Our Eliminate-Automate-Elevate (EAE) Sprint

Most corporate function leaders in mining know they should be more strategic. The challenge isn't awareness, it's capacity.

Here's what you're experiencing:

80-90% of your time spent on administration and firefighting, only 10-20% on strategic work
Your team is underwater, working longer hours but never catching up
Past transformation attempts failed – Big Four delivered slide decks you couldn't implement, training programmes fizzled after two weeks, technology platforms added complexity instead of removing it
You're seen as a cost centre or service provider, not a strategic partner
You can't answer CEO and Board questions confidently because you're stuck in the weeds dealing with roster disputes, compliance paperwork, or stakeholder firefighting
The strategic initiatives you know you should be delivering sit untouched – workforce AI strategy, measurable community impact, proactive risk frameworks

You're not incompetent. You're overwhelmed.

SCHEDULE A CONSULTATION

Book a call

You already understand what needs to change.

You've known for some time that your function needs to operate differently.

The question isn't whether transformation is necessary, it's whether a practical path exists to accomplish it while maintaining current operations.

The capacity paradox prevents action: you're too busy to create capacity, so you stay busy indefinitely. The firefighting trap perpetuates itself. Waiting for a natural break to start transformation means waiting indefinitely, because breaks don't appear when you're firefighting.

The EAE Sprint addresses this structurally. Eliminate work in week 1 to create breathing room. Use that capacity in weeks 2-4 to build automation and strategic frameworks.

You're not choosing between today's operations and tomorrow's transformation, you're doing both simultaneously through deliberate sequence

Knowledge Transfer Documents

Baseline capacity map showing where your team's time currently goes
Training documentation for maintaining automation systems
Methodology guides for identifying next automation opportunities
Internal customer feedback data revealing which work stakeholders value
Templates and frameworks you can adapt for future use
Decision tools for evaluating automation ROI
Best practices library from similar engagements (de-identified)
Video recordings of key training sessions for onboarding new team members
Checklists for sustaining the transformation
Resource library of relevant articles, tools, and references

Ongoing Support Access

Alumni community membership (included free, no time limit)
Monthly AI automation office hours (90-minute group sessions)
Playbook library continuously updated with new techniques
Peer support network of other mining/energy function leaders
AI tool updates as technology evolves
Transformation sustainment resources
Quarterly webinars on emerging automation opportunities
Private WhatsApp channel for alumni collabouration

The Complete Deliverable Package

Capacity Intelligence

Baseline capacity map showing where your team's time currently goes
Internal customer feedback data revealing which work stakeholders value
Elimination roadmap identifying immediate capacity liberation opportunities
Annualised capacity calculation translating hours to strategic opportunity
Quick-win documentation for executive visibility
Before/after capacity analysis demonstrating 10-20% time reclaimed
Capacity trending dashboard for ongoing monitoring

Process infrastructure

Redesigned operating model with clear ownership and decision rights
Streamlined governance protocols eliminating redundant meetings
Team charter establishing new operating norms (signed by team)
Operating card summarising how the function works
Process maps for key workflows with clear handoffs
Handover protocols for when team members transition
Decision authority matrix clarifying who decides what

Automation systems

One AI-enabled automation working in production
Automation playbook documenting system architecture and maintenance procedures
Workflow mapping methodology for identifying future automation opportunities
AI tool configuration including prompts, templates, and integration protocols
Data governance protocols respecting mining sector confidentiality requirements
Usage analytics showing automation impact on capacity
Troubleshooting guide for common issues
Video tutorials for team training and onboarding

Team operating model

Role clarity and decision authority mapping
Communication protocols and meeting rhythms
Escalation frameworks for when issues require leadership intervention
Performance expectations aligned to strategic outcomes
Collabouration norms for how the team works together
Capability development plan for building ongoing automation skills
Succession planning framework
Team feedback mechanisms

Strategic Business Cases

3-5 Board-level initiative proposals aligned to organisational priorities
Each business case includes problem statement, approach, success metrics, resource requirements, and expected outcomes
Implementation roadmaps showing how initiatives progress over 6-12 months
Risk assessment and mitigation strategies
Stakeholder analysis and engagement approach
Quick-win identification within each initiative
Financial modeling and ROI projections
Governance and oversight recommendations

Executive Communication Package

10-slide Board presentation customised to your organisation
ROI narrative translating capacity gains to strategic value
Visual dashboards showing transformation impact
Q&A preparation for anticipated CEO/Board questions
Talking points for different stakeholder audiences
Presentation rehearsal and coaching session
Executive one-pager for CEO and Board members
Email templates for stakeholder communication

The EAE Sprint

The EAE Sprint is built on a different premise: create capacity first, then use that capacity to build strategic frameworks and automation.

The Mechanism:
Eliminate → Automate → Elevate

Week 1: Eliminate

What happens: We conduct a systematic capacity audit through internal customer surveys and workflow analysis to identify work that can be eliminated immediately—activities that customers don't value, redundant processes inherited from acquisitions/restructures, reports produced but rarely used, meetings that duplicate other governance forums.

When you'll see results: By Friday of week 1, you'll have 5-10% of your team's capacity freed through work elimination.

Why this matters: Traditional consulting adds new work on top of existing workload. We remove work first, creating breathing room. That freed capacity becomes bandwidth for weeks 2-4.

The positive outcome: Your team has immediate relief. You demonstrate quick wins to executives. And you create the capacity necessary to build automation and strategic frameworks without everyone working nights and weekends.

Weeks 2-3: Automate

What happens: We map one high-impact workflow currently consuming 5-15 hours per week, design AI-enabled automation to handle it, deploy it to production, and transfer the capability to maintain it.

When you'll see results: By end of week 3, you'll have one working automation in production being used daily, saving 5-15 hours per week permanently.

Why this matters: This compounds the capacity created in week 1. You're now operating with 15-25% more bandwidth than when you started.

The positive outcome: The work that was consuming hours gets handled in minutes. Your team sees technology as enabler, not threat. You have a proven template for scaling automation to other workflows. And you've built internal capability that doesn't require consultant dependency.

Week 4: Elevate

What happens: We work with you to redesign your function's operating model with clear ownership, streamlined governance, and strategic focus. We build business cases for the Board-level initiatives you've known you should deliver, but haven't had the time. We package your transformation into a narrative that positions your function as a strategic partner.

When you'll see results: By day 30, you'll have complete strategic architecture, Board presentations ready to deliver, and an operating model your team has signed up to.

Why this matters: You're not just more efficient—you're positioned differently. The conversation shifts from "why does this take so long?" to "what strategic initiatives should we pursue?". Your credibility elevates because you're delivering the work that matters.

The positive outcome: You present to the Board with confidence. Your CEO sees you as a strategic advisor, not a service provider. Your team operates with clarity about ownership and priorities. And you've documented a transformation that becomes a reference case.

Why Traditional Approaches Haven't Worked

You've likely attempted transformation before.

The pattern is familiar:

Strategy consulting firms delivered comprehensive frameworks and recommendations. The analysis was often correct. The implementation path was less clear. Junior consultants without mining sector context proposed solutions that didn't account for FIFO workforce dynamics, Traditional Owner protocols, union relationships, or the reality of fragmented systems from acquisitions. You received a strategy deck. What you needed was an execution partner.

Training programmes gave your team ideas about strategic elevation and change leadership. They returned energised. Within two weeks, everyone was pulled back into firefighting. The training treated the symptom (individual capability) without addressing the cause (system design). It was like cleaning fish and putting them back in a dirty fishbowl.

Technology implementations promised automation and efficiency. In practice: broken workflows, shadow spreadsheets because the system couldn't handle award complexity or stakeholder relationship nuance, and you became the unpaid project manager for a failing deployment. The software was designed for corporate environments, not mining operations with remote sites and regulatory complexity.

Internal initiatives started with good intentions. Task forces were formed. Governance committees met monthly. Gradually, attendance declined. Projects stalled. Nothing stuck. The firefighting culture absorbed the change effort.

Here's the structural issue these approaches missed:

You can't add strategic work on top of an already-maxed capacity. The solution isn't working harder or being more disciplined about priorities. The solution is fundamentally redesigning how the function operates—eliminating work that shouldn't exist, automating what can be systematised, and elevating focus to genuinely strategic activity.

Most transformation approaches try to add the new without removing the old. That's why they fail.

Why This Matters Now

The ground has shifted. Operations transformed a decade ago with automation and AI. Mines run with autonomous haul trucks. Wells are drilled with predictive analytics. Assets are maintained with IoT sensors and machine learning.

Corporate services are next.

The AI wave is here. ChatGPT crossed 100 million users in two months.

Every major tech company is embedding AI into their platforms. The tools are production-ready, affordable, and accessible. This isn't emerging technology anymore, it's mainstream infrastructure.

Operations already figured this out. Mining operations deployed automation because they had to, commodity prices demanded productivity gains. They built the business case, secured the investment, managed the workforce transition, and delivered measurable ROI. It took a decade.

Corporate functions have compressed timeline because the tools are democratised now.

Corporate services face the same economic pressure. Boards expect strategic contribution from support functions. They're asking: Where's our workforce AI strategy? How are we measuring social license? What scenario modeling informed this capital allocation? Functions that can't answer these questions confidently lose credibility and budget.

The capability exists to redesign how corporate functions operate. AI can handle repetitive cognitive work. Process automation can eliminate administrative burden. The technology that transformed operations is available for HR, Finance, Public Affairs, PMO, and other support functions. But you can't upgrade your operating system while running at full throttle fighting today's fires.

You know what strategic work looks like. You've seen the case studies. You've been to the conferences. You know AI is coming and your function needs to evolve.

The problem isn't awareness. It's capacity.

The window is narrow. Functions that transform now will set the standard. Functions that delay will spend the next three years catching up to where early movers are today. The first-mover advantage in corporate services transformation is the credibility that comes from delivering strategic value while others are still firefighting.