CCG Consult is acknowledged as a leader in the implementation of strategic change initiatives for the corporate sector in South Africa and Australia and developed System7™ as a proprietary model for delivering on such programmes in 2005.

Based on international research and local best practice, System7™ is a leading edge Change Implementation System that ensures the achievement of sustainable value for our clients. This technology is a seven-step process that provides a platform to manage the planning, execution and closing off of a change programme, and is widely acknowledged by our clients as being pivotal to the successful delivery of their change implementation programmes.

CCG Consult is the heart and the engine of our business and is the practice area through which we deliver consulting services that respond to client organisation change requirements, and we use System7™ in this context to deliver sustainable results.  This practice area builds bespoke solutions for our corporate clients, services include:

• change strategy specification and development;
• change strategy consulting (in the context of turnarounds, culture change, enterprise programme implementation, mergers & acquisitions);
• organisational design;
• stakeholder mapping, analysis and engagement;
• communication design and implementation;
• analysis, testing and risk assessment of current internal practice;
• portfolio and programme management.

In each of these scenarios we would typicallly apply System7™ as an end to end consulting solution (programme definition, design, documentation, scoping, programme management and implementation) or develop a modular solution for a client based on specific needs and internal structures and capabilities currently in place.

In terms of style, many consultants firms come in as experts, produce a solution and leave (in fairness this is not always their fault and often the approach thrust upon their work by the client themselves, see our post on this conundrum here).  Our approach is entirely different: We seek to build long-term, collaborative relationships with our clients, whereby we learn about your deepest organisational and strategic concerns and work with you to build sustainable solutions in this regard.

Please note: The key to our work is not the What but rather the How.  Many key breakpoints in a change programme occur in the myriad intersecting parts and risk profiles of a programme are not appropriately identied and/or managed. CCG’s long-time experience and expertise in this area, as well as our use of a comprehensive tool (System7™) that serves as an implementation sheath around any strategy execution programme and allows us to map and plan and risk assess every aspect of a programme, both prior and during the process, allows us to do far better in this regard.

If we can be of assistance in this regard, or if you would like a presentation on the System7™ methodology, please be in touch with the office here.

What you can expect at the start of a CCG consulting engagement

We would typically advise taking the following steps in the first three to six months of a programme, towards providing structure and coherence to an implementation programme.  This is not a description of System7™ per se, but rather a set of activities that we believe are key to delivery of a successful programme initiation phase:

Activity 1: Facilitate and workshop a series of deep strategic conversations with client senior leadership around strategic, commercial and other business challenges facing the organisation, as well as identification and resolution of specific programme concerns;
Activity 2: Negotiation and agreement amongst client leadership and key stakeholders on programme mandate, and role definition, scope and size for each stakeholder in the change programme;
Activity 2: In most cases we would advise on the use of an assessment tool of some sort (using a combination of structured interviews/focus groups and/or online tools) to gather statistically relevant data on the current As Is scenario within your organisation with respect to culture, leadership, values and operational efficiency, and to identify and map programme risk areas;
Activity 3: Identify Programme Leadership: Appropriate Programme Sponsor and Lead (these roles are usually clear by this stage), members of a Programme Board, as well as key change agents who might support the change or strategy implementation programme;
Activity 4: Determine the appropriate level, structure and design of Programme governance required for the programme;
Activity 5: Programme Board to build a clear and detailed Programme Brief, including scope, depth and breadth of the programme;

Please note that there are exceptions and sometimes significant variations on the above based on specific client requirements. Our focus is on building bespoke solutions that respond to your particular context at this specific time in your organisation’s history.

To discuss your organisation’s change and strategy implementation requirements, please be in touch with the office here.