For leaders of modern organisations
Complexity builds up, and getting things done gets harder
Get your organisation running smoothly. We help modern organisations cut the complexity that inevitably grows over time unless prevented, so things can get done faster and more easily, where performance is predictable and reliable, and keeps getting better.
70+
organisations
2,000+
teams
20+
years
20–40%
typical rise in productivity
Sound familiar?
Why it happens
Whether an organisation is growing fast or long established, its processes, structures, systems, teams and offices grow up separately, and layers build up over the years. There is no single, clear way of working. Work stalls at the handoffs between functions, decisions slow down and move up the hierarchy, and customers feel it. Productivity falls, costs rise, and results depend on who steps in.
For leaders, that means firefighting and chasing instead of managing, and being the one awake at night worrying about the big contract, the cash and the growth plan. You may already have tried adding people, cost or a new system. The underlying problem stayed.
Capable people should not have to fight the organisation to get things done. Heroes are for the big moments, not for holding the everyday together. The way organisations are managed needs to be updated for the way work is done today, not thrown away.
Why Expertivity
We understand, and we have done this before
We know how hard it is to see, let alone fix, how work really flows across an organisation, and why adding people or systems rarely solves it. For more than twenty years we have worked inside modern organisations in financial services, insurance, healthcare, government, telecoms and technology, simplifying how the work runs and building the management capability to keep it simple.
Expertivity brought a sense of calm, a can-do attitude and the fortitude to navigate their way through high-pressured situations. They are good at simplifying very complex matters, understanding personalities and navigating change.
Marie Killeen, General Manager, Office of the National Director for Strategic Planning and Transformation, HSE
We were involved with Expertivity in a major change management programme to reduce costs by 30%. As part of the solution Expertivity embedded their ServiceForce operations management system to help manage capacity and deliver improved efficiencies. Put simply, they delivered the required results.
Celine Singleton, former COO, Rabobank
The plan
Three steps to an organisation that gets things done
1. Diagnose
See where getting things done breaks down. Start with the free Business Execution Canvas® Diagnostic with one team, before you commit to anything.
2. Redesign and align
Simplify how the work runs, and agree priorities, handoffs and decisions across teams and functions with Structured Collaboration.
3. Deliver and sustain
Put it into practice on your own work, with people, software or AI from our partners where you need them, and leave your managers able to run it without us.
Your own problems, with your own people. Nothing is reported behind your teams’ backs, and every change is agreed with the people who will run it. Start with a 10 to 12 week pilot. In Ireland, government co-funding may cover much of the cost.
Who this is for
Who we work with
A good fit
- You lead a modern organisation, growing fast or long established: as CEO or MD, COO, head of operations, CTO or CFO.
- Work stalls at the handoffs, decisions move up the hierarchy, and results depend on who steps in.
- You have tried adding people, cost or a new system, and the underlying problem stayed.
- You want your own people to own the changes and keep them going after we leave.
Not the right fit
- You want a report for the shelf, not changes in how the work runs.
- You want cuts done to your teams rather than with them.
- You want new software installed before the process behind it is fixed.
- You are looking for a training course on its own. Our courses are on structuredcollaboration.com.
Where we help
Three areas, one way of working
Operational excellence for the modern organisation
Demand and capacity management, process ownership and continuous improvement. Start with a pilot on a real problem, then scale what works.
Structured Collaboration
A practical way to manage the work that crosses teams and functions: priorities, handoffs, decisions and accountability.
Reducing complexity
Simpler processes and lean digital transformation that remove what slows your people down. Fix the process before you digitise it.
If nothing changes
The cost of standing still
- Growth is blocked by processes that do not scale.
- You add headcount just to stand still.
- Your best people burn out or leave.
- Customers wait, and go elsewhere.
- Every new system or hire adds complexity.
- Everything still depends on a few heroes.
What success looks like
An organisation that runs reliably
- It is easier to get things done, and faster.
- Performance is predictable and reliable: better quality, faster service and more output from the same people, typically 20–40%.
- Teams and offices work one clear way, and collaborate across the joins.
- Fewer manual steps, workarounds and handoffs, and lower cost.
- Your own people own the improvements and keep them going.
- You have room to grow without adding complexity.
From firefighting and relying on heroes, to leading an organisation that runs reliably and keeps getting better.
What changed for our clients
- Insurance: capacity up more than 25% and value-added work up 15%, with better customer service levels.
- Global banking: operating costs down more than 30%, delivered 15% under budget and ahead of deadline.
- Public sector shared services: work in process down 37% and effective capacity up 22%, with a daily lean management system built on ServiceForce, now CollabForce365.
Let’s make getting things done easier
Book a free 30-minute call to talk through where things get stuck.
Structured Collaboration
Collaboration by design, not by default
Many organisations name collaboration as a value. Few manage it as a capability. Structured Collaboration gives teams a shared way to align priorities, manage interdependencies and resolve friction across boundaries.
The book
Who Designed Your Organisation?
By Alex McDonnell. A practical blueprint for building an organisation that works right first time.
Newsletter
Practical thinking, occasionally
New articles and practical tools on execution, complexity and collaboration. No spam, and you can unsubscribe at any time. It is the same newsletter as alexmcdonnell.com.