In four weeks, a public affairs team cut about $550K of low-value work.

The leadership team had just rejected the team’s business case and could not see what the function contributed to the business.

Sector: Australian energy
Team: Public affairs, 12 people
Focus: Capacity, measures and operating model
Client: Confidential

A rejected business case exposed a wider problem.

The team’s leader, whom I’ll call Mike, had spent weeks on a business case for a strategic initiative. In the leadership meeting he was asked why other projects hadn’t been delivered, whether his team had the capability, why this was the priority and whether he personally had the capacity. The proposal was knocked back.

The room had lost confidence in the function behind the proposal.

Text messages from Mike that evening: Yeah sure thanks so much for listening. And talking me off the edge. Richard: No worries, I enjoy working with good clients! Switch off and enjoy a break tonight. Mike: Yes definitely. Later, Richard: How are you feeling? Mike: I’m ok thanks Richard still a bit confused about how I got that brief on expectations so wrong. Will figure out the plan of action on Sunday. Thanks so much for being there today all a bit embarrassing to be honest. — The text Mike sent that evening. Name and photo redacted; nothing else changed.

We removed work, moved the time and measured what the executives cared about.

In four weeks we cut about $550K of low-value work: sponsorships and grants that no longer earned their place, positions that were no longer needed, reports nobody read and briefings that took hours to draft.

The time went to earlier stakeholder engagement. We built measures connected to decisions the executives needed to make, which gave Mike a clear way to explain what the team contributed.

Remove

Unread reports and slow briefing production.

Redirect

Time to earlier stakeholder engagement.

Measure

Indicators tied to executive decisions.

Case note: Australian energy
Team: Public affairs, 12 people

What followed

Four weeks
Mike took the changes back to the leadership group that had rejected the case.
Six weeks
The business case was approved.
Six months
The CEO publicly credited the team’s Voice of the Community programme with helping reduce risk around a major project approval. The CFO asked Mike to present the operating model to other functional leaders.

Client name changed. This is Richard’s account of the engagement; the outcomes are specific to this work.

In four weeks, a public affairs team cut about $550K of low-value work.

A rejected business case exposed a wider problem.

We removed work, moved the time and measured what the executives cared about.

Remove

Redirect

Measure

What followed

Services

Further reading

Other work

Bring the situation as it is.