Keystone and Raven, LLC
You have a project - maybe something you've always wanted to do or something that was handed to you to do, like a strategic initiative - and you have no idea where to start or what kind of research might be needed or who should be involved. You need to think it through and figure out the process, but you lack the time, energy, bandwidth, or resources to do it yourself. So you reach out to a consultant to help. You may or may not implement the plan on your own once we've collaborated.
Something is off or isn't working and you can't put their finger on it. Or your have a pretty good idea what is going on and you need to verify it to get the additional resources you want to address it. Or you know what's going on, but do not know how to address it, and are looking for best practices and recommendations. So you reach out to a consultant to help. You may or may not implement the plan on your own once we've collaborated.
Struggling to get that big, hairy, audacious goal off the ground?
Juggling multiple initiatives with little progress? Change can be a positive experience when you have a solid process that runs efficiently, achieves goals, and builds trust.
Recruitment and retention are no picnic. And no one solution fits every company or employee. Learn what employees really want that will help them build community, increase productivity, and stay engaged. Find out what you can do right now to attract and keep great employees.
What is your north star?
Every decision for your company, department, and team should clearly align with the company's Core Purpose, Mission, Vision, and Values. Want to experience true growth?
Start here.
Clear communication promotes better performance. When employees use practical communication skills, they are more cooperative in finding solutions, more productive, and happier overall. And the best part? It works internally and externally with the same effectiveness.
How well does your current leadership function and communicate? Who are your next leaders? And how are you preparing them to lead? Leaders set the culture, direction, and expectations of the company. And just like any other job, it takes practice, training, and self-awareness to lead well. Prepare for success with leadership assessments, transition planning, and training.
Are you winning enough? Focused on the right things? Using your resources wisely? Most professional services firms developed their marketing and BD organically, over time. It's time to get intentional. An audit will help you figure out where to focus internally to help you stand out in your industry.
Steve Jobs
Purpose: Assess the culture of the two firms involved in an acquisition, find common ground, and help the team build an integration plan, including external and internal messaging. The assessment and messaging sought to:
Result: Full marketplace acceptance of the combined company. Staff retention of 100% through first two years after acquisition (no unplanned departures). Developed integration plan with members of both firms in one day, covering immediate, short-term, and long-term objectives and corresponding communication plan.
Purpose: Analyze employee satisfaction interviews to discover why there was low morale across multiple office locations. Research and make recommendations for addressing the employee concerns. The process included:
Result: Engagement increased by 10% between the initial interviews and the next survey.
Purpose: Develop big, achievable goals for the marketing and communications department of a national company with a 3-year timetable. The process and plan had to:
Result: The team met for a day and a half and created their first 3-year marketing strategic plan, with nine initiatives, co-champions of each initiative, next steps, timelines, and talking points. At 18 months into the plan, every initiative is on track or ahead of schedule.
Purpose: Actively use the newly adopted database, demonstrate its benefits, and train and convert reluctant users. Previous attempts were overt and had not fared well. The new approach was more subtle:
Result: Over two years, secondary and tertiary users became primary users with their own licenses, and learned how to run reports when they needed. Backlog and forecasting practices migrated from spreadsheets to the database entirely.
Purpose: Review existing standards, best practices, systems/data, and materials for a holistic overview and measure against industry best practices. Make recommendations for action. The audit provided objective input on:
Result: Document of findings that combined empirical and anecdotal data to present a clear picture of the department. Recommendations for immediate, short-term, and long-term improvements, based on industry best practices. Cohesive ideas for growth, efficiencies, and direction.
Star Trails image by yavorzhelyazkov from Pixabay.
Communication Bubbles image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay.
Magnifying Glass image by Angelo Giordano from Pixabay.
Chalkboard chart by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay.
Laptop and desk image by StockSnap from Pixabay.
Katherine's headshot by Matt Sevits.
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