into use
Update the procedure, working tools and team responsibilities.
- R4Check live work
Verify the repair against the outcome agreed at the start.
Repair proven
Business Operations Audit
Give me a sponsor and access. I handle the investigation and return with the evidence before anything is built.
See scope and price- A1Set scope and access
Agree the departments, questions and evidence boundary.
- A2Investigate the work
I schedule the conversations and observe how departments operate.
- A3Test the evidence
Compare systems, records, procedures, ownership and workarounds.
- A4Return the report
Separate quick repairs from structural issues and rank the priorities.
- A5Decision gate
Decide what to leave alone, repair internally or scope with Strataflow.
No build assumed
Operations offers
Repair one process, or audit the business before deciding what to change.
The repair tackles a known failure and puts the corrected process into use. The audit is for wider, less certain problems: I investigate across departments, report back and we decide the next step together.
Targeted Process Repair
From £1,500 + VATFive to ten working days
Choose this when
You can point to one process that repeatedly causes delay, rework, missing evidence or confusion about ownership.
I trace one live process with the people who use it, find where it fails, repair the handoffs, ownership or controls, and introduce the corrected version.
Included
- The current process and the working cause of the failure
- A repaired process with named ownership and handoffs
- Updated procedures, controls or working templates
- A check against live work after the change is introduced
Scope boundary
Discuss a process repairOne process, one accountable owner and one contained outcome. A substantial software build is scoped separately.
Business Operations Audit
From £4,500 + VATTypically two to four weeks
Choose this when
Problems cross departments, the causes are disputed, or nobody has the time and independence to work out which failures are connected.
Once the scope is agreed and the introductions are made, I handle the investigation. I schedule the conversations, observe the work, review systems and evidence, and return with a prioritised report. You do not have to manage the audit.
Included
- A map of the important processes, systems, ownership and dependencies
- An evidence-backed register of friction, duplication and operational risk
- A prioritised report separating quick repairs from structural issues
- A decision session to agree what to leave alone, repair internally or scope next
Scope boundary
Discuss an operations auditThis is a diagnostic engagement, not an automatic implementation project. After the report, we decide what to leave alone, fix internally or ask Strataflow to implement.
Founder delivery record / prior engagements
The advice comes from doing the work, not observing it at a distance.
Laurie has led national fibre planning, managed high-volume LLD output, cleared PIA evidence backlogs and written ISO 9001-aligned procedures. These are prior-delivery credentials, not Strataflow client outcomes.
See how it works
Strong fit
A good fit when...
- A targeted repair has one accountable process owner, or the audit has one sponsor who can grant access
- Leadership is prepared to consider changes to responsibilities as well as tools
- The people doing the work can speak honestly about the real workarounds
- Representative systems, records and procedures can be inspected safely
Outside scope
Not the right route when...
- Statutory, financial, legal or certified compliance audits
- HR investigations or individual performance management
- Temporary management of operational teams
- A report commissioned without access to the work or any intention to act on the findings
Before you call
Questions people usually ask first.
Which option should we choose?
Choose the Targeted Process Repair when one failure is already clear and contained. Choose the Business Operations Audit when the symptoms cross departments, the causes are disputed or nobody has had the space to assemble an independent view.
How hands-off is the Business Operations Audit?
It is deliberately low-lift for the sponsor. You agree the scope, make the introductions and grant access; I schedule and run the interviews, inspect the work and systems, analyse the evidence and write the report. Staff still need to make time to explain and show how the work actually runs.
What happens after the audit report?
I present the findings, evidence and priorities. We then decide together what should be left alone, repaired internally or scoped for implementation. The audit does not commit you to a build or retainer.
Does every process repair result in software?
No. The answer may be a clearer owner, a better status rule, a shorter form or the removal of work nobody needs. Software earns its place only when it supports the repaired process.
Process improvement and operational consultancy
Bring the broken process, or the symptoms nobody has joined up.
We can repair one contained failure, or I can investigate across the business and return with the evidence before you decide what changes next.
Book a 20-minute call